Night Stand premiered September 16, 1995 in syndication, running in over 87% of the US markets, mainly as a Saturday evening program airing against, or if carried by an NBC station, after Saturday Night Live. It also aired on E! Monday-Thursday at 10:30 p.m. and was distributed internationally. The partnership with E! led to a follow up second season. Unlike other shows, each hour-long syndicatedepisode was actually divided into two separate half-hour programs which yielded 96 episodes for E! reruns. Much of the Night Standproduction team went on to work with Howard Stern on Son of the Beach, with some of their "guests" also making appearances. A well-received parody of tabloid talk shows, Night Stand had plenty of funny scenes, but one scene unexpectedly went too far when Dietrick tore the clothes off a male model named Kal to see if he could impress a seemingly uninterested young woman guest, Gloria Holt looking for dates in the episode "Love on the Internet," produced in 1995. After ripping off his shirt, the model's trousers were next, but Stack accidentally pulled Kal's underwear down as well; as a result, there was a brief glimpse of male genitalia, much to the shared shock of the audience and the performers. This scene has sometimes turned up on outtake and blooper programs such as It'll be Alright on the Night. Night Stand was the first production from Big Ticket Productions, the company formed by former Warner Bros. development executive Larry Lyttle. Strawther had worked with Abeyta and Kaikko at Merv Griffin Productions and later worked with Lyttle on the shows "My Sister Sam" and "Night Court." Strawther brought on Night Court director Jim Drake and they developed the tape-four-shows-a-week format that made the show financially practical. Strawther did not return as show-runner for the second season after he and Stack differed on when silliness went "over the top." The show's original slogan "If you don't have Nightstand, you don't have Dick" and The Comedy That Makes Up Talk was later changed to The Comedy That Makes Fun of Talk. Night Stand helped Big Ticket Productions get started. They did even better on its next project, "Judge Judy." The show's original publicist was Howard Bragman, who is now considered one of Hollywood's top publicists. Produced: 1995–1999
Cast
Timothy Stack – Dick Dietrick
Peter Siragusa – Mueller, Dick's long-suffering assistant on the show
Christopher Darga – Bob, a frequent guest involved in various exploitative and depraved endeavors. When confronted by Dietrick, he would inevitably offer the unconvincing excuse, "I'm sick. I need help." Darga and Vic Wilson were well-remembered by Abeyta, Kaikko and Strawther who cast them as announcers Vic Romano and Kenny Blankenship a few years later on their cult hit, "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge."
Tim Silva – Dr. Lonnie Lanier, psychologist and expert—one of the many Groundlings graduates who appeared on the show. Stack was a product of the Groundlings system.
Steve Valentine – 'The Astounding Andy', hypnotist and magician
Garry Marshall – himself trying to promote his book "Wake Me When It's Funny" while Dick was not too subtly trying to pitch a new action show "Arctic Heat."
Mancow Muller – Mancow
Jerry Springer – himself
Harry Anderson – himself
Jimmie Walker – himself; in one episode he becomes the new host of "Night Stand Lite!", a Letterman-esque talk show parody that "replaces" Dick's show
