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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

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For the entire Tonight Show franchise, see The Tonight Show. For the 1955–1956 CBS variety show
hosted by Carson, see The Johnny Carson Show.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was an
American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring
NBC, the third iteration of the Tonight Show franchise. The Johnny Carson
show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final
episode on May 22, 1992.[1] Ed McMahon served as
Carson's sidekick and the show's announcer.

For its first decade, Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show

was based at the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York City, with some episodes recorded at NBC
Studios in Burbank, California; on May 1, 1972, the show
moved to Burbank as its main venue and remained there
exclusively after May 1972 until Carson's retirement.[2] The
show's house band, the NBC Orchestra, was led by Skitch Also known as The Tonight Show (franchise
Henderson, until 1966 when Milton Delugg took over, who brand)
was succeeded by Doc Severinsen less than a year later. Johnny Carson (Antenna TV
repeats)
The series has been ranked as one of the greatest TV
Genre Late-night talk/Variety
shows of all time in polls from both 2002 and 2013.[3][4]
Created by Steve Allen
William O. Harbach
Format [edit] Dwight Hemion
Johnny Carson's Tonight Show established the modern Sylvester L. Weaver Jr.
format of the late-night talk show:[5] a monologue sprinkled Written by Head writer:
with a rapid-fire series of 16 to 22 one-liners (Carson had a Walter Kempley (1963–1967)
rule of no more than three on the same subject) was Hank Bradford (1969–1975)
followed by sketch comedy, then moving on to guest Marshall Brickman (1969–
interviews and performances by musicians and stand-up 1970)
comedians. Occasionally, Carson interviewed prominent
Raymond Siller (1974–1989)
politicians such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill
Andrew Nicholls and Darrell
Clinton, Robert F. Kennedy, and Hubert Humphrey,
however Carson refused to discuss his personal political Vickers (1989–1992)
views on the show out of concern it might alienate his Presented by Johnny Carson
audience[6] and resisted efforts from his writing staff, Narrated by Ed McMahon
particularly head writer and admitted liberal Marshall
Theme music Paul Anka
Brickman, to include more political material in the show.[7]

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Other regulars were selected for their entertainment or composer

information value, in contrast to those who offered more Opening "Johnny's Theme"
cerebral conversation.[8] theme
Country of United States
His preference for access to Hollywood stars caused the
show's move to the West Coast on May 1, 1972; The origin
Tonight Show would not return to New York until 2014 Original English
when Jimmy Fallon took the hosting reins.[9] When asked language
about intellectual conversation on The Tonight Show,
No. of 30
Carson and his staff invariably cited "Carl Sagan, Paul
seasons
Ehrlich, Margaret Mead, Gore Vidal, Shana Alexander,
Madalyn Murray O'Hair" as guests;[8] one television critic No. of 6,714 (list of episodes)
stated, however, "he always presented them as if they episodes
were spinach for your diet when he did [feature such Production
names]."[10] Family therapist Carlfred Broderick appeared
on the show ten times,[11] and psychologist Joyce Brothers Producers Fred de Cordova
was one of Carson's most frequent guests. Carson, in Peter Lassally
general, did not feature prop comedy acts (Carson was not Production NBC Studios
averse to using prop comedy himself); such acts, with locations New York City (1962–1972)
Gallagher being a prominent example, more commonly NBC Studios
appeared when guest hosts helmed the program.[12] Burbank, California (1972–
1992)
Carson almost never socialized with guests before or after
the show; frequent interviewee Orson Welles recalled that Camera setup Multi-camera
Tonight Show employees were astonished when Carson Running time 47–105 minutes
visited Welles's dressing room to say hello before a show.
Unlike his avuncular counterparts Merv Griffin, Mike Original release
Douglas, and Dick Cavett, Carson was a comparatively Network NBC
"cool" host who only laughed when genuinely amused and
abruptly cut short monotonous or embarrassingly inept Release October 1, 1962 –
interviewees. Mort Sahl recalled, "The producer crouches May 22, 1992
just off camera and holds up a card that says, 'Go to Related
commercial.' So Carson goes to a commercial and the
whole team rushes up to his desk to discuss what had Carson's Comedy Classics
gone wrong, like a pit stop at Le Mans." Actor Robert
Blake once compared being interviewed by Carson to "facing the death squad" or "Broadway on opening
night." The publicity value of appearing on The Tonight Show was so great, however, that most guests
were willing to subject themselves to the risk.[8]

Show regulars [edit]

Ed McMahon [edit]

The series' announcer and Carson's sidekick was Ed McMahon, who from the first show would introduce
Carson with a drawn-out "Here's Johnny!" (something McMahon was inspired to do by the
overemphasized way he had introduced reporter Robert Pierpoint on the NBC Radio Network program
Monitor). The catchphrase was heard nightly for 30 years, and ranked top of the TV Land poll of U.S. TV
catchphrases and quotes in 2006;[13] it has been referenced in all media going from The Shining to
Johnny Bravo to a "Weird Al" Yankovic album cut; it was even used for the character Johnny Cage in the

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video game series Mortal Kombat.

McMahon, who held the same role in Carson's ABC game show Who Do You Trust? for five years
previously, would remain standing to the side as Carson did his monologue, laughing (sometimes
obsequiously) at his jokes, then join him at the guest chair when Carson moved to his desk. The two
would usually interact in a comic spot for a short while before the first guest was introduced.

