# Carson's "Tonight Show" to air on Antenna TV



## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Starting 1/1...

Story from Variety


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Carson was the best. I still miss him.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Interesting. I'll have to figure out if I get that channel.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> Interesting. I'll have to figure out if I get that channel.


Go here and type your zip code to find out.

http://antennatv.tv/channel-finder/


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

brianric said:


> Go here and type your zip code to find out.
> 
> http://antennatv.tv/channel-finder/


Cool. Thanks.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

So I guess HD is out of the question? 



brianric said:


> Go here and type your zip code to find out.
> 
> http://antennatv.tv/channel-finder/


Thanks. Comcast has it here (Houston).


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

brianric said:


> Go here and type your zip code to find out.
> 
> http://antennatv.tv/channel-finder/


Thank you! I looked earlier and couldn't find it. In the guide it's listed as KZJODT3, not Antenna TV.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I am bizarrely excited about this 
I hope I don't forget come Jan 1.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Hopefully someone without CRS will bump the thread in December!


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I decided to set up a wishlist for Johnny Carson


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Carson was King of late night TV. I still remember when he had Jimi Hendrix on as a guest and Hendrix cranked it up and blew out the amp they gave him. They had some studio drummer backing him up that had no clue how to keep time with him. Carson was dumbfounded when the amp blew and simply said "That's never happened before."


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## Ereth (Jun 16, 2000)

Alas, no AntennaTV in Jacksonville. I was really looking forward to this.


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## smak (Feb 11, 2000)

Probably would have been too much work to do a Simpsons World type thing, but I'd love to just be able to go watch whichever show I want, at anytime with an index by guest.

I am really interested in watching all the appearances of Seinfeld, Letterman, etc..

But probably not just your average show.

But I can't watch at all because no DirecTV

-smak-


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

smak said:


> But I can't watch at all because no DirecTV
> 
> -smak-


It's available OTA and on many cable systems. You don't need DirecTV.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Cainebj said:


> I am bizarrely excited about this
> I hope I don't forget come Jan 1.


As funny as Carson was in his day (and yes I was definitely old enough to watch him plenty) I'm thinking that his jokes are going to see very dated. Remember, most of the monologues by him (and today's Late night hosts), were usually based on current events and pop culture. Will a joke about Nixon or disco music go over well today?

I remember watching an old episode of Laugh In a few years back on one of the retro TV station (TV Land?) and what I thought was hysterical in the 1960s and early 1970s just fell flat.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

Steveknj said:


> As funny as Carson was in his day (and yes I was definitely old enough to watch him plenty) I'm thinking that his jokes are going to see very dated. Remember, most of the monologues by him (and today's Late night hosts), were usually based on current events and pop culture. Will a joke about Nixon or disco music go over well today?
> 
> I remember watching an old episode of Laugh In a few years back on one of the retro TV station (TV Land?) and what I thought was hysterical in the 1960s and early 1970s just fell flat.


There was some show about a year ago that had snippets of Carson shows, with him interviewing a guest. Each (approx) 15 minute show had one guest. They ran about 20-25 of these on some niche channel.

(hang in there, a point is coming...)

What you realized in watching these was how strong an interviewer he was. No matter if the guest was from our parent's era or ours, he managed to relate to them, and draw them out. Rare was the night he didn't have an outstanding guest lineup, all because he was such a great host.

So while the monologue may be dated (but probably still funny), seeing the adroit way he handles his guests will hopefully make each rerun shine. Nonetheless, the average age of viewers will not be below 50.

If I had a complaint about Jimmy Fallon, it's his weak interviewing skills. He relates to most of his guests as friends, and plays games with them, but in terms of real interviewing, it rarely happens.


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

Cool! Someone please bump when we get closer.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

> The scheduling of episodes will be carefully curated to run as themed weeks or months

(I admittedly only skimmed the article.)
Darn. I wish they'd just show them in order, and show all of them (that still exist/that they have license for).

They do say they'll show "full" episodes, though I strongly suspect they just mean it won't be clip shows, not that they're unedited for more commercial time. (Personally, as long as it's not noticeable, I don't mind if they're time compressed, as I do that myself on talk shows and news shows anyway.. at way faster speed.)

Though I still do think it's great that these are being made available at all -- AND they're showing the 90 minute episodes on weekends.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

brianric said:


> Go here and type your zip code to find out.
> 
> http://antennatv.tv/channel-finder/


Nice. Shows up as WRDQDT-2 for Brighthouse Central Fla. Didn't even know I had that one. Looking at the guide it has many of the 70's shows I've been wanting to see. Guess I get a little nuts blocking what seem like unneeded channels on Tivo.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Steveknj said:


> As funny as Carson was in his day (and yes I was definitely old enough to watch him plenty) I'm thinking that his jokes are going to see very dated. Remember, most of the monologues by him (and today's Late night hosts), were usually based on current events and pop culture. Will a joke about Nixon or disco music go over well today?


That is not what I am excited about - I expect the monologues to be dated.
As the person who mentioned Jimi Hendrix's appearance - his show is a historical treasure trove of young performers who became legends.

How amazing will it be to see who all was on before we knew how amazing they were? Not just young stand ups in their first appearances but stuff like that Hendrix performance?

You hear stories about some shows that were taped over - I KNOW that the Tonight Show with Carson has most if not all of his shows archived. 
Some years ago I had reason to contact the company to try to get footage of an artist's appearances from 1970 and 1971 and for a small fee and with permission of the artist - they pulled it up, knew what shows they were on and sent us a DVD copy without blinking an eye.

My only disappointment is that they are starting with 1972 and not going back to the beginning of whatever they have.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

I've been getting Carson's classic moments on TCM. 
I won't get Antenna TV, even though WGN is local.

Need to complain.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

this is one of the few alternate local channels our comcast affiliate carries in hd (most other local alternates on comcast are sd only, so i view them ota for hd), looking forward to checking out the shows.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

Unfortunately most of his New York based shows were erased. It was only when he moved to LA that he realized no one was archiving them and he started the process. Hence the fact that they will only be showing 72 on.


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## andrew1883 (Apr 26, 2008)

Cainebj said:


> I am bizarrely excited about this
> I hope I don't forget come Jan 1.


Umm, maybe set a season pass now? I just did that and my TiVo isn't even connected to cable right now. 

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk


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## andrew1883 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sorry just noticed you said you set a wishlist. It was just funny to see "hope I remember" on a TiVo board. 

Re: Carson as interviewer, his skill was known at the time. I remember one reviewer talking about one of the anniversary shows and saying they didn't capture what made him successful - it wasn't Ed Ames or some animal crawling on his head, it was his ability to have a conversation with multiple guests of varying backgrounds.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

astrohip said:


> There was some show about a year ago that had snippets of Carson shows, with him interviewing a guest. Each (approx) 15 minute show had one guest. They ran about 20-25 of these on some niche channel.
> 
> 
> MikeAndrews said:
> ...


Thanks, that was the show. I couldn't think of the name.



andrew1883 said:


> Re: Carson as interviewer, his skill was known at the time. I remember one reviewer talking about one of the anniversary shows and saying they didn't capture what made him successful - it wasn't Ed Ames or some animal crawling on his head, it was his ability to have a conversation with multiple guests of varying backgrounds.


That's one of the differences between Fallon and Carson. Not a knock on Fallon, I like & watch him, he's funny. But Carson could interview you whether he knew you or not. He just had this knack. Fallon is good when he's got someone on who's a buddy of his (and he does have a lot of friends), but when he's talking to someone he clearly doesn't know, it shows. The comfort level isn't there. Maybe it comes in time.

