DVD Review: The Tomorrow Show - Tom Snyder’s Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show

From 1973-82, Tom Snyder hosted variations of The Tomorrow Show, NBC’s late-night talk show that aired after The Tonight Show. It had a more relaxed approach and presented more in-depth conversations as opposed to the usual amusing anecdote and product pitch.

Snyder once described his television audience by stating at that hour of the night “you get the tokers and the smokers.” This disc is definitely geared toward the former as the title, borrowed from Tom Wolfe’s classic chronicle of the adventures of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, and the day-glo ‘60s poster mock-up for the DVD case artwork indicates. Unlike Shout Factory’s previous release, Punk & New Wave, which contained entire episodes of The Tomorrow Show, Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show only contains segments with the guests who fit the theme.

The disc begins with Ken Kesey and The Grateful Dead from May 7, 1981. Kesey had  volunteered to take part in the U.S. government’s testing of LSD. He eventually went on to conduct his own private experiments/parties, which were referred to as “acid tests.” The Grateful Dead became the house band for the events. Kesey and Jerry Garcia appear in the opening and have a good, playful conversation. Tom proves to be quite the square when he tries to direct the conversation by claiming the ‘60s, more specifically the hippies, brought drugs and music together, as if the two had never crossed paths before.

Over the course of the DVD's first segment, the Grateful Dead performs four numbers acoustically: “On The Road Again,” “Cassidy,” “Dire Wolf,” and “Deep Elem Blues.” In between songs, Tom speaks with band members Garcia and Bob Weir first, and who are later joined by Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. For some reason, bassist Phil Lesh didn't make the couch. They discuss the band’s history and what they were currently doing. I hadn’t seen Garcia with dark hair in quite a while and the band sounded good stripped down.

Article Author: El Bicho

El Bicho writes for a number of movie web sites, including Cinema Sentries, which he runs for the geniuses of Forwerd Media. He also occasionally cleans up around here. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_CS

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