McMahon stated in a 1978 profile of Carson in The New Yorker that "the 'Tonight Show' is my staple
diet, my meat and potatoes—I'm realistic enough to know that everything else stems from that." After a
1965 incident in which he ruined Carson's joke on the air, McMahon was careful to, as he said, "never to
go where [Carson]'s going."[8] He wrote in his 1998 autobiography:

My role on the show never was strictly defined. I did what had to be done when it had to be
done. I was there when he needed me, and when he didn't I moved down the couch and kept
quiet. ... I did the audience warm-up, I did commercials, for a brief period I co-hosted the first
fifteen minutes of the show..., and I performed in many sketches. On our thirteenth-
anniversary show Johnny and I were talking at his desk and he said, "Thirteen years is a long
time." He paused long enough for me to recognize my cue, so I asked, "How long is it?"
"That's why you're here," he said, probably summing up my primary role on the show
perfectly... I had to support him, I had to help him get to the punch line, but while doing it I
had to make it look as if I wasn't doing anything at all. The better I did it, the less it appeared
as if I was doing it....If I was going to play second fiddle, I wanted to be the Heifetz of second
fiddlers....The most difficult thing for me to learn how to do was just sit there with my mouth
closed. Many nights I'd be listening to Johnny and in my mind I'd reach the same ad lib just
as he said it. I'd have to bite my tongue not to say it out loud. I had to make sure I wasn't too
funny—although critics who saw some of my other performances will claim I needn't have
worried. If I got too many laughs, I wasn't doing my job; my job was to be part of a team that
generated the laughs.[14]

Bandleaders and others [edit]

The Tonight Show had a live big band for nearly all of its existence. The
NBC Orchestra during Carson's reign was originally led by Skitch
Henderson (who had previously led the band during Tonight Starring
Steve Allen), followed briefly by Milton DeLugg. Starting in 1967 and
continuing until Jay Leno took over, the band was led by Doc
Severinsen, with Tommy Newsom filling in for him when he was absent
or filling in for McMahon as the announcer (this usually happened when
a guest host substituted for Carson, which generally gave McMahon the
night off as well).[15] The series' instrumental theme music, "Johnny's
Theme", was a re-arrangement of the Paul Anka composition "Toot
Sweet", which Anka and Annette Funicello had separately recorded,
with lyrics, as "It's Really Love".[16] During shows when Newsom filled
in for Severinsen, the band played a slightly truncated version of the
theme that transitioned from the bridge to the closing phrase without
reprising the first few notes of the main melody. The NBC Orchestra
was the last in-house studio orchestra to perform on American Doc Severinsen led the
television. NBC Orchestra beginning in
1967; he held the role until the
Behind the scenes, motion picture director/producer Fred de Cordova show's finale
joined The Tonight Show in 1970 as producer, graduating to executive

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producer in 1984. Unlike many people of his position, de Cordova often

appeared on the show, bantering with Carson from his chair off-camera (though occasionally a camera
would be pointed in his direction).

Dick Cavett was Carson's original head writer. He was succeeded by Marshall Brickman when Cavett
left to pursue a stand-up career in 1964. The Tonight Show writing staff was structured so that the head
writer was responsible for all of the material except for the nightly monologues, which the remainder of
the staff handled; Brickman remarked in a 2009 interview that this was the main reason why he, at 25,
got his position without any major experience, since all of the other writers under Cavett declined the
offer.[7]

Recurring segments and skits [edit]

Characters [edit]

Carnac the Magnificent, in which Carson played a psychic who

clairvoyantly divined the answer to a question contained in a
sealed envelope. This was to some degree a variation on Steve
Allen's recurring "The Question Man" sketch. The answer was
always an outrageous pun. "Carnac" examples:
"Debate" ... "What do you use to catch de fish?"
"Baja" ... "What sound does a sheep make when it laughs?"
"Ben-Gay" ... "Why didn't Mrs. Franklin have any kids?"
"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou" ... "Name three
things that have yeast." Carson as Carnac the
"Three Dog Night" ... "What's a bad night for a tree?" Magnificent, a reoccurring
"Mount Baldy" ... "What did Yul Brynner's wife do on their comedic role he introduced in
wedding night?" also "How do you play 'horsey' with Don 1964.
Rickles?"
"Sis boom bah" ... "Describe the sound made when a sheep
explodes." (Ed McMahon's personal favorite)[17]
If the laughter fell short when a line bombed (as it often did), "Carnac" would face the audience with
mock seriousness and bestow a comic curse: "May a diseased yak befriend your sister!" or "May a rabid
holy man bless your nether regions with a power tool!"

"Floyd R. Turbo," a dimwitted yokel responding to a TV station editorial. Floyd always spoke
haltingly, as though reading from cue cards, and railed against some newsworthy topic, like
Secretaries' Day: "This raises the question: Kiss my Dictaphone!"
"Art Fern," the fast-talking host of a "Tea Time Movie" program, who advertised inane products,
assisted by the attractive Matinee Lady, played by Paula Prentiss (late 1960s), Carol Wayne (the
most familiar Matinee Lady, 1971–81, 1984), Danuta Wesley (1982), and Teresa Ganzel (1984–92).
He imitated the vocal stylings of Jackie Gleason's character "Reginald Van Gleason". The fake
movies Art would introduce usually had eclectic casts ("Ben Blue, Red Buttons, Jesse White, and
Karen Black") and nonsensical titles ("Rin-Tin-Tin Gets Fixed Fixed Fixed"). This would be followed
by a four-second stock film clip before coming back for another commercial, usually catching Art and
the Matinee Lady in a very compromising position. On giving directions to a fake store he was
touting, Fern would show a spaghetti-like road map, sometimes with a literal "fork in the road," other
times making the joke, "Go to the Slauson Cutoff...," and the audience would recite with him, "...cut
off your Slauson!" The character was previously named "Honest Bernie Schlock" and then "Ralph

