It's not really surprising. Allen could be quite condescending and even exploitative. I don't think he comes off very well in his clips with Jack Kerouac, egging him on rather uglily.
My memories of Steve Allen are as a kid enjoying his talk show, where I didn't pick up on his superior attitude. I didn't think he got snooty till he was an altacaca.
The worst was Dick Cavett. He was an utterly conceited prig, but he often had guests I wanted to see, so I would watch, but I stopped after one show he did with Jan Morris, the transsexual historian and travel writer. He had had her on several times previously without any problem, which made it all the more unpleasant when, clearly without warning, he started grilling her about her gender switch with a very caustic air of sexual innuendo. Morris was horrified, upset and embarrassed, as she didn't particularly care to discuss something that personal in that setting. Conceit and priggishness I can tolerate, but deliberate and sustained cruelty are not what I want to see, so I stopped watching the Cavett show after that.
Mike Douglas had some great people on his show, including one show I recently posted with Alfred Hitchcock and James Brown. He at least gave the impression of being a functioning human being. I remember him spontaneously comforting an ex-Secret Service agent who burst into tears when describing JFK's assassination.
Comments 6
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment