JohnnyCarson-related stories
Posted Sep 27th 2009 5:20PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Commercials, Reality-Free
Recently, when I shared my view about a certain
Dell computer commercial, some of you thought I was a moron. Okay, we'll call it a difference of opinion. However, just to show you that I'm not a grumpster, allow me to extol the virtues of the Macy's commercial that celebrates this iconic American department story that's been around for over 150 years.
What makes
The Magic of Macy's so much fun is that it doesn't tell you why the place is legendary, it shows you why. All those film clips from movies and television, years before anyone was using mentions like these for commercial purposes, underscore how much a part of pop culture Macy's was.
(It still is, to some extent, but the days of one brick and mortar store dominating the business landscape are long gone.)
Continue reading Macy's magical commercial: 150 years in the making
Posted Sep 15th 2009 9:02AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Jay Leno
Anyone who's interested in the Leno/Letterman relationship, the feeding frenzy in the late 70s and early 80s when networks were sweeping up stand-up comedians and changing their lives overnight, and the importance and mechanics of getting a spot on Johnny Carson's
Tonight Show needs to read William Knoedelseder's new book,
I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era.
The centerpiece of the book is the labor discontent between comedians and the Comedy Store that kicked up in 1979, when comedians saw the money coming into the venue and started to wonder why some of the working comics there had to borrow money for breakfast. It's a compelling and unexpected story, and it collects names big and small from television history along the way.
Continue reading New book gets behind the scenes with Letterman, Leno, Robin Williams and more
Posted Jul 7th 2009 2:03PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Video, Celebrities, Talk Show
It's always great to see Don Rickles on TV. He's rarely out of form, and he has a knack for sailing some great zingers past the censors. Which means his appearance on last night's
My Life on the D-List was a perfect opportunity, a place where he could be a bit more loose.
We got a taste of that from him, walking around Kathy Griffin's house, but we also got a glimpse of the guy I have heard about from comedians who've met Rickles - the old softie who is ever willing to talk shop with other comics. It was a great moment when Griffin and Rickles talked about how both of their mothers would try to tell them not to pick on people so much, with Griffin's mom providing a bit of the dialogue. Meeting Rickles was on Griffin's mother's "bucket list."
I thought I'd use the occasion to take a look around YouTube to find some of Rickles' best TV appearances. He seems to have been everywhere, from
The View to cable.
Continue reading Don Rickles on the D-List, The Tonight Show, and more
Posted Jun 23rd 2009 6:40PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Obituaries, Talk Show
During some of the television obits I've been hearing about the
late, great Ed McMahon, one of the most common misunderstandings about the
Tonight Show sidekick's career has been perpetuated: that he worked for
Publishers Clearing House, handing out big checks to unsuspecting sweepstakes winners.
Well, Ed
did work for one of those sweepstakes-and-subscriptions houses, but it was PCH's main rival,
American Family Publishers. He often appeared in the AFP's ads and mailings with his
Bloopers and Practical Jokes buddy Dick Clark.
Not once did McMahon work for PCH, but as Bob pointed out in
his obituary, jokes about his sweepstakes work often kept the mistake alive.
Continue reading Ed McMahon did not work for Publishers Clearing House
Posted Jun 5th 2009 11:03AM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: Late Night, OpEd, Reality-Free
If you recognize
Steven Wright's material tonight on his
Late Show with David Letterman spot, you either have a good memory, or you bought the re-release of Wright's
I Have A Pony that hit shelves Tuesday. Wright will be performing material from the CD, which was originally released 24 years ago.
Warner Brothers released this "Deluxe Anniversary Edition," which also includes his first HBO special,
A Steven Wright Special (coincidentally, produced by Peter Lassally from Johnny Carson's
Tonight Show), as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration.
Wright's material was always off the wall, unlike anything anyone had heard when he first did Carson's
Tonight Show in 1982. Some have worked in the same field of quick-fire absurdism that Wright cleared (like Mitch Hedberg and Demetri Martin), but Wright's comedy was never rooted in a particular time, place, or even galaxy, really. Which is why
I Have A Pony still sounds fresh today.