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Willie" when the Tea Time sketches first aired in the mid-to-late 1960s. At least one surviving pre-
1972 Art Fern sketch that originated from New York had its movie show title as "The Big Flick," an
amalgam of two movie show titles in use at the time by New York station WOR-TV, The Big Preview
and The Flick. On that sketch Lee Meredith was the Matinee Lady. Carson's Comedy Classics
features an episode where Juliet Prowse is in the role of Matinee Lady, from 20 August 1971.
"Aunt Blabby," an old woman whose appearance and speech pattern bore more than a passing
resemblance to comedian Jonathan Winters' character "Maude Frickert." A frequent theme would be
McMahon happening to mention a word or phrase that could suggest death, as in "What tourist
attractions did you check out?," to which Aunt Blabby would respond, "Never say check out to an old
person!"
"El Mouldo," mysterious mentalist. He would announce some mind-over-matter feat and always fail,
although triumphantly shouting "El Mouldo has done it again!" Ed McMahon would take exception,
noting El Mouldo's failure. "Did I fail before?" asked El Mouldo. "Yes!," replied McMahon, to which El
Mouldo said, "Well, I've done it again!" El Mouldo was in large part a continuation of Carson's
mentalist character Dillinger, which he had performed on The Johnny Carson Show in 1955 on CBS-
TV; Dillinger was an obvious spoof of Dunninger, leading to complaints and threats of lawsuits
against Carson and CBS.
"David Howitzer, Consumer Supporter," a thinly veiled satire of consumer reporter David Horowitz.
Howitzer's segments (in a rare example of prop comedy for the show) usually featured purported
counterfeit consumer goods (usually gag props) that unscrupulous mail-order companies had sent
his unsuspecting viewers (for example, a woman who spent thousands of dollars on an oriental rug
instead received a cheap toupee made in Taiwan).
"Ronald Reagan." During President Reagan's term in office, Carson developed an impersonation of
the president that was featured regularly in a Mighty Carson Art Players segment.[18] Carson also did
a less memorable impersonation of Jimmy Carter during his term as President.

Bits [edit]

"Stump the Band," where studio audience members ask the band to try to play obscure songs given
only the title. Unlike when this routine was done during the Jack Paar years with the Jose Melis band,
Severinsen's band almost never knew the song, but that did not stop them from inventing one on the
spot. Example:
Guest's request: "My Dead Dog Rover"
Doc Severinsen, singing: "My dead dog Rover / lay under the sun / and stayed there all summer /
until he was done!"
David Letterman revived this bit later, along with the CBS Orchestra on his Late Show.
"The Mighty Carson Art Players,"[18] (depending on one's point of view, the name was an obvious
tribute to or ripoff of radio legend Fred Allen's Mighty Allen Art Players). While Carson's show was
primarily a talk show, with performances by guests, periodically Carson and a group of stock
performers would perform skits that spoofed news, movies, television shows, commercials, and past
events. A Mighty Carson Art Players appearance would usually be announced along with that night's
guests during McMahon's introduction.
Example: Johnny, dressed as a doctor, starting to talk about some intimate topic (just as in the real
ad) and then being hit by cream pies from several directions at once.
"The Edge of Wetness," in which Johnny would read humorous plot summaries of a fictional soap
opera (such as The Edge of Night) while the camera randomly chose an unsuspecting audience
member whom Carson claimed was, for example, the butler from the soap.
"Headlines," developed by Jay Leno, and seen only during nights when he guest-hosted beginning
in 1986, featured humorous stories and typos from newspaper clippings. This carried over when
Leno became permanent host in 1992.

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"How ___ was it?" a recurring call-and-response during Carson's monologues. Carson would set up
the joke with a passing comment about, for instance, the weather with the phrase "It was so hot..."
prompting the audience to respond "HOW HOT WAS IT?" Carson would then follow with several
punch lines (e.g. "I heard Burger King singing, 'If you want it made your way, cook it yourself!'").
Carson would occasionally throw the audience off with an anti-joke (such as "it was worth the trip in,
wasn't it?").

Programming history [edit]

Jack Paar's last appearance was on March 29, 1962, and due to Carson's
commitment to the ABC game show Who Do You Trust?, he could not
take over until October 1 (the day his ABC contract expired). His first
guests were Rudy Vallée, Tony Bennett, Mel Brooks, and Joan
Crawford.[19] Carson inherited from Paar a show that was 1 3/4 hours (105
minutes) long.[8] The show broadcast two openings, one starting at
11:15 p.m. and including the monologue, the other that listed the guests
and re-announced the host, starting at 11:30 p.m. The two openings gave
affiliates the option of screening either a fifteen-minute or thirty-minute
local newscast preceding Carson. Since 1959, the show had been
videotaped earlier the same broadcast day.

As more affiliates introduced thirty minutes of local news, Carson's

monologue was being seen by fewer people. To rectify this situation, Ed Carson's first Tonight
McMahon and Skitch Henderson co-hosted the first fifteen minutes of the Show on New Year's Eve,
show between February 1965 and December 1966 without Carson, who 1962; shown with Skitch
then took over at 11:30. Finally, because he wanted the show to start Henderson and Ed
when he came on, at the beginning of January 1967 Carson insisted the McMahon
11:15 segment be eliminated (which, he claimed in a monologue at the
time, "no one actually watched except the Armed Forces and four Navajos
in Gallup, New Mexico").[20]

January 2, 1967 – September 12, 1980: Monday–Friday 11:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m.

January 1965 – September 1966: Saturday or Sunday 11:15 p.m.–1:00 a.m. (reruns, initially billed as
The Saturday Tonight Show)
September 1966 – September 1975: Saturday or Sunday 11:30 p.m.–1:00 a.m. (reruns, now
identified as The Saturday/Sunday Tonight Show; The Weekend Tonight Show by 1973)
By the mid-1970s Tonight was the most profitable show on television, making NBC $50 to $60 million
($220 to $270 million in 2022) each year.[8] Carson influenced the scheduling of reruns (which typically
aired under the title The Best of Carson) in the mid-1970s and, in 1980, the length of each evening's
broadcast, by threatening NBC with, in the first case, moving to another network, and in the latter,
retiring altogether.

In order to work fewer days each week, Carson began to petition network executives in 1974 that reruns
on the weekends be discontinued, in favor of showing them on one or more nights during the week.[21]
In response to his demands, NBC created a new comedy/variety series to feed to affiliates on Saturday
nights that debuted in October 1975, Saturday Night Live.

In 1980, Carson renewed his contract with the stipulation that the show lose its last half-hour. On the last
90-minute show (September 12, 1980), Carson explained that by going to an hour, the show would feel
more fast-paced, and have a greater selection of guests.

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For a year, Tom Snyder's existing talk show, Tomorrow, was expanded to 90 minutes and forced to
change its format, adding gossip reporter Rona Barrett as a co-host and taking on the name Tomorrow
Coast to Coast. This was short-lived as a year and a half later, Snyder had quit and Tomorrow Coast to
Coast had been canceled. Carson was given authority to fill the vacant time slot and used it to create
Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993). Today, The Tonight Show remains one hour in length and
is still followed by Late Night, currently under the title Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014–).

September 15, 1980 – August 30, 1991: Monday–Friday 11:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m.
September 2, 1991 – May 22, 1992: Monday–Friday 11:35 p.m.–12:35 a.m.[22]
In May 1991, following positive viewer reception during tests in St. Louis (KSDK) and Dallas–Fort Worth
(KXAS), NBC reached an agreement with Carson Productions to delay the show's start time by five
minutes beginning September 2, allowing its stations to include more commercials during their local
newscasts. (The timeshift would also affect Late Night, Later with Bob Costas, and station-programmed
overnight syndicated shows.) NBC executives had been proposing the five-minute delay idea to Carson
since 1988, only to be repeatedly rebuffed, amid concerns that some of its affiliates—particularly those
that had unsuccessfully sought permission to delay the Tonight Show by a half-hour—would begin
preempting the program entirely and replace it with syndicated reruns to generate extra revenue from
local advertising.[22]

In an onscreen eulogy to Carson in 2005, David Letterman said that every talk show host owes his
livelihood to Johnny Carson during his Tonight Show run.[23]

1979–1980 contract battle [edit]

In 1979, when Fred Silverman was the head of NBC, Carson took
the network to court, claiming that he had been a free agent since
April of that year because his most recent contract had been signed
in 1972. Carson cited a California law barring certain contracts from
lasting more than seven years. NBC claimed that it had signed three
agreements since then and Carson was bound to the network until
April 1981.[24] While the case was settled out of court,[25] the friction
between Carson and the network remained and Carson was actively
courted by rival network ABC, which was willing to double Carson's
salary and offer him a lighter work schedule and ownership of the
show. NBC, in turn, was ready to offer The Tonight Show to Carson's
most frequent guest host at the time, Richard Dawson.[26]

Eventually, Carson reached an agreement that paid $25 million a

year while reducing his workload from 90 to 60 minutes, with new
With Dick Cavett and Alan King
shows airing only three nights a week 37 weeks a year (a guest host
would appear Monday nights and for most of Carson's 15 weeks of
vacation and "Best of Carson" reruns would air Tuesdays) and also give him ownership of the show, as
well as its back catalog, and of the time slot following the Tonight Show which became Late Night with
David Letterman produced by Carson Productions.[27][28] In September 1980, Carson's eponymous
production company gained ownership of the show[29][30] after owning it from 1969 to the early 1970s.[8]

Archives [edit]

Unfortunately, only 33 complete episodes of Johnny Carson's

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Tonight Show that had originally aired prior to May 1, 1972 are
known to exist.[31] All other shows during this period, including
Carson's debut as host, are now considered lost. Carson himself
initially encouraged the erasure of his archives thinking that the
shows were of no real value and that NBC should "make guitar
picks" out of them. Carson's shows were preserved by NBC into the
early 1970s, but then thrown out to free storage space after the show
moved to Burbank, California. When Carson later learned of their
destruction, he was furious.[32] Some memorable moments.
Top left: Carson's first show with
Other surviving material from the era has been found on kinescopes Groucho, 1962. Top right: Carson
held in the archives of the Armed Forces Radio and Television practices pitching at Yankee
Service, or in the personal collections of guests of the program, while Stadium, 1962. Bottom left: Tiny
a few moments such as Tiny Tim's wedding, were preserved. New Tim's wedding, 1969. Bottom right:
York meteorologist Dr. Frank Field, an occasional guest during the Carson does a skydiving
years he was weather forecaster for WNBC-TV, showed several demonstration, 1968.
clips of his appearances with Carson in a 2002 career retrospective
on WWOR-TV; Field had maintained the clips in his own personal
archives.[citation needed] There are also two appearances by Judy Garland in 1968 that still survive. John
Lennon and Paul McCartney's joint appearance on the May 14, 1968 episode guest-hosted by Joe
Garagiola, with a guest appearance by Tallulah Bankhead (one of her last), was preserved on poor-
quality home kinescope and audiotape in separate recordings by Beatles fans.[33][34] Similarly, the
Supremes' May 22, 1967 appearance survives on poor-quality kinescope and an audio recording of their
April 5, 1968 appearance honoring the recently slain Martin Luther King Jr. was preserved.

The program archive is virtually complete from 1973 to 1992.[35] Carson Productions has also made
clips available on YouTube and Antenna TV.[36]

Although no footage is known to remain of Carson's first broadcast as host of The Tonight Show on
October 1, 1962, photographs taken that night survive, including Carson being introduced by Groucho
Marx, as does an audio recording of Marx's introduction and Carson's first monologue[citation needed]. One
of his first jokes upon starting the show (after receiving a few words of encouragement from Marx, one of
which was, "Don't go to Hollywood!") was to pretend to panic and say, "I want my nana!" (This recording
was played at the start of Carson's final broadcast on May 22, 1992.)[citation needed] The oldest surviving
video recording of the show is dated November 1962, while the oldest surviving color recording is from
April 1964, when Carson interviewed Jake Ehrlich Sr. as his guest.[37]

The 30-minute audio recordings of many of the "missing" episodes are contained in the Library of
Congress in the Armed Forces Radio collection. Many 1970s-era episodes have been licensed to
distributors that advertise mail-order offers on late-night TV.[citation needed] The later shows that exist in
full were stored by Carson in a bomb-proof underground salt mine outside Hutchinson, Kansas.[38]

The non-tape archives pertaining to Carson's show are held by the Elkhorn Valley Museum in Carson's
hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska. Beginning in 2020, the museum began working with the National
Comedy Center to preserve the archive.[39]

Rebroadcasts and streaming availability [edit]

A large amount of material from Carson's first two decades of The Tonight Show (1962–1982), much of

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it not seen since it had first aired, appeared in a half hour "clip/compilation" syndicated program known
as Carson's Comedy Classics that aired in 1983. Audio clips from the show were featured nightly on
WHO-AM in Des Moines, Iowa, in the mid-2000s. In 2014, Turner Classic Movies would begin rerunning
select interviews from the program for a new series called "Carson on TCM" presented by Conan
O'Brien, who himself hosted The Tonight Show briefly.[40]

