The premise of going out into the street in order to solicit commentary and wisdom of the Common Man is not a new one. The late Mr. Steve Allen was very good at this; and the people around the Hollywood Ranch Market never knew just what to expect from him. His brilliance actually would make use of the public in a sketch.
Others have continued the tradition of the street right down to this very day. David Letterman has made good use of the outside. One of the funniest bits involved those times when they sent their friend & neighbor of THE LATE SHOW, Hello Deli proprietor, Rupert Gee out on the Streets of New York with a hidden Camera Crew. Mr. Letterman would tag along and tell Rupert crazy things to say to strangers..
Certainly Jay Leno is doing his part to uphold and maintain the tradition. H has made his variation on the theme under the title of "Jay Walking", which of course relies on his being out and having a hand held microphone. This has produced some of his best and funniest moments on the TONIGHT SHOW ever since he took over from Johnny (Carson!).
Bringing us down to just about the present day, we had a consortium of TV Production Companies came together to bring us their contribution to Late Night Television. So we had the likes of: 1. Dawn Syndicated Productions, 2. This Old House Productions, 3. Entertain the Brutes and 4. Telepictures Productions & Distribution combining resources and pooling their talents in order to give us this all time un-original concept, called simply "STREET SMARTS."
Being broadcast over the WB Network, it was a regular show for nearly five years. Locally, here in Chicago, it was shown over the Chicago Tribune's Flagship TV Station, WGN Television Channel 9, which is a part of that Network*. Inasmuch as WGN is also one of those "Super Stations", sending its signal out over nationwide cable and satellite hook-ups, STREET SMARTS certainly did get a wide, wide viewing area and huge audience.
The format was simple. They started with a couple of in studio contestants who would either be a winner or a looser; depending on their agreement by guessing just what the interviewee on the videotaped question session.
The Emcee, Frank Nicotero conducted both the in Studio part of the Show; as well as the videotaped questions & B.S. session. Frank, who had experience with humor and audiences as having spent some time as a Stand-Up Comic. A lot of the show's appeal is due to his relaxed demeanor and fast sense of humor.
With no originality, the recycling of old routines, the use of the most basic concepts in comedy, "STREET SMARTS" managed to fill a niche so necessarily needed in the Late Night TV spectrum.
And last, but certainly not the least, may we offer a Tip of the Hat to those unheralded participants in the shows success. So, let's hear it for the unsung heroes of this half-hour of amusement. And those are the bunch of Dim Bulbs who so anxiously volunteered to display their knowledge or lack thereof in front of the vast American viewing public.
NOTE: * The name of the Netork has been changed in about the past year or so to the CW Network after merging with the old UP (Universal-Paramount) Network.
