The Bottom Line
Pros
- Four acoustic Grateful Dead performances
- Chemistry between band members during performances and interviews
Cons
- Drug experimentation treated as a laughing matter
- Shout! Factory trailers are force fed before you can see the progam
- Tom Snyder
Description
- The laughter and jokes about drug use are a little unsettling, since Garcia died while in drug rehab
- A better theme might have been the notable rockers who appeared on the show
- Even if you don't watch the shows with Tim Leary and Tom Wolfe, the Dead are worth the cost
Guide Review - Grateful Dead on Tomorrow Show
Snyder hosted The Tomorrow Show, which aired after The Tonight Show on NBC from 1973 to 1982, when it was replaced by The Late Show with David Letterman.
Personal bias aside, Tomorrow had its share of memorable moments: John Lennon's last televised interview; U2's first TV appearance in the US; an appearance by The Plasmatics during which Wendy O. Williams blew up a TV set and disrupted NBC Nightly News, which was airing live from a nearby studio.
The Dead had released their double live album, Reckoning a few months prior to the appearance, and performed four songs from the album: "On the Road Again," "Cassidy," "Dire Wolf" and "Deep Elem Blues." The acoustic performances show them as we fondly remember them: loose, relaxed, having a good time.
When the four -- Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman -- are on the interview set, the chemistry between them is especially apparent. Responding to Weir's description of the band as "misfits who play for misfits," Hart offers, "That's why we're with each other, I guess. We actually get along, you know? And we don't get along too much with other people."