The digital multicast network Antenna TV acquired rerun rights to whole episodes of the series in August
2015. Unlike the previous clip shows, Antenna TV's airings feature full broadcasts as they were originally
seen, with the only edits being removal of The Tonight Show name, with the show being renamed simply
as Johnny Carson (as of January 2018, the broadcasts air opposite the current edition of The Tonight
Show in much of the United States, and NBC still owns the trademark on that name), and with bumpers,
walk-on music and the closing theme being replaced by generic music cues from the Warner/Chappell
Production Music library. Most musical guest segments are also removed. Antenna TV began airing the
show seven days a week beginning January 1, 2016. Currently, 60-minute episodes (from September
1980 – May 1992) air Monday through Friday nights, and 90-minute episodes (from 1972 – September
12, 1980) Saturday and Sunday nights.[41]

Selected episodes of Carson's show are available on NBC's Peacock streaming service. Shout! Factory
launched a 24/7 streaming channel devoted to the series in August 2020, which is distributed through
various free over-the-top platforms, including Stirr, Xumo and Pluto TV. Recently, The Roku Channel
began streaming JohnnyCarsonTV on its multi-channel platform LiveTV.

Guest hosts [edit]

Jack Paar had often asked Carson to guest-host Tonight in its earliest years and repeatedly claimed he
had been responsible for NBC's selection of Carson in 1962 as his replacement. Steve Allen also utilized
guest hosts, including Carson and Ernie Kovacs, particularly after he began hosting The Steve Allen
Show in prime time in 1956 and needed to reduce his workload on Tonight.[citation needed]

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson had guest hosts for entire weeks during Carson's vacations
and other nights he had off. Many guest hosts were already large names in their own right, among them
Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds and Don Rickles. Comedian Woody Allen guest hosted three times
between 1966 and 1971. The following is a list of those who guest-hosted at least 50 times during the
first 21 years of the show's run:

Joey Bishop (177 times,[42] mostly in the 1960s)

Joan Rivers (93,[42] during the 1970s and 1980s[43])
John Davidson (87)[42]
Bob Newhart (87)[42]
David Brenner (70)[42]
McLean Stevenson (58)[42]
Jerry Lewis (52,[42] mostly in the 1960s)
David Letterman (51, mostly between 1980 and 1981)[42]
Sammy Davis Jr. guest hosted on November 23, 1964, becoming the first African-American to host a
talk show, and then guest hosted for a week in August 1966.[44] Harry Belafonte guest hosted for a week
in February 1968, and among Belafonte's guests were Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.,
just months before both men were assassinated (King in April; Kennedy in June).[45] On April 2, 1979,
Kermit the Frog was guest host.[46] In addition, many other Muppets appeared for skits and regular
segments: Frank Oz voiced Fozzie Bear and Animal, while Jerry Nelson performed Uncle Deadly, a

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Vincent Price–inspired Muppet during a segment with the real Price. Richard Dawson guest hosted 14
times during 1979 and 1980, and was being considered as a full-time replacement should Carson have
retired during his 1980 contract dispute with NBC.[26]

Carson's contract, that took effect in 1981, reduced his work schedule to three nights a week, 37 weeks
a year. "Best of Carson" reruns aired on Tuesdays in the weeks that Carson was hosting new shows.
Monday night shows and shows for most of the 15 weeks that Carson had off were hosted by guest
hosts. Due to the frequent need for substitutes, starting in 1983 permanent guest hosts were hired in
order to give the program more stability. The permanent guest hosts were Joan Rivers (1983–1986),[42]
then, after about a year where a wide range of guest hosts were used, Garry Shandling alternating with
Jay Leno (1987–1988) and finally Leno alone (1988–1992) after Shandling left to focus on his Showtime
series It's Garry Shandling's Show.[42] Leno, who first guest hosted in 1986, would do so 333 times
before becoming the next Tonight Show host in 1992. Though the concept of using "permanent" guest
hosts was fairly strictly adhered to, occasionally illness or some other situation necessitated a substitute
guest host, as when David Brenner filled in for Joan Rivers on October 31 and November 1, 1985, when
Rivers' husband was briefly hospitalized.

During the show's run, its cast and crew collaborated with a number of NBC sitcoms to produce spoof
episodes of the Tonight Show. These spoofs typically ran in the sitcom's usual spot on the broadcast
schedule and featured one of the sitcom's main characters as the guest host.

Joan Rivers [edit]

Main article: The Late Show (1986 talk show)
In September 1983, Joan Rivers was designated Carson's permanent guest host, a role she had been
essentially filling for the previous year. In 1986, after years as a guest and 190 total appearances as
guest host, she left the program for her own show on the then-new Fox Network. According to Carson,
Rivers never personally informed him of the existence of her show. Rivers, on the other hand,
disagreed.[47] Nevertheless, Rivers' new show was quickly canceled, and she never again appeared on
The Tonight Show with Carson. Nor did she appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, a ban
maintained by Leno out of respect for Carson.[48] She also never appeared during Conan O'Brien's
seven-month run. After Carson's death in 2005, Rivers told CNN that Carson never forgave her for
leaving, and never spoke to her again, even after she wrote him a note following the accidental death of
Carson's son Ricky in June 1991.[43] On February 17, 2014, Rivers returned to the Tonight Show as part
of a skit in which numerous celebrities paid new host, Jimmy Fallon, after having lost the bet that he
would never become the host of the program. Rivers appeared for a full-length interview segment on
March 27, 2014.[49]

The program of July 26, 1984, with guest host Joan Rivers, was the first MTS stereo broadcast in U.S.
television history,[50] though not the first television broadcast with stereophonic sound. Only NBC's
flagship local station in New York City, WNBC, had stereo broadcast capability at that time.[51] NBC
transmitted The Tonight Show in stereo sporadically through 1984 and on a regular basis beginning in
1985.[citation needed]

Consequential appearances [edit]

According to Skepticism activist James Randi, Carson invited Uri Geller, who claimed paranormal
powers, onto the Tonight Show specifically to disprove the Israeli performer's claims. Randi later wrote,
"that Johnny had been a magician himself", so prior to the date of taping, Randi was asked "to help

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prevent any trickery." Per Randi's advice, the show prepared their own props without informing Geller,
and did not let Geller or his staff "anywhere near them." When Geller joined Carson on stage, he
appeared surprised that he was not going to be interviewed, but instead was expected to display his
abilities using the provided articles. Geller said "This scares me." and "I'm surprised because before this
program your producer came and he read me at least 40 questions you were going to ask me." Geller
was unable to display any paranormal abilities, saying "I don't feel strong" and he expressed his
displeasure at feeling like he was being "pressed" to perform by Carson.[52][53]: 8:10 According to Adam
Higginbotham's Nov. 7, 2014 article in the New York Times:

The result was a legendary immolation, in which Geller offered up flustered excuses to his
host as his abilities failed him again and again. "I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated," Geller
told me, when I spoke to him in September. "I went back to my hotel, devastated. I was about
to pack up the next day and go back to Tel Aviv. I thought, That's it — I'm destroyed."[54]

However, this appearance on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk
Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham,

To Geller's astonishment, he was immediately booked on The Merv Griffin Show. He was on
his way to becoming a paranormal superstar. "That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller,"
Geller said. To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure only made his gifts seem more
real: If he were performing magic tricks, they would surely work every time.[54]

Carson's last shows [edit]

As his retirement approached, Carson tried to avoid sentimentality but would periodically show clips of
some of his favorite moments and again invited some of his favorite guests. He told his crew,
"Everything comes to an end; nothing lasts forever. Thirty years is enough. It's time to get out while
you're still working on top of your game, while you're still working well."[55]

Carson hosted his penultimate show, featuring guests Robin Williams and Bette Midler, on May 21,
1992.[56] The last of Carson's monologues was delivered on this episode and was written by Jim
Mulholland, Steven Kunes and Rift Fournier. Once underway, the atmosphere was electric and Carson
was greeted with a sustained, two-minute intense standing ovation.[57] Williams was especially
uninhibited with his trademark manic energy and stream-of-consciousness lunacy.[55][58] Midler was
more emotional.[58] When the conversation turned to Johnny's favorite songs, "I'll Be Seeing You" and
"Here's That Rainy Day," Midler mentioned that she knew a chorus of the latter. She began singing the
song, and after the first line, Carson joined in and turned it into an impromptu duet. Midler finished her
appearance from center stage, where she slowly sang the pop standard "One for My Baby (and One
More for the Road)." Carson became unexpectedly tearful, and a shot of the two of them was captured
by a camera angle from across the set that had never before been used on the show.[59] The audience
became tearful as well and called the three performers out for a second bow after the taping was
completed.[57] This show was immediately recognized as a television classic that Midler considered one
of the most emotional moments of her life and eventually won an Emmy for her role in it.[58][59][60]

Carson had no guests on his final episode of The Tonight Show on May 22, 1992, which was instead a
retrospective show taped before an invitation-only studio audience of family, friends, and crew. During
the show, Carson regretted that the first 10 years of his tenure as host no longer exist saying that he
would have loved to show the audience clips of Jayne Mansfield with Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre talking to
Tallulah Bankhead and even the first appearance of Bette Midler (who had appeared on Carson's
penultimate episode the night before) on the show.[55][56] More than fifty million people tuned in for this

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finale, which ended with Carson sitting on a stool alone at center stage, similar to Jack Paar's last show.
He said these final words in conclusion:

And so it has come to this: I, uh... am one of the lucky people in the world; I found something
I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I want to thank the
gentlemen who've shared this stage with me for thirty years. Mr. Ed McMahon, Mr. Doc
Severinsen, and you people watching. I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a
privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And I hope when I find
something that I want to do and I think you would like and come back, that you'll be as
gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good
night.

A few weeks after the final show aired, it was announced that NBC and Carson had struck a deal to
develop a new series. Ultimately, however, Carson chose not to return to television. He gave only two
major interviews after his retirement: one to The Washington Post in 1993, and the other to Esquire
magazine in 2002. Carson hinted in his 1993 interview that he did not think he could top what he had
already accomplished. He rarely appeared elsewhere after retiring, providing only a guest voice on an
episode of The Simpsons, which included him performing feats of strength and featured Bette Midler as
well. Carson's final television appearance was a cameo on the May 13, 1994, Late Show with David
Letterman where he handed over a copy of a Top 10 List and sat in Dave's chair for a minute. He was
prepared to say a few words, but the crowd's cheering was so loud and so sustained, that he
humorously decided to leave without saying anything—although as he exited, he could be heard saying
"Thank you, good night!"

In 2005, after Carson's death, it was revealed that he had made a habit of sending jokes to Dave
Letterman via fax machine which Letterman would then sometimes incorporate into his monologues. The
January 31, 2005, episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, which featured a tribute to Carson,
began with a monologue by Letterman composed entirely of jokes written by Carson himself after his
retirement.[61][62]

In 2011, the last Carson Tonight show was ranked No. 10 on the TV Guide Network special, TV's Most
Unforgettable Finales.[63]

See also [edit]

There's... Johnny!

References [edit]

1. ^ Bill Zehme (June 2002). "The Man Who Retired" . Esquire. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
2. ^ Carson brought the show back to Manhattan in November 1972 and again in May 1973.
3. ^ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows" . Cbsnews.com. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
4. ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time" . December 23, 2013.
5. ^ Drury, Jack (February 16, 2008). Fort Lauderdale: Playground of the Stars . Arcadia Publishing.
ISBN 9780738553511 – via Google Books.
6. ^ "American National Biography Online" .
7. ^ a b Sacks, Mike (July 8, 2009). And Here's The Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers . Writers
Digest. ISBN 978-1582975054. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
8. ^ a b c d e f g Tynan, Kenneth (February 20, 1978). "Fifteen Years of the Salto Mortale" . The New Yorker.
Retrieved March 16, 2011.
9. ^ Carter, Bill (March 20, 2013). " 'Tonight' Show Expected to Return to New York, With Fallon" . The New York

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Times. Retrieved March 20, 2013.

10. ^ Simon, Jeff (July 8, 2013). "The return of Johnny Carson on TCM" . The Buffalo News. Archived from the
original on September 27, 2013.
11. ^ "Carlfred B. Broderick, Noted Sociologist, Dies at 67" , USC News, September 6, 1999. Retrieved April 30,
2017.
12. ^ Episode 145 – Gallagher , WTF with Marc Maron, wtfpod.com
13. ^ " 'Here's Johnny' is top TV quote" . December 7, 2006 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
14. ^ McMahon, Ed (1998). For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times. Warner Books. p. 154. ISBN 0-446-
52370-4.
15. ^ "Bio" . Doc Severinsen. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
16. ^ Myers, Marc (January 7, 2014). "Tonight Show Theme: Evolution" . JazzWax. Archived from the original
on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
17. ^ "CNN Transcripts: Larry King Live" . CNN. February 22, 2006. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
18. ^ a b Fred Allen's Mighty Allen Art Players
19. ^ Harris, Jay S., ed. (1978). TV Guide: The First 25 Years. New York: New American Library. p. 65. ISBN 0-
452-25225-3.
20. ^ Uncle John's Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader. Portable Press. 1997. ISBN 978-1879682689.
21. ^ Hill, Doug; Weingrad, Jeff (2014). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. San Francisco:
Untreed Reads, LLC. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-61187-709-0.
22. ^ a b Carter, Bill (May 22, 1991). "NBC Moves Johnny Carson Starting Time by 5 Minutes" . The New York
Times.
23. ^ "Letterman delivers Carson-penned monologue" . CBC.ca. February 1, 2005. Archived from the original on
February 1, 2008.
24. ^ "Television: Family Feud" . Time magazine. September 24, 1979. Archived from the original on September
30, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
25. ^ "Law: Rent-a-Judge" . Time magazine. April 20, 1981. Archived from the original on November 30, 2006.
Retrieved August 7, 2007.
26. ^ a b the CNN Wire Staff. "Former 'Family Feud' host Richard Dawson dies - CNN" . CNN. Retrieved
November 15, 2018. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
27. ^ Bushkin, Henry; Lewis, Andy (October 9, 2013). "How Johnny Carson Nearly Quit 'Tonight' and Scored TV's
Richest Deal Ever" . The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
28. ^ "People" . Time Magazine. May 19, 1980. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved
August 7, 2007.
29. ^ Carter, Bill (1994). The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, and the Network Battle for the Night . New York, NY:
Hyperion. p. 27 . ISBN 0-7868-8907-1.
30. ^ "Johnny Carson Calls This Man 'Bombastic' All the Way to Bank." The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 1980, p.
14.
31. ^ "Digital Download – Volume 1" .
32. ^ "How many Johnny Carson Episodes are missing?" . Steve Hoffman Music Forums. January 1, 2022.
Retrieved July 19, 2022.
33. ^ "Pdxretro.com" . May 15, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
34. ^ "John Lennon & Paul McCartney Interview: The Tonight Show, May 14th 1968 – Beatles Interviews
Database" . beatlesinterviews.org. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved August 11,
2016.
35. ^ Johnny Carson: The Official Tonight Show Website, Clip Licensing .
36. ^ "Johnny Carson" . YouTube.
37. ^ Jake Ehrlich Sr. on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson Longer Version , retrieved February 25, 2023
38. ^ Stuever, Hank (May 13, 2012). "A Heartfelt Doc Deconstructs The King of Late Night". Washington Post.
39. ^ National Comedy Center to lead preservation of Johnny Carson archives; open new multi-media exhibit in
2022 . WGRZ. October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
40. ^ Werts, Diane (June 28, 2013). " 'Carson on TCM' review: Heeere's Johnny" . Newsday. Melville, New York.
Retrieved April 19, 2017.
41. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (August 12, 2015). "Johnny Carson Returns: Antenna TV to Air Full ‘Tonight Show’
Episodes. " Variety. Retrieved August 21, 2015.

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42. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of The Tonight Show" . JohnnyCarson.com. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
43. ^ a b "Johnny Carson, 79, Dies" . Live Event/Special rush transcript. CNN. January 23, 2005. Retrieved
May 12, 2009. "[D]uring our 17 years together, which were wonderful years, and he was the one that discovered
me and he was the one that said, "You're going to be a star" the first night I worked. He was an amazing man
and an amazing mentor. And then when I left the show to do my own show on Fox, he never forgave me, and
that made me terribly sad. We never spoke again."
44. ^ "Sammy Davis Jr. TV Guest Appearances" . Retrieved November 19, 2017.
45. ^ Harry Belafonte; Michael Shnayerson (2011). My Song: A Memoir . Alfred A. Knopf. p. 322 . ISBN 978-0-
307-27226-3.
46. ^ Barry Gordemer (Producer) (May 9, 2005). Happy 50th Birthday, Kermit! (audio recording). National Public
Radio. Event occurs at 1:20–1:25. Retrieved April 24, 2009. "...Kermit hosted The Tonight Show."
47. ^ "Joan Rivers on Johnny Carson's reaction to the start of her late show on Fox" . Youtube.com. Archived
from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
48. ^ Hinckley, David (August 6, 2009). "Two more football seasons for 'Friday Night Lights,' and other news from
the TV Critics Press Tour" . Daily News. Retrieved August 7, 2009. "We didn't feel it was right to invite her
while Johnny was alive," said Leno. "It was a respect thing for Johnny."
49. ^ "Russell Crowe/Joan Rivers/The National" . The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Season 1. Episode
29. March 27, 2014. nbc. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
50. ^ Lyons, James. Miami Vice. Wiley Publishing, 2010, p. 22
51. ^ Peter W. Kaplan, "TV Notes", New York Times, July 28, 1984, sec. 1, p. 46.
52. ^ "Unforgettable Uri Geller Appearance on Carson Tonight Show - 08/01/1973" . Youtube.com. Official Johnny
Carson YouTube channel. March 19, 2021. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved
March 22, 2021.
53. ^ "James Randi - Secrets of the Psychics Documentary (Full)" . Youtube.com. JREF. Archived from the
original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
54. ^ a b Higginbotham, Adam (November 7, 2014). "The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi" . The
New York Times. Archived from the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
55. ^ a b c Bernard Weinraub (May 23, 1992). "Fade Out for Johnny Carson, His Dignity and Privacy Intact" . The
New York Times.
56. ^ a b "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Season 30 Episode Guide" . TV.com. Retrieved October 26,
2011.
57. ^ a b Deborah Seibel (May 22, 1992). "Fans Put Johnny On The Spot" . Chicago Tribune.
58. ^ a b c Matt Roush (January 30, 2005). "Life After Johnny" . Broadcasting & Cable.
59. ^ a b Marc Shaiman (January 24, 2005). "Someone in a Tree: My view of Johnny Carson's last night" . The
Film Music Society.
60. ^ "Carson: He left 'Tonight Show' with popularity still running high" . The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon.
January 24, 2005. p. A1.
61. ^ Hancock, David (January 18, 2005). "Carson Feeds Jokes To Letterman" . CBS News. Associated Press.
62. ^ redOrbit (February 1, 2005). "Letterman Pays Special Tribute to Carson – Redorbit" .
63. ^ TV's Most Unforgettable Finales – Aired May 22, 2011 on TV Guide Network