Nonetheless, looking forward to these.:up:


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

andrew1883 said:


> Sorry just noticed you said you set a wishlist. It was just funny to see "hope I remember" on a TiVo board.


I'm old school TiVo - back in the day you couldn't set a pass for a show until it was in the 10 day to 2 week window other than by setting a wishlist.

I did just set up a one pass for The Tonight Show after doing a search for Johnny Carson BUT - if this is being aired as Johnny Carson to avoid confusion with Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show... This is all premature.


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## Johnny Dancing (Sep 3, 2000)

smak said:


> Probably would have been too much work to do a Simpsons World type thing, but I'd love to just be able to go watch whichever show I want, at anytime with an index by guest.
> 
> I am really interested in watching all the appearances of Seinfeld, Letterman, etc..


That would be youtube.


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## andrew1883 (Apr 26, 2008)

I read the Variety article after this thread and I have to change my wishlist to Johnny Carson. I hadn't noticed what you pointed out, NBC owns the name "Tonight Show" so that's just going to get me Jimmy Fallon, whom I don't enjoy.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk


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## Todd (Oct 7, 1999)

Great idea.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

I would be interested in seeing some of the musical acts from long ago.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

cheesesteak said:


> I would be interested in seeing some of the musical acts from long ago.


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## cheesesteak (Jul 24, 2003)

Not that one.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

astrohip said:


> Thanks, that was the show. I couldn't think of the name.
> 
> That's one of the differences between Fallon and Carson. Not a knock on Fallon, I like & watch him, he's funny. But Carson could interview you whether he knew you or not. He just had this knack. Fallon is good when he's got someone on who's a buddy of his (and he does have a lot of friends), but when he's talking to someone he clearly doesn't know, it shows. The comfort level isn't there. Maybe it comes in time.


It definitely takes time, and it takes a long time. I watched Letterman from day one and he used to suck at the interviews, but eventually, imho, he became one of the best in the business. I'm sure it took Carson time, too. All the newer late-night hosts currently suck large at interviewing. I can't even watch them. Hell, Kimmel has been on for how many years? And he still sucks.


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## inaka (Nov 26, 2001)

In honor of Carson coming to Antenna Tv soon...


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

Inaka,
That is fantastic! -seriously- thank you for posting.

eta:
In a bad funk - this really helped, albeit briefly... watched another Carson clip with Don Rickles...I do not care if it dates me - I love this stuff.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Tonight's-the-"Tonight"-night reminder bump.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

Thanks just set up a One Pass.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

Me too! Been waiting to see these again for ages.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

January guest line-up can be found here.

http://wvxu.org/post/heeere-s-johnny-lineup-carson-s-tonight-show-reruns-jan-1-31#stream/0

They say "Full Episodes" but I don't see 1 musical guest listed the 1st month...


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Hate to sound like an idiot but I can't seem to setup a proper season pass for this. Apparently they're showing the 60-min eps at 2:00 a.m. (EST) on some days and 90 min eps at 1:30 a.m. other days. Other than setting up a manual recording 1:30-3:00 I can't get a season pass right.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

Daily shows will be the 60 minute show. weekends are the 90 show

I am recording with "New and Repeats" and I get all episodes ( only once)


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

Ugh, not on DirecTV. 



jilter said:


> watched another Carson clip with Don Rickles...I do not care if it dates me - I love this stuff.


I saw a Carson clip a few months ago with Rickles. I was crying I was laughing so hard.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> They say "Full Episodes" but I don't see 1 musical guest listed the 1st month...


Someone whose tv knowledge I trust implicitly stated that Antenna has licensed exactly 366 episodes. If so, I'd guess they just chose episodes with no musical guests.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Anyone notice that if you search for Carson on TiVo that the first one that comes up is Johnnie? I've never seen that before. There are also entries for Johnny.


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

lambertman said:


> Someone whose tv knowledge I trust implicitly stated that Antenna has licensed exactly 366 episodes. If so, I'd guess they just chose episodes with no musical guests.


According to this link, 2016 will feature 366 episodes because this is a leap year. *The article also implies that musical guests WILL be included. * (I figured they would've punted on musical acts as well; but I guess not.) Sean Compton - the Tribune executive behind this project - apparently watched every episode multiple times and handled every single licensing issue within each show.

http://www.smithvilleherald.com/entertainment/article_7573451b-77b4-5ecb-9718-01c3753545f6.html


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

astrohip said:


> Ugh, not on DirecTV.


You may have been checking for your country house, but here in town, it's on 39-2, which you can haul in easily with a cheap antenna.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

cmontyburns said:


> You may have been checking for your country house, but here in town, it's on 39-2, which you can haul in easily with a cheap antenna.


Thanks!! You're right, I was checking for Brenham. But in Houston, I have a really good roof-mounted antenna feeding one of my Roamios. I'll add it when I get home.

:up::up:


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

astrohip said:


> I'll add it when I get home.
> 
> :up::up:


Just remembered TiVo Online. Added a OP that way. I guess I missed a couple days, do they ever repeat or rerun?


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> I am recording with "New and Repeats" and I get all episodes ( only once)


Hmmm. That doesn't work for me. It sets it up to record the earlier shows, too. Actually, it doesn't matter. The shows I'm really interested in are the 90 min, so I set up a manual recording just for those.

I watched the first one just now, from 1/1/_1975_! Wow. In the monologue he talks about Nixon resigning and the recession. Carson is so relaxed and laid back, a lot of fun watching him do his thing when he was at the top of his game. And he had my father's favorite comic, Foster Brooks. His routine was very funny, even 40 years later, which impressed me because a lot of comedy doesn't stand the test of time very well (for me, anyway).


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Hcour said:


> Hmmm. That doesn't work for me. It sets it up to record the earlier shows, too. Actually, it doesn't matter. The shows I'm really interested in are the 90 min, so I set up a manual recording just for those.
> 
> I watched the first one just now, from 1/1/_1975_! Wow. In the monologue he talks about Nixon resigning and the recession. Carson is so relaxed and laid back, a lot of fun watching him do his thing when he was at the top of his game. And he had my father's favorite comic, Foster Brooks. His routine was very funny, even 40 years later, which impressed me because a lot of comedy doesn't stand the test of time very well (for me, anyway).


That one was great even though I didn't know the guests. The Amelia Earhart story was fascinating (true or not). There was one before that also a New Years day show that had Eddie Murphy 198?. I swear the one liners I must write down and remember. Shameless ragging on Ed and Doc about drinking and drugs. Green shag carpet on stage. Carson smoking...too great.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

rahnbo said:


> Green shag carpet on stage. Carson smoking...too great.


It's kind of otherworldly watching this stuff (never mind that I was alive when it was filmed). I was flipping around yesterday and noticed that an episode was on, so I paused for a few minutes. 1974. There was Don Rickles, in a three-piece suit with an enormous shirt collar, doing a borderline-offensive Puerto Rican accent, and telling a story in which he repeatedly called women "broads". He was seated in basically an office chair, on that green shag carpet. Next to him, Carson lit up a cigarette while Rickles went on and on. At the end of the segment, Carson introduced Michael Landon, "who has a new series out this fall on NBC... Little House on the Prairie". Out came Landon, in his perm and a brown western suit with enormous flared pant legs. Incredible.


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## Michael S (Jan 12, 2004)

cmontyburns said:


> It's kind of otherworldly watching this stuff (never mind that I was alive when it was filmed). I was flipping around yesterday and noticed that an episode was on, so I paused for a few minutes. 1974. There was Don Rickles, in a three-piece suit with an enormous shirt collar, doing a borderline-offensive Puerto Rican accent, and telling a story in which he repeatedly called women "broads". He was seated in basically an office chair, on that green shag carpet. Next to him, Carson lit up a cigarette while Rickles went on and on. At the end of the segment, Carson introduced Michael Landon, "who has a new series out this fall on NBC... Little House on the Prairie". Out came Landon, in his perm and a brown western suit with enormous flared pant legs. Incredible.