Continue reading Steven Wright's Pony on Letterman, top ten favorite lines
Posted May 27th 2009 1:08PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, Interviews, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The world's armchair TV executives proudly proclaimed that the only way Conan O'Brien's cavalcade of foul-mouthed puppets and surreal pop culture mechanes could work every night at 11:30 p.m. is with a potent injection of Ritalin (
present executive included).
O'Brien noted, however, that television has broken the time barrier.
"I think especially now, people don't watch an episode of
Lost when they are supposed to watch it," he said during a recent conference call. "DVRs changed everything. The Internet has changed everything. People are getting it off Hulu and watching shows on their iPhone. What's most important to me with
The Tonight Show is it needs to be funny so people can experience it at 11:30 or watch it the next morning while they're eating their oatmeal."
Continue reading Conan talks to reporters about "feeding the dragon" on the new Tonight Show
Posted Apr 24th 2009 12:04PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, Reality-Free
There are a lot of great traditions in the world of late night. Every host has to endure the wrath of
Mother Nature's cruel comedy by letting an animal crap in their lap. Every host has to invite
a nutball celebrity who is guaranteed to shoot up or snort something in the green room five seconds before their interview.
But one lesser known, some would say downright boring, tradition has gone by the wayside. Maybe that's because the choices are usually something boring. There was
Johnny Carson's face mug,
Conan O'Brien's Eisenhower mug and some boring old mug that's so dull, they couldn't even sell it in the gift shop to tourists who would buy a bag of puke if it had the
Last Call with Carson Daly logo on it.
All of that changed when CBS' Craig Ferguson revived this grand tradition by jamming a cardiac needle of adrenaline into its heart with his mug.
Continue reading Craig Ferguson officially has the most badass mug in the history of late night
Posted Mar 9th 2009 11:02AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
So it's been a week since our boy took to the airwaves and he has survived. He went a whole week without being canceled. Way to go, Jimmy! You've cost half of our commenters their share of the dough in their "When will Jimmy Fallon go down in flames?" pools. Now where will they find the money to stock up on Cheetos and duct tape for their slowly dying bean bag chairs?
So how did Jimmy do? The answer, as I've learned in my brief stint here at TV Squad Land, is totally subjective. Some people are going to like Jimmy and some won't and each will find their own reason to support their feelings.
So instead of giving a definitive "yes" or "no," here's a list of five good things and five bad things from the first block of shows.
Continue reading So how was Fallon's first week?
Posted Dec 9th 2008 10:44AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
I read Brad's post about
NBC keeping Jay Leno in the fold and I think it's the latest move by NBC to ruin TV. Can Jeff Zucker be impeached? I'm so fed up with the way he's be running -- ruining -- the network that I'm ready to bust. Seriously, is there anybody over there that still has any connection to what viewers want to see?
Basically, NBC is ready to try something completely radical and -- in my estimation -- ridiculous, even though it would keep Leno from being lured to another network.
Continue reading Can Jeff Zucker be impeached over this Leno development?
Posted Dec 4th 2008 8:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Awards, Reality-Free
You mean
Bea Arthur wasn't already in the TV Academy Hall of Fame before today? Well, actually, that was Bea's choice. In a very
Maude-like way, she had turned them down. "I said, `So sorry, very nice of you, but I can't possibly accept. There are so many talented people in the business,'" Arthur recalled.
However, she's had a chance to think it over and when asked again, she agreed to become a Hall of Famer, just like Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson and Bill Cosby.
As I wrote previously, the TV Academy Hall of Fame will expand to include Bea Arthur, Merv Griffin, Larry Gelbart (
M*A*S*H), Sherwood Schwartz (
Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch), and ABC executives Thomas Murphy and Daniel B. Burke. On December 9 in Beverly Hills, the awards will be presented.
Continue reading And then there's Maude...in the TV Hall of Fame
Posted Nov 6th 2008 5:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
He's the Guiness World Record holder for the most time spent in front of a television camera, and now he plans to defend that title for at least three more years. I'm speaking, of course, of Emmy-winning TV host, Regis Philbin.
