Mike Douglas

I'll Be Right Back is Mike Douglas' new book

June 23, 2001 -- Long before Jerry Springer... before Jenny Jones... even before Oprah... there was Mike Douglas.
During its 22 years in syndication, The Mike Douglas Show blazed new territory in the TV talk show genre, and Douglas revisits many of the highlights in his new book, I'll Be Right Back.

In January of 1968, Douglas booked Richard Nixon, several months before he was elected president. This was nearly a quarter-century before Bill Clinton donned Ray-Bans and played sax on the Arsenio Hall Show. The Mike Douglas Show also made use of celebrity co-hosts long before Regis Philbin started rotating famous bodies in and out of Kathie Lee Gifford's abandoned chair. John Lennon and Yoko Ono did a one-week stint in February 1972, and clips have become an essential element in most Lennon documentaries.

Virtually all the cultural and political movers-and-shakers of the day walked into Douglas's studios: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Milton Berle, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger, Marvin Hamlisch, Mahalia Jackson, Ethel Merman, Melba Moore, Muddy Waters, Martha Mitchell. And those are just the M's!

Douglas says he's proud of is the way he showcased new talent, including Motown recording artists. In fact, he recalled being thrown by one Motown artist's unusual request. Stevie Wonder agreed to sit down for an interview with Douglas, but only if they could sit down in a hot tub.

Looking at some old Mike Douglas shows, it's hard not to see the program as a kind of time capsule, containing an even blend of square and hip moments, sometimes within the same episode. Liberace and Little Richard appeared on the same guest list, as did sausage king Jimmy Dean and Woody Allen.

The quirky talent booking was no accident. Douglas credits his producer Woody Fraser with concocting what they referred to as "The Mix." As Douglas put it: "Create strange brews on diverse talents and personalities. Then sit back and see what happens."