One thing I found eerie about about last night show. Is that Rickles is the only guest that is still alive. All the other have pass on.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Michael S said:


> One thing I found eerie about about last night show. Is that Rickles is the only guest that is still alive. All the other have pass on.


I noticed that too. In addition, as the band was on strike, the only other living star from the show at that time (Doc) was not on.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Eddie Murphy's routine from 1982 was still just as funny - particularly the bit about a black man running for president - to think how long it took!!!

I've never been big on the monologues so I'm either interested in the guests or don't have the time to re-watch the entire episode - 
There suddenly seem to be a slew of re-airings of shows (Merv Griffin and Dinah Shore to name a couple).


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> Eddie Murphy's routine from 1982 was still just as funny - particularly the bit about a black man running for president - to think how long it took!!! I've never been big on the monologues so I'm either interested in the guests or don't have the time to re-watch the entire episode - There suddenly seem to be a slew of re-airings of shows (Merv Griffin and Dinah Shore to name a couple).


I used to watch the monologues just to see if Carson bombed. He was funniest when the jokes went bad.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> I am recording with "New and Repeats" and I get all episodes ( only once)


don't they have the ORIGINAL air date? i.e. 1980, etc? Edit: YES THEY DO.. E.g. tonight's episode is 1/4/85

I forget, is this channel on Comcast? Edit: Yes, for me, it's 187 KRONDT3

Argh, I record FAR too much stuff already.. Will still record this at least for a while.
I'd love for musical guests to be included (I saw the previous discussion), even though I'm not sure the tonight show EVER went into stereo in Johnny's time.. (IIRC, stereo TV came out in the mid 1980s but wasn't widely available until a long time after that.)


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

mattack said:


> don't they have the ORIGINAL air date? i.e. 1980, etc? Edit: YES THEY DO.. E.g. tonight's episode is 1/4/85
> 
> I forget, is this channel on Comcast? Edit: Yes, for me, it's 187 KRONDT3
> 
> ...


my new / repeats is only picking up the 10PM show and skipping the 1 am show


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

TonyD79 said:


> I used to watch the monologues just to see if Carson bombed. He was funniest when the jokes went bad.


Me too. Very seldom would I bother to stay up to actually see the guests. Now it's kind of fun to see what the hot topics were back then.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

mattack said:


> don't they have the ORIGINAL air date? i.e. 1980, etc? Edit: YES THEY DO.. E.g. tonight's episode is 1/4/85
> 
> I forget, is this channel on Comcast? Edit: Yes, for me, it's 187 KRONDT3


Yes, original air dates (which really helps!). Comcast Houston too, on 318. Just not DirecTV. Also, OTA on 39.2



TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> my new / repeats is only picking up the 10PM show and skipping the 1 am show


It looks like 1AM is a repeat of the 10PM show, so a New/Repeat won't pick it up. I have mine set to "All", and it is recording it. I need to change it to N&R.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

Anyone else get a C501 error on a TiVo when going to Explore this show --> Upcoming?

It's only happening for me on this show.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Brighthouse Central Fla isn't showing any date although I'm getting them all and no repeats. The only way I know the OAD is because they flash up the airdate right before Carson comes on stage. Oh well. Also noticed with last nights show from 1985 that the quality seems worse than the ones from the 1970's as the first one with Eddie Murphy seemed worse visually. The 1970's airings seem much crisper of an image. The same seemed to be true of the SNL marathon. All of the 70's shows looked decent enough but everything from the 80's until HD became a thing looked pretty rough. I wonder if that is due to changes in taping formats, the types of cameras, or a combination of both?


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

cherry ghost said:


> Anyone else get a C501 error on a TiVo when going to Explore this show --> Upcoming?
> 
> It's only happening for me on this show.


I was getting that last week. Well I was getting an error, don't remember if it was C501 or something else.

But today it's working fine.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> They say "Full Episodes"


Yeah, based on a single data point (heh), they are heavily edited.

After a commercial break, it jumped right in the middle of an interview segment with Charles Nelson Reilly, no introduction or anything. It sure didn't _seem_ like a station glitch or anything.

I mostly FFed through it, and listened to a tiny bit of A. Whitney Brown.. wow, this was before he was on SNL.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

mattack said:


> Yeah, based on a single data point (heh), they are heavily edited.
> 
> After a commercial break, it jumped right in the middle of an interview segment with Charles Nelson Reilly, no introduction or anything. It sure didn't _seem_ like a station glitch or anything.


I would say that was your local commercial overrun. Here I saw Charles walk onstage after being introduced and shake Johnny's hand. He did stay through the next commercial break and of course when that ended the interview was continued.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Seeing Sean Penn so young wowsa...

My only complaint is they aren't airing it in the original 4:3 ratio, not sure why they feel the need to present it stretched out in wide screen.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Chris Gerhard said:


> I would say that was your local commercial overrun.


I thought it might be a local problem but if we're seeing this in different areas perhaps not. Each and every night so far through last night's (Pryor/Penn/rooster funeral) episodes there has been something jarringly interrupted by a commercial. In the last one they started right in the middle of Carson's monologue. In the episode with the man who was reading from a book he got about 3 words out then it cut to commercial and when it returned he was headed to the couch. Too bad because he seemed funny and interesting.


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

Cainebj said:


> Seeing Sean Penn so young wowsa...
> 
> My only complaint is they aren't airing it in the original 4:3 ratio, not sure why they feel the need to present it stretched out in wide screen.


They have not been stretched here yet


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> Seeing Sean Penn so young wowsa... My only complaint is they aren't airing it in the original 4:3 ratio, not sure why they feel the need to present it stretched out in wide screen.


That must be your local affiliate. Here in Baltimore, unadulterated 4:3.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> I thought it might be a local problem but if we're seeing this in different areas perhaps not. Each and every night so far through last night's (Pryor/Penn/rooster funeral) episodes there has been something jarringly interrupted by a commercial. In the last one they started right in the middle of Carson's monologue. In the episode with the man who was reading from a book he got about 3 words out then it cut to commercial and when it returned he was headed to the couch. Too bad because he seemed funny and interesting.


I've watched a couple of the shows so far and every one of them had the "more to come" cards and even intros from Johnny or Ed on the upcoming sponsor.

The man who read from the book? Victor Buono? No bad edits here.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

None of those interruptions have happened in my market either. Airing in 4:3.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Mine are stretched. Looks horrible.


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

I never understood and still don't understand why broadcasters do that.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

vertigo235 said:


> I never understood and still don't understand why broadcasters do that.


1. They think customers don't want to waste the space in their TVs

2. Easier settings on equipment

3. Stupidity.

I guess the third reason is redundant.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

TonyD79 said:


> I've watched a couple of the shows so far and every one of them had the "more to come" cards and even intros from Johnny or Ed on the upcoming sponsor.


So far just mattack and myself then? I wouldn't be surprised if each of our local markets screwed up in different ways.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

Last night there was definitely supposed to be a musical guest but didn't see it in Chicago. I'm OK because I really don't care about Kenny G. But it was definitely not a full episode.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

mrizzo80 said:


> *The article also implies that musical guests WILL be included. * (I figured they would've punted on musical acts as well; but I guess not.)


Unfortunately, last night did not bear that out. A Kenny G performance was not included (this episode is at the Paley Center, and their synopsis indicates he did go on as scheduled).


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

lambertman said:


> Unfortunately, last night did not bear that out. A Kenny G performance was not included (this episode is at the Paley Center, and their synopsis indicates he did go on as scheduled).


Lots of announced guests got cut from the shows over the years because things ran long. But Carson always acknowledged the fact they didn't get on during the final goodbyes. So last night was definitely not a full episode.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> Seeing Sean Penn so young wowsa...
> 
> My only complaint is they aren't airing it in the original 4:3 ratio, not sure why they feel the need to present it stretched out in wide screen.


Are all 4:3 programs from Antenna TV stretched and are you sure you can't force to 4:3?


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> So far just mattack and myself then? I wouldn't be surprised if each of our local markets screwed up in different ways.


I wouldn't either. I doubt a lot of attention is paid to these sub-channels.


----------



## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

Is everyone getting the sub channels through cable or from actual antennas?


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

RGM1138 said:


> Is everyone getting the sub channels through cable or from actual antennas?


Mine are in fios. I could get some via an antenna but I get more from fios (Washington DC subs).


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

RGM1138 said:


> Is everyone getting the sub channels through cable or from actual antennas?


Both. Antenna TV airs in Houston on Channel 39's sub-2, KHIA2DT. I get it on 39.2 antenna, and Comcast Houston also carries it on 313 (I think, not in front of my TV).


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

Chris Gerhard said:


> Are all 4:3 programs from Antenna TV stretched and are you sure you can't force to 4:3?


I don't think it can be forced 4:3 - I am going to check some other shows to see if it is just Carson or everything...


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> I don't think it can be forced 4:3 - I am going to check some other shows to see if it is just Carson or everything...


Some TVs can do that. My Sony can. I think they call it standard versus full.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Hcour said:


> Mine are stretched. Looks horrible.


Tangent, but I'm even seeing a lot of stretched commercials on CNN nowadays.. of course they're older commercials..

But CNN is doing similar annoying things with "news" video, which of course is coming from cell phones often nowadays.. and of course many people are recording in portrait mode (tall and narrow).. So instead of showing it window boxed (black boxes on the sides), they show a weird stretched-but-dimmed version in the BACKGROUND, with the regular video in the proper aspect ratio in the foreground.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

mattack said:


> They show a weird stretched-but-dimmed version in the BACKGROUND, with the regular video in the proper aspect ratio in the foreground.


I hate that almost as much as when they try to make a news story from 3 days ago look aged 40 years.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Chris Gerhard said:


> Are all 4:3 programs from Antenna TV stretched and are you sure you can't force to 4:3?


It seems BHN might be doing something to stretch it out. Tuned in before Carson started and Family Ties and all commercials were 4:3. Carson starts up and its stretched BUT was also watching via BHN's BHTV (on PC via cable modem) and on a little portable antenna HDTV which were both 4:3.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Wow the Christopher Reeve interview had some seriously sad foreshadowing. I felt they cut him off as they seemed to do the previous night during the Oprah interview. I'm not an Oprah fan but felt it was a good interview until it abruptly ended. The flaming comic juggler using Carson's head as a prop was hilarious. What was the deal with boom operators back then as I have yet to see an episode without a microphone becoming part of many shots?


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

rahnbo said:


> Wow the Christopher Reeve interview had some seriously sad foreshadowing. I felt they cut him off as they seemed to do the previous night during the Oprah interview. I'm not an Oprah fan but felt it was a good interview until it abruptly ended. The flaming comic juggler using Carson's head as a prop was hilarious. What was the deal with boom operators back then as I have yet to see an episode without a microphone becoming part of many shots?


I noticed that too, this was before they had the small mics obiously.

I assume that the mic was probably not visible back in the day because overscan was common on TV's and broadcasts, and it wasn't until the digital age that TV's didn't do any overscan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overscan


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was standard for the mic operator to use the monitor to make sure the mic was as close as possible and just outside common overscan borders.


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## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

Is anybody else finding that their memories of this show have been magnified to the point that they remembered it being WAY better than it actually was?

I'm just finding myself annoyed a lot, bored sometimes, and aggravated that Johnny doesn't let the guest answer a question - instead he just keeps talking and the guest is sitting there like...whatever.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I get annoyed a lot easier than I did when I was younger.  Maybe this girl is turning into one of those 'get off my lawn' old men who has no patience.  Could be.

At any rate, I'm just picking and choosing from the Tivo guide and only recording the episodes with guests I'd really like to see again.

Today I watched one with this man named Frank Olivier as one of the guests who was performing on the state. Initially I was going to FF through that entire segment but i didn't and found him to be amazingly physically talented and entertaining!

Also cool seeing Christopher Reeve. Loved his stories! I also saw the episode with Sean Penn the other day - wow, sooooo young! I love the notion of seeing people back all those years ago.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

lambertman said:


> Unfortunately, last night did not bear that out. A Kenny G performance was not included (this episode is at the Paley Center, and their synopsis indicates he did go on as scheduled).


i noticed an awkward, hard cut of the oprah interview before going to commercial, there's a lot of editing goin' on.



sharkster said:


> Is anybody else finding that their memories of this show have been magnified to the point that they remembered it being WAY better than it actually was?


too soon for me to draw a conclusion (too few episodes), but when compared to steven on the late show? the two shows are miles apart.


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## sonnik (Jul 7, 2000)

sharkster said:


> Is anybody else finding that their memories of this show have been magnified to the point that they remembered it being WAY better than it actually was?


I'm actually enjoying it more. I think seeing PBS's _American Masters_ about Carson actually helped with this.

I think I appreciate the ribbing that happened between Carson and the others was *real* then. Today, it's more scripted.

For example, I think Johnny was annoyed when Ed corrected him on "next guest" / "first guest" when introducing Bob Hope. It seemed like Michael Landon was getting annoyed that Rickles wouldn't shut up.

I can't quite explain it, but that comedic tension that seemed to exist on the show then wouldn't have a home now.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

vertigo235 said:


> In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was standard for the mic operator to use the monitor to make sure the mic was as close as possible and just outside common overscan borders.


Well cool I learned something today. I kept thinking about Stanley Kubrick's wireless mic methods used as early as 1970 in "A Clockwork Orange" I think and why they wouldn't have used those but I guess they didn't really need to. It kind of gives me new respect for Survivor as I've been watching some of the available old seasons on Amazon and have yet to see a mic of any kind either on a boom or even a wireless mic pack.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

rahnbo said:


> The flaming comic juggler using Carson's head as a prop was hilarious.


I just FFed through this, but it's sort of sad when you "know about something". This juggler really didn't do anything very hard at all.. it was pretty easy.. *I* can't do all of what he did, but know a bunch of people who can.. none of whom are professionals.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

sharkster said:


> Is anybody else finding that their memories of this show have been magnified to the point that they remembered it being WAY better than it actually was?
> 
> At any rate, I'm just picking and choosing from the Tivo guide and only recording the episodes with guests I'd really like to see again.


No, not at all. If anything it reminds me how great he was. Honestly I'd sort of forgotten. I'm a big fan of Letterman who first caught my attention but I had to "get through" Carson to watch Letterman and eventually came to appreciate Cason. I know that is backwards but whatever that is the order it happened for me. It has been like a time capsule of sorts that happens to be entertaining. Some of the best guests have been people I never heard of or can't recall. I do like Fallon and Conan but Carson reminds me I could go for the rest of my life without hearing another #hashtag this or Facebook that and it would be just fine. You'll never hear a host today ask a guest, "You're black, right?" Nor will you hear about their phobia of being naked and backing in to a door knob.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

mattack said:


> I just FFed through this, but it's sort of sad when you "know about something". This juggler really didn't do anything very hard at all.. it was pretty easy.. *I* can't do all of what he did, but know a bunch of people who can.. none of whom are professionals.


I agree. I think the act as a whole was pretty funny though which was the point. The line to Carson about having clout with Ed to get him on Star Search...


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

mattack said:


> I just FFed through this, but it's sort of sad when you "know about something". This juggler really didn't do anything very hard at all.. it was pretty easy.. *I* can't do all of what he did, but know a bunch of people who can.. none of whom are professionals.


If you FF through, you may not have realized he was a comedian who juggles. The juggling itself wasn't the act. It was a comedy act. The shtick was that he wasn't supposed to be really good.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Leno/Welch/Garbage Man of the Year: Now I know what to do with the remainder of my mobile data cap. "One Million Years B.C." is on YouTube.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

I've watched all of these so far and I keep meaning to ask this question.

All of the show intros  all they show is a title card basically listing tonight's guests without Ed doing the voiceover to introduce them. It seems as if the intro to the show has been generically recreated. I could've sworn back in the day Ed would actually announce the guests or there would be some sort of voiceover introduction to the show. Why would they redo the openings and make them generic?


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

TiVotion said:


> Why would they redo the openings and make them generic?


Probably to obscure the lack of whomever the musical guest would be or for brevity. I recall in one episode Carson mentioned the musician but he wasn't on the title card.


----------



## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

Oh that's right. Forgot about that. Makes sense.


----------



## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

It's funny that after finally getting cable (Vu More with 12 B & W channels in the early 60s), that I have to go back to antenna to get the good stuff. 

Unfortunately, I can't get Antenna TV on cable, DirecTV or antenna here.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

our antenna tv affiliate is both cable & ota, and the cable feed is 720p - this quality is amazing, better than i remember.


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## RGM1138 (Oct 6, 1999)

NorthAlabama said:


> our antenna tv affiliate is both cable & ota, and the cable feed is 720p - this quality is amazing, better than i remember.


We lost a lot of channels with that Viacom show down. Also, when Cableone went digital, we lost some more channels. We used to have COZI TV from WKRG in Mobile, but don't get that one anymore either.

There are two stations locally and between them, they have ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and WB, so they take up bandwidth that used to go to out of state affiliates with good sub channels.


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## trainman (Jan 29, 2001)

rahnbo said:


> Probably to obscure the lack of whomever the musical guest would be or for brevity. I recall in one episode Carson mentioned the musician but he wasn't on the title card.


I believe the main issue is that Antenna TV doesn't legally have the rights to the "Tonight Show" name. (They don't have to bleep it out if it happens to be said during the show, but they can't actually _call_ these reruns "The Tonight Show.")


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

i agree, i suspected the series name and editing was so antenna tv would compliment dvd sales, the 1p and guide all reference "johnny carson", and a search displays "the tonight show" as a separate listing.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

trainman said:


> I believe the main issue is that Antenna TV doesn't legally have the rights to the "Tonight Show" name. (They don't have to bleep it out if it happens to be said during the show, but they can't actually _call_ these reruns "The Tonight Show.")


Seems plausible as well. Tivo Online lists them all as the Tonight Show from 1954-1992. Scouring Antenna TV's site, however, and I can't find a single mention of "Tonight Show." They're all listed as "Johnny Carson" which is conveniently the first ad you see after the monologue (Time/Life, is it?)

It seems really dumb if this is the case (or one part of the case) but I guess that's why lawyers get rich. What would be the risk? That some viewers would tune in to watch Fallon and think Carson rose from the dead much like the celebrities John Wayne and Ed Sullivan that Carson was alluding to? Or would they buy Tonight Show DVD's expecting Leno/Conan/Fallon reruns?


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> Seems plausible as well. Tivo Online lists them all as the Tonight Show from 1954-1992. Scouring Antenna TV's site, however, and I can't find a single mention of "Tonight Show." They're all listed as "Johnny Carson" which is conveniently the first ad you see after the monologue (Time/Life, is it?)
> 
> It seems really dumb if this is the case (or one part of the case) but I guess that's why lawyers get rich. What would be the risk? That some viewers would tune in to watch Fallon and think Carson rose from the dead much like the celebrities John Wayne and Ed Sullivan that Carson was alluding to? Or would they buy Tonight Show DVD's expecting Leno/Conan/Fallon reruns?


It probably is the case that NBC/Comcast doesn't want a chance of any confusion with this and the current Tonight Show.

It may be that they don't want people to realize how bad an interviewer and monologuer Fallon is, but since the rights to this show belong (if I'm not mistaken) to the Carson estate and _not_ Comcast/NBC, they don't see a dime from this show on Antenna TV and probably aren't interested in promoting it in any way.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

trainman said:


> I believe the main issue is that Antenna TV doesn't legally have the rights to the "Tonight Show" name. (They don't have to bleep it out if it happens to be said during the show, but they can't actually call these reruns "The Tonight Show.")


I buy this over the musical guest idea. The episodes I've spot checked there wasn't a musical guest originally so why would they edit them all for a few that may have a musical guest eliminated.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

The episode last night did have a few Tonight Show references. During one of the interviews Johnny mentioned that it was their first time on the Tonight Show. Also, at least one of the intro or exit cards had Tonight Show on it.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

midas said:


> The episode last night did have a few Tonight Show references. During one of the interviews Johnny mentioned that it was their first time on the Tonight Show. Also, at least one of the intro or exit cards had Tonight Show on it.


I saw several "Hollywood Tonight" cards. Anyone that watched have any idea what the sealed envelope was all about? I missed part of the show due to a commercial freezing up and blocking some of Flip's interview.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Sunday night's show also lacked the musical guest (ian Whitcomb) who, by all records available, did appear that night.

The line about Sean Compton personally handling every musical clearance seems to be a complete lie, unless he simply handled the paperwork as it was placed in the bin.

I get it, musical rights are an absolute bear. Just tell the truth.


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## SnakeEyes (Dec 26, 2000)

I'm really enjoying seeing complete episodes. Sure some jokes are eye rollingly dated but other dated humor I enjoy knowing the context it was in. Although I admit there have been a few to go over my head too. Other segments hold up well. Overall, from show to show, it's uneven, just as it could be back in the day like any other nightly show. But its damn funny a lot too and reminds me why it and Johnny were better. Also, I admit that I cheered slightly seeing Carnac the first time


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## trainman (Jan 29, 2001)

lambertman said:


> Sunday night's show also lacked the musical guest (ian Whitcomb) who, by all records available, did appear that night.
> 
> The line about Sean Compton personally handling every musical clearance seems to be a complete lie, unless he simply handled the paperwork as it was placed in the bin.
> 
> I get it, musical rights are an absolute bear. Just tell the truth.


Hey, he _could_ have actually made a phone call, told the rights holders what Antenna TV's budget was, and then hung up while they were still laughing -- that would have counted as "personally handling."


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Cainebj said:


> Seeing Sean Penn so young wowsa...
> 
> My only complaint is they aren't airing it in the original 4:3 ratio, not sure why they feel the need to present it stretched out in wide screen.


I thought that the channel was stretched here and I was ready to give up watching because it looks so bad. But then last night I figured out that I had my TiVo zoom set to Full instead of Panel. Switched to Panel and it's now 4:3 and looks great!


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

hummingbird_206 said:


> I thought that the channel was stretched here and I was ready to give up watching because it looks so bad. But then last night I figured out that I had my TiVo zoom set to Full instead of Panel. Switched to Panel and it's now 4:3 and looks great!


Well shucks that does work. It was the first thing that popped in my head but I dismissed it because all the other shows were in 4:3 except Carson. For example, Barney Miller is on now and it stays 4:3 no matter the zoom.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

4:3 original ratio here in Houston. 