Regis Philbin renewed his contract with Disney through 2011, assuring that he will be sitting beside Kelly Ripa on
Live with Regis & Kelly till he's 80-years-old.
Make that 80-years-young because even though Regis comes on as a curmudgeon, nobody would call him a grouchy old man. In fact, he's still a hoot to watch in the morning as he goes on about the tabloid headlines, the parties and openings he attended with Joy, and the status of the New York Yankees and Notre Dame football.
Frankly speaking, I'm glad that he's chosen to remain active. To me, ever since the day Johnny Carson retired from
The Tonight Show, that show has never been the same. The Jay Leno years just don't compare. Johnny retired too soon.
Continue reading Regis renews Disney deal through 2011... but no more side projects?
Posted Nov 3rd 2008 10:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free
If you believe in such things, Johnny Carson is likely spinning in his grave right now. The great star of
The Tonight Show is about to be revealed, the good, the bad and especially the ugly and unsavory, in a memoir.
Johnny Carson's attorney Henry Bushkin is writing a book about the star,
spilling all the secrets that he kept confidential while Johnny was alive, and it's all legal. Bushkin is looking for one more way to cash in on his client, one he soaked plenty when Johnny was alive.
Carson is a beloved TV icon, maybe the most beloved after Lucille Ball, but nobody believes that the affable, funny man who came into our bedrooms every night was a sweetheart. He was known to hold a grudge, to be snippy and cranky on occasion, and to have a temper.
Continue reading Johnny Carson... warts and all
Posted Aug 21st 2008 10:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Game Show, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
When I read
AOL's Top 20 Best Game Shows of All Time, I pretty much agreed with all the choices. I might have moved
Password up a bit, and dropped
Who Wants to Be A Millionaire to a lower slot, but the one selection that really made me glower was
The Price Is Right as number one.
No, no, not to me. For me, the only choice for numero uno is
Jeopardy. It's not a game of chance or luck or random spins of a wheel. It's all about brains and thinking on your feet. And maybe having really fast thumbs. Merv Grifffin's creation remains the best gameshow ever in my book.
As I was thinking about
Jeopardy, I realized that for me, the best
Jeopardy is not today's Alex Trebek version. I mean, it's great -- don't misunderstand me. It's the one I still prefer to watch today, but my favorite
Jeopardy remains the pre-syndication edition, the one that played on NBC daytime from 1964-1975. No, I'm not nuts. I have five very good reasons why I prefer the original, classic
Jeopardy.
Continue reading Five reasons I prefer classic Jeopardy - VIDEO
Posted Aug 3rd 2008 3:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
He's no Johnny Carson or Bob Hope or Billy Crystal, but pop star and former boy band fave
Justin Timberlake could be the next star to host the Academy Awards. The Oscars are still months away, but the Academy is already contemplating a way to make the show more Nielsen worthy.
Last February's show, hosted by
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart (he also hosted in 2006), celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Oscars but was a ratings dud. It was the worst Oscars ever, in terms of Nielsen ratings, even though it had a 21.9 rating and 33 share.
Many people blame those dismal numbers on a disinterest among viewers in the films that were in contention last year, including heavy dramas
No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton, which seemed to have little appeal to mass audiences.
Continue reading Is Justin Timberlake the right star to host the Oscars?
Posted Jul 21st 2008 1:48PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free
Goodbye, Jay -- you don't mind if we push you out of the chair, do you? If you thought NBC made a mess of the David Letterman/Jay Leno replacement switch-off back in 1992, then you might find it not very surprising that the hand off from Jay (I don't want to go) Leno to Conan O'Brien is portending to be just as sticky.
According to
TV Week,
NBC is poised to announce the official Jay Leno departure from The Tonight Show and Conan O'Brien arrival today. Our man at the
TCA, Joel Keller, could have all the details later on, so keep checking back with TV Squad.
Reportedly, Leno will be exiting in late May, possibly on the anniversary of the date he took the chair from Johnny Carson, May 25. Carson's last
Tonight Show was May 22, 1992; Jay's tenure commenced on Monday, May 25. The problem with re-creating that symmetry in 2009 is that those dates are Memorial Day weekend.
Continue reading Jay Leno's exit from NBC
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