BANGOR, Maine — For fourteen seasons, Dan Cashman has been bringing Maine viewers local late-night comedy, music, and entertainment on "The Nite Show." It broadcasts from Presque Isle to Portland and features guests from all corners of Maine, and well beyond.
Cashman announced in February on social media that his show would be coming to an end next year after its 15th season.
"If I sit and think about this too long it gets hard, so I'm trying very hard to not think about it until next year because right now there's still shows to do," Cashman told NEWS CENTER Maine when we sat down with him to talk about the final season.
Cashman and his large team tape The Nite Show on Wednesday nights at the Gracie Theatre at Husson University, in front of a live audience. They typically record a few shows a night, and Cashman does a lot of editing to cut it all into the show that airs on Saturday evenings.
Cashman learned early on to ask for the right help, from his co-host Christie Robinson, Brian Nadeau and The Nite Show band, and the 20-30 students with the New England School of Communications (NESCom)—who run cameras and audio, prep guests, while receiving a real hands-on education.
"Our fun big show leads to bigger and better things for these students," Cashman said. "I did not understand how important that would become to all of us."
When Cashman made his announcement online, hundreds responded with memories, words of encouragement, and thanks for the inspiration and experience. Cindy Miller, a graduate of NESCom, even credited the show with where she is today, working as a technical director for ESPN.
"The Night Show really helped with getting you to a place of real-world understanding of how television works," Miller said in a Zoom interview.
"You didn't just have your grade to worry about, you're going on statewide television, most of us for the first time. Regardless of whether there's a grade attached to it we just wanted to make a really good show," she said.
Miller said during her time on The Nite Show she would often work extra hours just to make sure everything went smoothly. She also noted how much she enjoyed the shows they took on the road, recording sometimes in southern parts of the state.
The show has always been a passion project for Cashman, who first created it when he was 19 years old. It was a fun try with his friends until the real world set in and he packed it away. After 14 years this time around, the show seems to have really hit its pace, now airing in all markets in Maine. So why walk away now?
"Sometimes there are enough things pointing to a certain decision that you have to make that it just feels like the right time," Cashman said.
Part of the decision, he told us, is being able to spend more time with his two daughters. He has a full-time job working in public relations in Bangor, and often spends well over 40 hours a week curating The Nite Show, reaching out to book guests, getting sponsorships, and even editing the show.
"There are times I'm sitting on my living room floor trying to figure out the punchline to a joke at two in the morning wondering why I'm doing this," Cashman said, adding the grind makes sense when that punchline hits and the audience laughs.
Guests have ranged from local celebrities to musicians like Paula Cole, who asked to be on again despite an initial, "Wait, what is this show?" from her PR person. While David Letterman offered a swift no to the invitation to come on, others have enthusiastically said yes.
"If you had told me when I started doing this show 14 years ago that Ed Asner would be sitting on the stage talking with me, I never in a million years would believe that. And he not only came, he wanted to come back," Cashman said.
What does that say to him?
"It says that we have something pretty special. Late-night talk shows, you can see them anywhere on the networks, but the fact that a local late-night talk show exists and has some shelf life too, it is quite rare," Cashman enthused.
It's so rare, that Nickelodeon and Food Network television host Marc Summers has asked to come back on The Nite Show multiple times, even inviting Cashman to New York while he was filming a reboot of his popular '90s show, "Double Dare."
NEWS CENTER Maine had the chance to speak with Summers through Zoom and asked what he thought when Cashman first reached out.
"That he's me a few years earlier or later, take your pick. I had this passion to be on television and I grew up in Indiana. I had big dreams to go to New York or L.A. Dan loves Maine and he didn't want to leave Maine, but still wanted to fulfill this dream," Summers said. "And he was good from day one."
Christie Robinson said co-hosting with Cashman has been quite a ride.
"We kind of [are]...I don't want to say those two guys from the Muppets sitting in the balcony, but..." Robinson joked. "Somebody recently said to me, 'Christie you're a public figure because of this now' and that just made me go, really is that true? and I guess that's true, being invited into people's living rooms on Saturday night," she said.
Robinson said she takes the job very seriously, but also has a lot of fun.
"Every time we go into that theater and we tape, I keep that in mind. It feels like it's just right here, but it's not. It's so widespread and brings so many people joy. Local joy in our state," she said.
"We're a bunch of Bangor people doing a show, and when Bangor people do a show you don't expect to get a following in southern Maine. It's just the way it is. And we got one and they came in droves to see our last live taping and I started thanking them..." Cashman stopped to take a breath as he shared. "...and it was hard. It was really hard. And it shouldn't be. It's just a show. It's just a fun show, but it's been a lot."
There will be some tears, but Cashman and Robinson aren't looking at the final season as an ending, they're too focused on packing everything in. All of the skits and jokes and the guests, including one more try for David Letterman.
"I think the greatest compliment we can get is that people remember us while we were on, whether they loved us or hated us," Cashman said. "If they remembered us that means we've done something right."
Many NEWS CENTER Maine faces have been on The Nite Show with Danny Cashman, including Rob Caldwell, Brian Yocono, Don Carrigan, and Amanda Hill. Cashman says if Keith Carson plays his cards right, he might get the invitation too. Here's a clip of Rob and Amanda playing "The Best Friends Challenge" on Cashman's show: