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Aug 23, 2026 2 hr 53 min

KISS

from Tonight's Musical Guest, Today Hosted by Tonight's Musical Guest, Today

More business than band. More superhero than human. This group somehow found a way to win the 1970s and recreate what it meant to be an American rock n' roll band. It's KISS week! Alex and Jon set the stage this week by posing a question that seems almost unanswerable: how the hell did this all happen? KISS make their television debut in 1974 on ABC in Concert before a befuddling Gene Simmons interview on The Mike Douglas Show that has comedian Totie Fields scoring points on Gene. KISS storms onto American television screens on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special, a 50-minute clip filled with camp, disco, and very little connection to Halloween itself. A 1979 interview on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder finds Ace Frehley seizing control via uproarious laughter and fish puns. And there's just too much stuff discussed to summarize for this nearly 3-hour episode so we're just going to stop here. Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week! Nothing to Lose/Firehouse/Black Diamond, 3/29/1974 on ABC in Concert with Dick Clack Interview/Firehouse, 4/29/1974 on The Mike Douglas Show Deuce/She/Black Diamond, 4/1/1975 on The Midnight Special Detroit Rock City/Beth/King of the Night Time World, 10/29/1976 on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special Interview, 10/31/1979 on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder The Oath/A World Without Heroes/I, 1/15/1982 on Fridays Crazy Crazy Nights, 10/22/1987 on Top of the Pops

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More business than band. More superhero than human. This group somehow found a way to win the 1970s and recreate what it meant to be an American rock n' roll band. It's KISS week! Alex and Jon set the stage this week by posing a question that seems almost unanswerable: how the hell did this all happen? KISS make their television debut in 1974 on ABC in Concert before a befuddling Gene Simmons interview on The Mike Douglas Show that has comedian Totie Fields scoring points on Gene. KISS storms...

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KISS

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This episode is 2 hours and 53 minutes long.

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This episode was published on August 23, 2026.

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