TV • 1988

The Late Show

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The Late Show is a British television arts magazine programme that was broadcast on BBC Two weeknights at 11.15pm—directly after Newsnight—often referred to as the "graveyard slot" in terms of television scheduling. The series was commissioned by BBC Two Controller Alan Yentob, who had a background in serious arts documentaries, but the production team — led by Michael Jackson. The series combined a number of format elements from earlier BBC arts magazine programmes such as Monitor and Late Night Line-Up. With the cancellation of The Old Grey Whistle Test the series became one of the few spaces on BBC television for live music performances. The series originally featured a round-table discussion hosted by Clive James on Friday nights. However this format was dropped after the second season. The show pulled in heavyweight popular music acts live or pre-recorded, including Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Public Enemy, Joni Mitchell, The Stone Roses, Dick Dale, and Jeff Buckley.