A new documentary tells the story of Harry Belafonte guest-hosting The Tonight Show for one week in 1968
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The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show recalls a "monumental moment" in TV history in February 1968 when "an African American would be the frontman of the most dominant program in late night — and perhaps all of TV — for an entire week," per Variety. Belafonte’s intention was to use the week to introduce ideas of social change to a mass audience. Guests that week included Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, months before they were each assassinated, plus Lena Horne, Paul Newman and Aretha Franklin. The documentary was scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival before the coronavirus pandemic.
TOPICS: Harry Belafonte, The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Documentaries, Retro TV
More Harry Belafonte on Primetimer:- Peacock's The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show captures an astonishing moment in the history of Black culture
- Peacock's The Sit-In Looks Back at a Remarkable Week in Late-Night
- Watch the trailer for Peacock's The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show
- 50 years ago today: A white woman touched a black man's arm for the first time on primetime TV