It's tough watching non-HD shows. I don't know how we survived.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

TonyD79 said:


> If you FF through, you may not have realized he was a comedian who juggles. The juggling itself wasn't the act. It was a comedy act. The shtick was that he wasn't supposed to be really good.


ok, I was a little bit too terse.. I did watch some little bits of it. I mostly meant I didn't pay attention to the entire segment. (I knew there was comedy going on..)


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

So I guess NONE of the eps are ever going to have musical guests?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Just watched Larry Miller's stand-up routine from 1988. They were doing jokes about how old Keith Richards looks nearly 30 years ago!


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

Last night had Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters. Hard to imagine a more out of control show.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

midas said:


> Last night had Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters. Hard to imagine a more out of control show.


Johnny lost it several times. Funny stuff.


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## TiVo'Brien (Feb 8, 2002)

Norman Mailer was on the other night. I always revered the name, but after watching him go on and on, I realize he's just and egotistical blowhard. Johnny seemed to be bored by the whole interview.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

midas said:


> Last night had Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters. Hard to imagine a more out of control show.


One of the funniest show I've seen in a long time. All Carson had to do was show up and let Williams and Winters take over.


----------



## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

I'm getting nostalgic reading all of your comments. Unfortunately these are not available here in western NC.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

I just watched the episode from last week that had Shelley Winters on it. Either she was the greatest actress ever or she was a total whack job. Either way, it was hilarious.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

midas said:


> I just watched the episode from last week that had Shelley Winters on it. Either she was the greatest actress ever or she was a total whack job. Either way, it was hilarious.


I was thinking the same thing when I watched this episode. I vaguely remember her from my childhood, but I don't remember her being that flighty. Maybe I just don't remember. I don't know. Carson seemed baffled with her at times. It was quite amusing.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Total whack job. Always was.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

midas said:


> I just watched the episode from last week that had Shelley Winters on it. Either she was the greatest actress ever or she was a total whack job. Either way, it was hilarious.


She may have given Carson a better run for his money than any of the Rickles interviews I've seen yet. I was laughing so hard my wife had to come find out what the big deal was then Winters started in on the Annie Potts routine and we were both dying. That little foot stool was just too much. 

I have to say some of the best interviews I've seen often involve people I know little to nothing about. Still love it when Carson's monologue bombs. So far my favorite comeback was something along the lines of "I'll win you over with my charm." Not really a funny line on paper but the way he fires those things off are perfect.


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

There was one that aired last week and during the monologue he was talking about duck hunting. He mentioned how hunters go out into a duck blind and make a duck sound ... and then someone in the audience made the sound. The audience erupted in laughter and Johnny about lost it. Then he went on to lament about how he worked all day crafting a monologue and getting the jokes just right and then some guy in the audience makes a duck sound and gets the biggest laugh of the night.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

I am so enjoying seeing all of these old shows. In the 70's, I got to stay up late during the summer and watched Johnny every night. During the school year, I only got to watch on Friday nights. I loved Johnny.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

rahnbo said:


> She may have given Carson a better run for his money than any of the Rickles interviews I've seen yet. I was laughing so hard my wife had to come find out what the big deal was then Winters started in on the Annie Potts routine and we were both dying. That little foot stool was just too much.


At one point during the Winters interview I was thinking that I must be really tired because I have no idea what she's talking about. Right after that Carson said, "What the heck are you talking about?" Glad I wasn't the only one.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

midas said:


> At one point during the Winters interview I was thinking that I must be really tired because I have no idea what she's talking about. Right after that Carson said, "What the heck are you talking about?" Glad I wasn't the only one.


I loved that he said that rather than trying to play along.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

Watching the 1984 episode with Martin Mull and Jerry Seinfeld. Johnny is talking to Mull and goes to take a break and says "We'll be back with Jeff Seinfeld." Then they come back and he corrects himself to "Jerry Seinfield" before ultimately correcting himself again. Odd because he says it isn't Jerry's first time on the show.


----------



## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

I'm enjoying watching these reruns of Carson, especially from 1974 to 1982. Missed them all while serving in the United States Navy.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> Still love it when Carson's monologue bombs. So far my favorite comeback was something along the lines of "I'll win you over with my charm." Not really a funny line on paper but the way he fires those things off are perfect.


There was one monologue I saw (live) back in the late 70's - early 80's where Carson was just bombing.

Most of his jokes got no laughs and one or two got a few chuckles from the audience.

This was in August when Los Angeles was going through a triple digit heatwave and at one point, after another joke bombed, he looks at the audience and says, "You know, I _can_ turn off the air conditioning".


----------



## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

JYoung said:


> This was in August when Los Angeles was going through a triple digit heatwave and at one point, after another joke bombed, he looks at the audience and says, "You know, I _can_ turn off the air conditioning".


OK, that made me laugh.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Wow Robert Blake...don't know much about him or his criminal/civil cases but after that interview on 1/19 I wanted to yell, "Run, Christie, run!" I'm not sure how many times he referenced killing, shooting, and disliking society.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> Wow Robert Blake...don't know much about him or his criminal/civil cases but after that interview on 1/19 I wanted to yell, "Run, Christie, run!" I'm not sure how many times he referenced killing, shooting, and disliking society.


I never realized it back in the day, but watching him here, he did come off as a little unconventional for a celebrity. A bit nutty even.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Robert Blake always scared me.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

I've been faithfully watching every one of these reruns on Antenna TV, and it has renewed my appreciation for Carson now that I'm older. I'm in the middle of watching Johnny Carson: King of Late Night from 2012 on Amazon Prime. Never saw this before, and it's a really interesting documentary. If you haven't seen it, it offers a great deal of insight into the man.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I'm still bummed we don't get episodes with musical guests.. but I finally watched a full segment.. and not one of the big stars.. I watched the David Horowitz segment, since I remember watching his Fight Back show when I was a kid. Err, I also watched the short segment where Peter Falk "broke in" and talked about Columbo. I'll have to go back through the episode summaries since it didn't pop out as one I remembered.. (He did mention around 25 being done before though.)

I end up skimming through/30 second skipping and listening to a joke here and there otherwise.. Still an interesting show. Then again, even as a huge letterman fan and having watched most of them, I liked it when A&E ran reruns (until Letterman sued/got mad at them and they stopped).


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Mine are starting to backlog a bit now due to my video gaming addiction but I find the older the OAD then the more likely I am to watch it. I sort of wish they were showing them in some sort of chronological order. I absolutely love the non-celebrity guests and caught the Newhart appearance last night with the cop in the beginning. The Chief was pretty funny concerning his departments lack of a decent patrol car and so was Newhart's followups with Carson about NOT getting the department a new car.


----------



## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

Caught a Jane Fonda appearance (thank you Tivo!)
Great, great, great.
What a time capsule.
Carson was indeed the Master.


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Still backlogged but caught monday night's airing from 7/22/82 with Robin Williams which was spectacular. Couldn't stop laughing the whole hour and I guess the other guest got bumped. It appears Carson was even trying to mimic Williams to keep up with him.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

I thought I would record, and see a guest that I would want to watch, but I start watching and get sucked in. the unknown ( well to me) guests, (people in the news at the time, or writers, or such), have been a plus.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> I thought I would record, and see a guest that I would want to watch, but I start watching and get sucked in. the unknown ( well to me) guests, (people in the news at the time, or writers, or such), have been a plus.


+1
I have been enjoying the entire shows.
Johnny was THE best.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

He definitely seemed to have many "average" people on from what I've seen so far. Those are always interesting and like a neat little time capsule. I kinda wish these were in chronological order though. One night they're talking about how many days they have left on the air and the next we're back in the early 1970's. It is OK though I'm happy to have these on the air.