External links [edit]

Official website
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson at IMDb
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television

v ·t·e The Tonight Show

Incarnations Steve Allen · Jack Paar · Johnny Carson · Jay Leno · Conan O'Brien · Jimmy Fallon

Episodes Carson · Leno · O'Brien · Fallon ("Premiere")

Kevin Eubanks and The Tonight Show Band ·

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The Tonight Show Band Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band ·
Rickey Minor and The Tonight Show Band · The Roots
Steve and Eydie · Miss Miller · Carnac the Magnificent · Floyd R. Turbo · Headlines ·
Recurring sketches
Leno era sketches · O'Brien era sketches · Fallon era sketches
Soundtracks Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show
Broadway Open House · The Steve Allen Show · The Jay Leno Show ·
"Johnny's Theme" · Late Night · Carson's Comedy Classics · 1992 host conflict ·
The Late Shift (film) · 2010 host and timeslot conflict (The War for Late Night) ·
Related articles
Johnny Carson: King of Late Night · "Ew!" · Lip Sync Battle ·
Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon · The Kids Tonight Show ·
That's My Jam · Password
Category

v ·t·e The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes

1960s 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969

1970s 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979

1980s 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989

1990s 1990 · 1991 · 1992

v ·t·e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series

The Alan Young Show (1951) · Your Show of Shows (1952) · Your Show of Shows (1953) · Omnibus
(1954) · Disneyland (1955) · The Ed Sullivan Show / Your Hit Parade (1956) · Caesar's Hour (1957) ·
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1958) · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1959) · The Fabulous Fifties
(1960) · Astaire Time (1961) · The Garry Moore Show (1962) · The Andy Williams Show (1963) ·
1951–1975 The Danny Kaye Show (1964) · The Andy Williams Show (1966) · The Andy Williams Show (1967) ·
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968) · Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1969) · The David Frost Show
(1970) · The Flip Wilson Show / The David Frost Show (1971) · The Carol Burnett Show /
The Dick Cavett Show (1972) · The Julie Andrews Hour (1973) · The Carol Burnett Show (1974) ·
The Carol Burnett Show (1975)
Saturday Night Live (1976) · Van Dyke and Company (1977) · The Muppet Show (1978) · Steve &
Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin (1979) · Baryshnikov on Broadway (1980) · Lily: Sold Out (1981) · Night
of 100 Stars (1982) · Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983) ·
A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1984) · Motown Returns to the Apollo (1985) ·
A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1986) · 41st Tony Awards (1987) · Irving Berlin's 100th
1976–2000 Birthday Celebration (1988) · The Tracey Ullman Show (1989) · In Living Color (1990) ·
63rd Academy Awards (1991) · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1992) ·
Saturday Night Live (1993) · Late Show with David Letterman (1994) ·
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1995) · Dennis Miller Live (1996) · Tracey Takes On... (1997) ·
Late Show with David Letterman (1998) · Late Show with David Letterman (1999) ·
Late Show with David Letterman (2000)
Late Show with David Letterman (2001) · Late Show with David Letterman (2002) ·
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2003) · The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2004) ·
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2005) · The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2006) ·

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2001–2014 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2007) · The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2008) ·
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2009) · The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2010) ·
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2011) · The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2012) ·
The Colbert Report (2013) · The Colbert Report (2014)

v ·t·e Joan Rivers

An Audience with... (1984) · Abroad in London (1992) · Live at the Apollo (2004) ·
Stand-up specials Another Audience with... (2006) · Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers (2009) ·
Don't Start with Me (2012)
The Girl Most Likely To... (screenplay, co-writer 1973) · Rabbit Test (screenplay, director 1978) ·
Films
Why We Laugh: Funny Women (producer, 2013)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (guest host, 1969–86) ·
The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers (host, 1986–87) · The Joan Rivers Show (host, 1989–1993) ·
Television
Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (producer, 2011–2014) · In Bed with Joan (writer/producer,
2013–14)

Related Filmography · Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work · Nip/Tuck: Joan Rivers · Louie: Joan

Family Edgar Rosenberg (husband) · Melissa Rivers (daughter)

Category

Categories: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1960s American late-night television series
1960s American sketch comedy television series 1960s American variety television series
1962 American television series debuts 1970s American late-night television series
1970s American sketch comedy television series 1970s American variety television series
1980s American late-night television series 1980s American sketch comedy television series
1980s American variety television series 1990s American late-night television series
1990s American sketch comedy television series 1990s American variety television series
1992 American television series endings NBC late-night programming Burbank, California
English-language television shows NBC original programming
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series winners
Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Television series by Carson Productions
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