The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson- An Appreciation Thread

Do post your review when you get it

 

Be sure to check out the official Johnny Carson channel on YouTube. They have posted 4 or 5 complete episodes from the late 70s/early 80s (with slight music edits). Even if it isn't 100% as aired it is still a great way to enjoy the show. I am about to watch one and then hit the hay ... just like when I was growing up!

 

By the way, a few others have been popping up lately too it seems, from non-official channels. Kinda hesitant to link since I don't want them getting yanked before people get a chance to see 'em or anything, but let's just say searching YT for "Tonight Show February 1980" might get you something that runs 1:28:45 and you can probably figure out the others from there.

 

I echo this posters opinion....this is a beautiful package with so much material I may never see it all.

 

Bumping this thread back up after 18 or so months. I have purchased all 12 volumes of the Vault series as well as the 3 volumes from the new "Guest Star" releases available on the Carson website. The shows I have watched so far are great. The best part is going to bed at night and putting in a DVD and watching Johnny just like I did back in elementary and junior high before he retired, even if most of the shows were produced almost a decade or less before I was born.

I have also purchased the episodes available for download. I have them saved but have not burned them to a disc yet to watch. From what I have looked at on the computer these download shows do not look like they have been "cleaned up" like the DVD releases, but like the Vault shows they include music, commercials, etc.

I wish I would have appreciated Johnny more in the 13 or so years I could have watched but I am happy that I have memories of watching him enough that someday I can tell my daughter all about seeing Johnny when be was still on.

 

I watched Johnny a lot starting in the mid '80s. IMO, no one has beaten the quality of his show since.

 

I think they may have finally gotten it right with this Vault Series set. They sacrificed lush packaging for more content. It works extremely well...no more fancy box sets..just give us the shows. The entire set has been tremendously entertaining. I"m nearing the end and I'm bummed that I don't have more to watch.

One of the things I observed from this particular set is the feeling that every show was unique--no two shows were alike. Sure the basic structure was in tact for all the shows (monologue, desk, panel etc) but there were times when Johnny and Ed had off/weird nights. The episode with Steven Allen and Jack Palance is a perfect example. The vibe of the entire night was particularly weird and Johnny completely played to that. You got the sense that each show was some kind of weird experiment---totally open to failure. There was a risk that the show could tank at any moment. Today, most of the "risk" on these shows have been completely removed: the audience is prepped and trained to applaud/cheer at nearly everything, uber-positive hosts are super excited for tonight's "amazing" show and there is a safety net available if things do tank (editing, reshooting etc). Johnny had at one point 90 minutes of air time to kill, sure, that was more susceptible to a couple clunkers but you still felt like each show was unique.

By the way, what kind of audience warmup did Carson's show have? Honestly, sometimes during the monologue you wonder if there's anyone in the room with Johnny! I think it's great actually---those were real audience reactions. You don't see that on TV anymore. I mean, how often does an audience boo their host after a lame joke?! Fantastic.

 

Some of the moments when jokes, etc. bombed were fantastic, cause Johnny would usually rip on the joke, roll his eyes on what didn't go so well and turn it around. Plus you had Ed to laugh at seemingly next to nothing sometimes, making you laugh along.

 

I am looking forward to more releases. I am not sure why they went with the digital downloads unless it was just a way to meet demand while not having to spend $ to clean up the shows? Regardless these are great offerings, too, and though the visual quality lacks the DVDs they are still very watchable (think watching on an over the air antenna or taped off the nightly broadcast is SP or LP speed). The DVDs look fantastic and it makes me wonder if these downloads are only sourced from surviving VHS or other home video recording equipment with missing master tapes? Regardless you can burn these to DVD and have more Johnny and Ed to enjoy!!!

 

Absolutely. I love Ed---he really was the best man for the job. What I appreciated was that they were always working as a team. The best parts were when Ed caught something Johnny said or did that no one else saw....Ed would tease John and he'd begin to fluster. They had fantastic chemistry and the best part was that it truly seemed genuine. That's a great (and rare) thing to watch.

 

I started watching The Tonight Show in the early 60's. Never really watched any of the late night shows since Johnny left.

The Copper Clappers Caper

 

One of the things I enjoyed about the Carson era is that a musical guest not only didn't have to wait until the last 4 minutes; they could be the first guest, or have a couple of songs, AND even have a REAL interview.
I mean, you don't give Sammy Davis Jr or Frank Sinatra 4 minutes!

 

I was lucky enough to attend two tapings of The Tonight Show and Johnny Carson hosted both times. One show featured Walter Cronkite and Gilda Radner and the other had Marilyn Horne and Steven Wright as the guests. One of the two tapings was in mid December ; we were asked to remain in our seats when the show ended, and when it was over they brought out Bob Hope who did a 20-25 minute monologue to be edited down for his Christmas special airing on the upcoming weekend. Great memories...

 

I received an email today that 3 more digital downloads are available for purchase starting today. Also available for preorder are 3 more volumes of the Guest Star series on DVD. The downloads and the guest stars featured in all shows with the new releases include Burt Reynolds, Jay Leno, and Jerry Seinfeld.

 

I can't wait until January, when Antenna TV will bring us uncut Tonight Show episodes 7 nights a week! Hour episodes Monday thru Friday and hour and a half episodes on weekends!

 

The downloads are a great idea and will be purchasing more but a part of me wishes the Vault Series DVDs would have continued. But I am pleased we are getting full episodes like this. It looks like they might have finally found a model that works. It would be nice if they can remain consistent with their products for a couple years now. They have released so many different series and sets over the past years--it was enough to make your head spin--it'd be good if they stuck with the downloads and the Guest Star series for a while.

 

Interesting that Webb started to crack first, IIRC.

 

For me at this time this is my only option to see Johnny since we cannot get Antenna TV here where I live. I would imagine more Vault releases, or the Guest Stars series will stop at 12 volumes and then another series starts. The Vault series, though not 100%, tends to focus more on the 90 min shows while the Guest Stars series tends to focus more on the 60 min shows (though not always 100% accurate as well).