----------



## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I loved the Bette Davis episode.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> Still backlogged but caught monday night's airing from 7/22/82 with Robin Williams which was spectacular. Couldn't stop laughing the whole hour and I guess the other guest got bumped. It appears Carson was even trying to mimic Williams to keep up with him.


Any time with Robin Williams is on is a treat.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I'm 99% FFing through these, have watched a few random guests..

So I admit I may have missed the explanations if they were given. (I did back up at least once and try to find it...)

Does anybody have any idea why Ed McMahon was missing in various episodes? Doc would be sitting on the couch talking to Johnny. (As I said, I went back, didn't see any mention of him being sick or anything.)


----------



## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

mattack said:


> I'm 99% FFing through these, have watched a few random guests..
> 
> So I admit I may have missed the explanations if they were given. (I did back up at least once and try to find it...)
> 
> Does anybody have any idea why Ed McMahon was missing in various episodes? Doc would be sitting on the couch talking to Johnny. (As I said, I went back, didn't see any mention of him being sick or anything.)


The ones I have watched I don't do much FFing but no explanations are generally given. Ed did have numerous other projects though as with Bloopers/Star Search and some movie roles. Doc actually seems to be missing more often and usually Carson would explain he was playing a gig somewhere else so Tommy Newsom would step in.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I actually checked the date on one of the ones he was missing on while I was watching it.. I am almost positive it was either 70s or VERY early 80s.. before he had those other gigs, AFAIK..

Though really, I think the TS was really his main gig and you'd think Johnny would've been mad at him for prioritizing some other show over his, if that's really the reason..

At one point I had thought maybe it was from before Ed was even on the show, but I remember checking that, and it wasn't.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Now I'm tempted to read one of Ed's books to see if he explains any of that. Plus just looking at his Wikipedia page he does seem to have had a very interesting life before Carson. Being a fighter pilot. Cool. Ed's IMDB list is more extensive than I thought spanning almost his entire life: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573012/


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

I am not watching each episode in its entirety but I am finding some of the guests interesting in context of what was going on at the time...

Johnny asking Jodie Foster about Hinkley and the Reagan shooting and how she handled that! OMG

Last night they aired Cass Elliot so I watched and then found it fascinating when I looked up the dates (air date May 7, 1974) and she died 2 months later July 29, 1974.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Cainebj said:


> Johnny asking Jodie Foster about Hinkley and the Reagan shooting and how she handled that! OMG


She got him pretty well flustered at the end of the interview too.


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

I'm loving these and I'm still watching every episode. It's fascinating to hear what was going on at the time in the monologues. 

Many of these shows are from the 80's when I was in high school, so I wasn't big into news, politics or current events and I wouldn't have been watching this show. But watching these reruns I go back and Wiki many of the guests and the news events and they're quite interesting. A recent episode had Johnny doing a joke about how Minoxidil had just been approved for hair loss. 

Looking up Jodie Foster, I've learned that she very rarely talked about the Hinkley incident, and when she did it was somewhat reluctantly. Which is why I was quite surprised that Johnny asked about it on the show.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

I knew Tim Conway was very funny on Carol Burnett Show, but he had me laughing real hard on the two appearances last week on Carson.


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## TiVo'Brien (Feb 8, 2002)

Cainebj said:


> .....Last night they aired Cass Elliot so I watched and then found it fascinating when I looked up the dates (air date May 7, 1974) and she died 2 months later July 29, 1974.


Johnny even said coming on the Tonight Show might be a curse for her. After a previous appearance on the show she tripped over a back lot manhole cover, twisting her ankle and went to the hospital. After this appearance, she died!


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

rahnbo said:


> She got him pretty well flustered at the end of the interview too.


especially since they were talking about marrying each other..


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Interesting that we only got to see the ep with Mama Cass because Doc and the orchestra were out on strike, changing her segment from a musical performance (for which Antenna TV wouldn't have cleared the rights) to an interview.


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## Michael S (Jan 12, 2004)

Tomorrow their going pay tribute to Garry Shandling by playing his first appearance on the Tonight Show.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

Just browsing thru the posts quickly and realize The Tonight Show was really a chronicle of the times.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

On a side note, you can see late '60s eps of Merv Griffin once a week over on getTV. The scheduling is seriously random, though.


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

lambertman said:


> On a side note, you can see late '60s eps of Merv Griffin once a week over on getTV. The scheduling is seriously random, though.


thanks.

I'm liking this show just as much as Carson. And they don't seem to have a problem with music rights.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Michael S said:


> Tomorrow their going pay tribute to Garry Shandling by playing his first appearance on the Tonight Show.


Yeah, that was cool seeing the whole routine that all of the tributes kept showing the bank pen gag from.

Maybe it's just my brain seeing patterns that aren't really there, but they seem to be bunching the same actor together closely.. Maclean Stevenson, Buddy Hackett each in multiple episodes near each other.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

mattack said:


> Yeah, that was cool seeing the whole routine that all of the tributes kept showing the bank pen gag from.
> 
> Maybe it's just my brain seeing patterns that aren't really there, but they seem to be bunching the same actor together closely.. Maclean Stevenson, Buddy Hackett each in multiple episodes near each other.


I noticed that too and that they seem to be trying to air shows that are near the same day of the year as the OAD. It's a little funny when you watch 2 or 3 shows in a row and Carson is talking about the same holiday years apart from each other.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

mattack said:


> Yeah, that was cool seeing the whole routine that all of the tributes kept showing the bank pen gag from.
> 
> Maybe it's just my brain seeing patterns that aren't really there, but they seem to be bunching the same actor together closely.. Maclean Stevenson, Buddy Hackett each in multiple episodes near each other.


That's the way it seems to me too.

And for those of you that are too young to really know anything about Buddy Hackett, it should be mentioned that, at the time, he was considered one of the dirtiest comedians out there. He and Redd Foxx were notorious. I'm sure their stuff would be considered tame now, but back then they at the top. That's one reason that Carson seems to laugh when Buddy is telling a story even though it doesn't seem funny. It's funny to Carson because he knows how much Hackett is struggling to keep the story clean enough for television.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Now I'm not sure which guest it was recently, maybe it was during Buddy Hackett, but Johnny made a VERY risque joke, IMHO. I don't remember what he said, but it seemed to me to very directly be an onanism (look it up) joke. Oh, something about him having better things to do as a teenager or something.. Even "master of my domain" on "Seinfeld" a decade or two later was much tamer.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Note, you need a new OnePass.. thanks to CoxInPHX

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10859760

Also, I'm still only skimming through most of these shows, watching a RARE guest (or partial guest), even in QuickMode.. (I'd probably watch more if I weren't already recording a zillion other shows.)

One thing I notice though -- when something is interesting, I have a very long attention span.. But even on the hour long eps (even moreso on the 90 min eps), he has MUCH longer conversations with the guests than talk shows do nowadays..


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

This change isn't only Cox. Had to redo my 1P on Comcast too. And they really screwed it up because now the program descriptions are generic. You no longer get the guest list and original air date in the description. It's also recording both showings of each episode.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

I am now showing upcoming episodes back to the original OnePass

Strange, not sure what is going one here...


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

The episode Saturday night looks like it might be another wild one. The guest list shows:

Buddy Hackett
Dean Martin
Burt Reynolds
Don Rickles
Carol Wayne

I'm looking forward to it.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Looks like I didn't mention this before.. I still FF through most of the stuff, mostly just because I'm recording other stuff I like better.. Some of these interviews are very intriguing..

