Johnny Carson Returns: Antenna TV to Air Full ‘Tonight Show’ Episodes

I thought so. My first thought was "who died?" Then again, maybe they've only licensed a limited number of the available episodes in the archive.

 

Uh oh, We'll see if this unfortunate trend continues.

 

I watched an episode the other night and it was fun in a nostalgic way but not as funny as I remember.

 

The one last night was a repeat with Peter Fonda and A. Whitney Brown.

 

Do you think they would have rights to all the guest host episodes? The only one I have ever seen is with Rickles but he probably does not care. Letterman probably does not care. But, would they have to clear the Leno or other ones for example? There are hundreds of additional episodes right there ready to be shown instead of repeats.

 

I think Johnny had the Joan episodes erased..............

 

Well, they have shown her twice on regular episodes the last couple of weeks.

 

sorry, I should have specified the Joan hosting ones

 

No, I know. Just saying those could have been chosen not to air, either, if there was desire to erase her from history.

 

I would really be surprised if they are. I mean, Johnny was not the warmest guy in show business, but he ended a very long happy friendship with one hang-up. I wouldn't fault him for erasing those episodes, I can get why he'd feel betrayed.

 

On a semi-unrelated note: while watching all these shows and all the DVDs released I've come to appreciate some new things about the show...but also there are a couple guests I've grown to groan whenever they're on: Orson Bean and Richard Benjamin. Not sure why these two bother me so but I generally find them bland. One episode I saw a couple weeks ago that put Benjamin on my groan list was when he was a guest right after Danny DeVito. DeVito was there promoting Twins and Benjamin was strangely bitchy to DeVito. He made some cheap shots about his movie and made it appear like they were at odds between both the movies they were there promoting at one point saying that people should go see his movie this weekend instead of Twins. What kind of guest does that? DeVito seemed to play along but it didn't put Benjamin in a good light for me.

A guest that I've enjoyed and have a new appreciation for is Charles Nelson Reilly. With all his campiness he's a great guest to watch. He and Johnny had great chemistry. Johnny seems to have had a rich palette for humor because he appeared to like many types of comedy: smart/witty, goofy, vaudeville-cheese and borderline alternative comedy (for the time). He really was a fan of comedy. Why he enjoyed the two comedians I mentioned above--I'll never know

I ended up watching the film The Life of Reilley that is the one man show he performed in 2004 shortly before he passed away. Really moving and also funny stuff.

 

Lucie Arnaz said that Johnny Carson loved her parents and when she was making the Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie documentary he let her have unlimited access to the archives for clips of interviews. Some of those included Joan Rivers as host so, in the early 1990s anyway, they still existed ... or segments did anyway.

 

Agree with almost all of that. Orson Bean talking for 10 minutes about communicating with a butterfly or something was a total waste of time.

Funny to hear Carson mention Charles Nelson Reilly as his standby guest when someone like Dolly Parton had to cancel much the same way David Letterman used to rely on Tony Randall whenever New York had a blizzard.

 

I DVR these classic shows regularly and find myself wishing Carson was still around and still doing the show. These old episodes are much more entertaining, IMO, than all of the present day late-night talk shows and their hosts. I have the Carrie Fisher and Gary Shandling episode (1983) that I'm planning to watch this weekend. Comedian Franklin Ajaye had some funny material on a recently-aired episode from 1988.

 

No disrespect intended but I think Carrie was stoned.

 

They played Eddie Murphy's first Tonight Show appearance the other night. He had only been on SNL for a few months before making it. It was hard to miss Eddie's future stardom from the stand-up routine he gave.

 

Johnny loved Jack Benny.

 

I wonder if Jack Benny understood couch etiquette or just decided he was Jack Benny and will sit where he wants?

 

Do you mean when he stayed in "the chair" when the guest came over to sit. It was awkward. I wonder if it was his age?

 

Yes, Rich Little acted for a moment like he was going to sit in his lap.

 

The connection between Johnny Carson and Jack Benny is well-known from so many perspectives: Carson's adopted mannerisms from Jack, his guest appearances on Jack's program, and his often-stated adoration of Jack. Johnny Carson's wife at the time said that she had seen Carson cry twice: once for hours at the death of Jack Benny.

I'm sure all the JC fans knew of the connection.

 

This is unfortunate that they only did a years worth to air. I guess I'll stop recording them

 

Have they aired David Bowie's episode yet? Fans are hoping to finally have a massive upgrade in quality. But no one knows if the rights to that episode were successfully negotiated.

 

Just thinking about the weeknight shows...even though there are roughly 20 years worth of surviving episodes, only 11 are in the one hour format, and in those last years Johnny only did so many shows a week per year (after guest hosts and repeats; Letterman did joke once about Johnny pioneering the 3-day workweek).

Also, if musical clearances are unaffordable/unattainable that takes shows with musical guests out of play.

Given all that, I wonder how many complete one hour shows they can realisticaly choose from. (And maybe the 90 minutes ones are a nightmare in comparison, which is why they're only twice a week)