But one thing I've noticed is (and this isn't EXACTLY related to me recording other stuff)... I consider myself as someone who has a long attention span when something is interesting.. But his interviews are _LONG_, even ones from the 80s, compared to what you see on talk shows nowadays. I guess the other guys do way more comedy bits.

Guests sometimes have 3 segments.. and they sometimes talk about really trivial things.

Sometimes it can be fascinating, sometimes it can be boring.


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## TiVo'Brien (Feb 8, 2002)

mattack said:


> Looks like I didn't mention this before.. I still FF through most of the stuff, mostly just because I'm recording other stuff I like better.. Some of these interviews are very intriguing..
> 
> But one thing I've noticed is (and this isn't EXACTLY related to me recording other stuff)... I consider myself as someone who has a long attention span when something is interesting.. But his interviews are _LONG_, even ones from the 80s, compared to what you see on talk shows nowadays. I guess the other guys do way more comedy bits.
> 
> ...


I noticed that, too. The differences are striking. But when each show is 90 minutes long, you gotta fill it up with something.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Even the 60 minute episodes seem like this sometimes.. Though I admit, we're seeing the music-free episodes, so there's more time to fill.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

midas said:


> The episode Saturday night looks like it might be another wild one. The guest list shows:
> 
> Buddy Hackett
> Dean Martin
> ...


I watched this last night. Turns out the reason for all the big names, it was the 11th or 12th anniversary of Johnny's hosting the Tonight Show. Air date was Oct 1973. So they made a big deal of it being his anniversary.

The show was good, really good, but not great. I think being a special show made it slightly stiffer than usual. He even commented on everyone's nervousness.

Dino's appearance was a quick drop-in at the beginning. No couch time. Buddy Hackett was always funny, but had to watch his jokes (censors were tough back then). Burt Reynolds was only on because he was super-hot at the time, and was a good buddy of Johnny. He was almost comatose for most of the show. Don Rickles also great. But none of their shticks was as funny as other appearances. The best part, of course, is Buddy & Don making fun of Burt.

B+.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

astrohip said:


> I watched this last night. Turns out the reason for all the big names, it was the 11th or 12th anniversary of Johnny's hosting the Tonight Show. Air date was Oct 1973. So they made a big deal of it being his anniversary.
> 
> The show was good, really good, but not great. I think being a special show made it slightly stiffer than usual. He even commented on everyone's nervousness.


I agree, I was expecting more. But it's always fun to see Hackett struggle to keep it clean.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

midas said:


> But it's always fun to see Hackett struggle to keep it clean.


I saw him tell a joke once, I think it was on Carson (which seems hard to believe with censors and all), still funny today. It went something like this:

Spoilered for language, and remember, you gotta picture Buddy Hackett saying this in his inimitable manner...



Spoiler



A man walks into a diner with his two young sons. A waitress shows them to a booth and takes their order. She turns to the older boy first and asks him, What can I get you honey? He replies, Ill have a goddamn cheeseburger!

Without saying a word and without any hesitation, the father reaches across the table and smacks the kid, knocking him right out of the booth. So the kid is on the ground crying, and the waitress is all flustered. She tries to act as if nothing happened, and turns to the younger boy and asks, What can I get you sweetie?

The younger boy replies, I dont know, but you can bet your sweet ass I aint gonna get no goddamn cheeseburger!


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

What in the world was going on with Johnny's hair the other night?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Did anybody in other areas get the actual recordings this weekend? Both Sat & Sun were some other shows.. For one of them I even did a view upcoming for that same day's repeat and it wasn't the TS either.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

mattack said:


> Did anybody in other areas get the actual recordings this weekend? Both Sat & Sun were some other shows.. For one of them I even did a view upcoming for that same day's repeat and it wasn't the TS either.


Both were Carson.

Sat 4/30 was April 30, 1976
Sun 5/1 was Jan 10, 1980


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

OK, my cable company changed channels.. DAMN..
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10872197#post10872197


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

So how many Carsons do you have left to watch? I'm down to 27. Also, I'm not sure how long it has been doing so but The Dick Cavett Show is airing on the Decades channel. Unlike Carson I never saw Cavett's shows in real time. I just watched his interview with The Rolling Stones and Bobby Fischer and enjoyed it. The upcoming list of guests is fairly impressive.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

rahnbo said:


> So how many Carsons do you have left to watch? I'm down to 27.


Ha! At one time I had a couple dozen, now I'm down to a handful. I generally just skim them, only stopping to watch if it's someone I really want to see. Much of the time, I just want to see what that guest looked like back then. To which my reaction is 

I usually watch the old time comedians--Rickles, Buddy Hackett, Richard Pryor, J Winters, yada. Gold!


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## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

astrohip said:


> Ha! At one time I had a couple dozen, now I'm down to a handful. I generally just skim them, only stopping to watch if it's someone I really want to see. Much of the time, I just want to see what that guest looked like back then. To which my reaction is
> 
> I usually watch the old time comedians--Rickles, Buddy Hackett, Richard Pryor, J Winters, yada. Gold!


In the beginning I was watching them all, but now this is pretty much exactly what I do at this point.


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## osu1991 (Mar 6, 2015)

I have 167 on the dvr but haven't recorded any in a while. Seems the ones that might have someone I'm interested in watching are already on the dvr. Like many I just don't have time to watch regularly. I have several of Merv Griffins shows from GetTV also recorded. They're harder to keep track of now that the rovi data doesn't include any episode specific info for Merv's shows. Saw one of Mervs shows with Richard Pryor and Jerry Lewis that was hilarious.


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

Did they ever start airing episodes with musical acts?


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## osu1991 (Mar 6, 2015)

Only music act I've caught was one with Olivia Newton John from before Grease


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

mrizzo80 said:


> Did they ever start airing episodes with musical acts?


Very few. I know Sinatra performed and I recall a few others but I think they were classical performances.


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## Cainebj (Nov 11, 2006)

They also seem to be running some repeats of episodes they already aired. There was a Lucille Ball episode this past weekend they showed once before.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

Cainebj said:


> They also seem to be running some repeats of episodes they already aired. There was a Lucille Ball episode this past weekend they showed once before.


I seems like after the beginning of this year/2017 most of them were repeats so I got rid of the OP. I occasionally manually record one that doesn't look familiar but I quickly realize I have already seen it.


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## DG3 (Apr 7, 2015)

rahnbo said:


> Very few. I know Sinatra performed and I recall a few others but I think they were classical performances.


No doubt a licensing issue. Too expensive to pay for the rebroadcast music rights.

On the subject, I'm reminded of when WKRP in Cincinnati came out on DVD. All the music was replaced with either a cover version of the original song, or even a totally different less-expensive-to-license song. That did not go over well with fans of the show.


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

rahnbo said:


> I seems like after the beginning of this year/2017 most of them were repeats so I got rid of the OP. I occasionally manually record one that doesn't look familiar but I quickly realize I have already seen it.


The original press release touted "365 episodes" and I never saw a new press release, so I had assumed they're just going through the same cycle again.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

lambertman said:


> The original press release touted "365 episodes" and I never saw a new press release, so I had assumed they're just going through the same cycle again.


That is how I remembered it too. I thought they would stop airing them after the year was up but I guess what they meant is that they picked 365 eps to air for an unknown amount of time. That is OK though I'm glad we got the ones we did.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

lambertman said:


> The original press release touted "365 episodes" and I never saw a new press release, so I had assumed they're just going through the same cycle again.


It started to look like all repeats to me well before they got to 365 episodes. I too nuked the 1P.


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

I can ping my local media critic about the potential for fresh episodes. I'm pretty sure he has a connection to Sean Compton (the person that spearheaded the Carson project at Tribune).


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I think I just have my SP set for KAM=5, and I rarely actually watch any of them, so they're always turning over.


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