New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

New Carson Collection?!?

post #1 of 77
10/11/06 at 6:59am
Thread Starter 
[Moderators: Sorry. This should be in the Software/TV forum.]

It looks as if the trustees of the Carson estate have decided to issue a new (?) collection of Tonight Show material from the Carson years.

Retailers are showing a release date of 11-7-2006. I checked the official Carson site and the 3-disc set IS listed there for purchase $39.99. Amazon's pre-order is $27.99. Costco: $24.99

The only question which remains: what is the material that will be included? I would fork over $30 for new Carson material in a flash...but how much will be different from what was already included in the original Ultimate Collection?

Here is the description (as vague as it is) posted at the official site:

Quote:
Introducing, The Best of Carson Volume 1 -- a brand new 3 DVD collection featuring over 4 hours of hilarious highlights from three decades of The Tonight Show! The Best of Carson features the biggest names in entertainment history, classic Carson characters, and stand-up comedy from the best in the business!

Each disc in this collection ALSO includes a cherished bonus extra including: a special photo gallery featuring rare, never before seen photos of Johnny from the early days to his Tonight Show final farewell.

Also...

Volume 1 - 3 DVD Collection
Includes NEVER before seen footage!
Features 30 years of hilarious highlights from The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Bonus Extras include: Return to Studio One, Tonight Show Memories and Never Before Seen Photos!

"Return to Studio One" is a separate release from the Carson company of a single show from 3-6-1969 which is a classic episode including Bob Hope, Dean Martin & George Gobel fron NYC.

Quote:
Original Tonight Show telecast never before available! This classic "lost" episode is regarded as one of the most hilarious in television history. Johnny and his guests had no idea what was in store for them when Bob Hope and Dean Martin dropped in unannounced. The unrehearsed antics that followed are now a part of show business legend.

"Tonight Show Memories" is another prior release from the Carson vault:

Quote:
For three decades, The Tonight Show ruled late night TV and Johnny Carson was the King. Condensed from the 3 volume Johnny Carson Collection, this best of the best DVD will bring back all of your favorite memories from The Tonight Show.

So, if they comprise 2 of the 3 discs, it is tough to say, at this point, if the 3rd disc is also going to be re-hashed material and if this is just a re-packaging of material we've already seen.

With all the wealth of material in the Carson vaults, it sure would be nice if they developed some kind of regular release program of material...even if it was just some of the anniversary specials.

You've got to figure that the audience for such material is huge...and more than ready to spend good $$$ on quality product (maybe even not-so-quality product...but it's gotta be new).

Reply
post #2 of 77
10/11/06 at 11:27am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I cannot WAIT to see this!!! The Ultimate Collection is one of my (AND my parents!!!) favorite DVDs!
Reply
post #3 of 77
10/12/06 at 5:46am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I just wish the Carson estate would try to work out some deal to get the complete shows back on TV on one of the cable channels. You'd think this would be a great on, say, TV Land at 11:30pm?!

Heck, I'd even settle for them re-syndicating the old "sketches-only" half-hour Carson's Comedy Classics.
Reply
post #4 of 77
10/12/06 at 9:03am
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
Heck, I'd even settle for them re-syndicating the old "sketches-only" half-hour Carson's Comedy Classics.

Not me. I avoided those shows like the plague. While I enjoyed Johnny's skits as part of the 90-minute and 60-minute shows....I didn't think they held up well by themselves. For me, the whole point of the Tonight Show was the monologue, the desk segment with Ed, and the spontaneous banter with the guests.

Those are the segments that make the compilation discs valuable for me.

The skits were funniest when they got screwed up (much like how sometimes the monologues actually got better when they bombed!). When Art Fern's moustache fell off, or Johnny and Fred Holliday would start cracking up...
Reply
post #5 of 77
10/12/06 at 5:38pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I'm with Mike. I never cared much for the "comedy classics" shows for the reasons he articulated. Ed's announcement that the "Mighty Carson Art Players" were in the line-up were usually a cause for a groan during the last few years. Even Art Fern suffered after the death of Carol Wayne.

Carson was at his best when interacting with others and he was genius at letting his guests shine. Perhaps Carson Productions could fashion themed collections (Legendary Comedians, Actors, etc.) I don't know what kind of music rights issues there would be surrounding getting Buddy Rich, Pete Barbutti, etc. included but a music themed collection would be wonderful.

Count me in for putting the show on the air again. The drivel that passes for late night entertainment these days almost makes me want to cry.

Steve
Reply
post #6 of 77
10/12/06 at 6:07pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve...O
Even Art Fern suffered after the death of Carol Wayne.

Time for a gratuitous Carol Wayne shot:



There was just something about her...
Reply
post #7 of 77
10/13/06 at 2:11pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
Time for a gratuitous Carol Wayne shot:



There was just something about her...

Or some things about her ...
Reply
post #8 of 77
10/13/06 at 9:15pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I don't know when that shot is from but by the 80s she really began to look bad. All of the cocaine had taken it's toll. She also met a horrible ending, drowning in Mexico while with the same guy who was with Art Linkletter's daughter when she mysteriously went out a window.
Reply
post #9 of 77
10/13/06 at 10:01pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I understand that releasing the musical performances would be a licensing nightmare but why hasn't the Carson estate been assembling classic interviews on disc ? I have the previous huge box set that came out and it didn't add up to nearly as much as you might think. Each disc only had a small amount of material compared to what they could have held. Good stuff, but only the tip of the tip of the iceberg where the Tonight Show is concerned.

Why oh why aren't they releasing more of this stuff ? How about more comedians compilations ? Or "best of" discs organized by year ? I know the early years of Johnny's reign apparantly don't exist anymore but what about the 20 or so years of material that still does ?
Reply
post #10 of 77
10/14/06 at 2:10am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Someone mentioned Fred Holliday. Who exactly is Fred Holliday?
Reply
post #11 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:19am
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff#
Someone mentioned Fred Holliday. Who exactly is Fred Holliday?


He is this guy: Sorry, but its the best picture I can find.

He dabbled as a talk show host in the 70s and was one of Johnny's regular foils in the various skits he did. I suppose most often you'd see him as a member of the press when Johnny was doing his Reagan impersonation. He was also the counterpoint in Johnny's riff on the Who's On First routine when he, again, was playing Reagan (Fred was advising him on an upcoming meeting with foreign dignitaries) and the punch line was "Yasser" (as in Arafat) and he thought Fred was saying "Yes, sir". That skit is on the Ultimate Collection discs.
Reply
post #12 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Rain
I understand that releasing the musical performances would be a licensing nightmare but why hasn't the Carson estate been assembling classic interviews on disc ? I have the previous huge box set that came out and it didn't add up to nearly as much as you might think. Each disc only had a small amount of material compared to what they could have held. Good stuff, but only the tip of the tip of the iceberg where the Tonight Show is concerned.

Why oh why aren't they releasing more of this stuff ? How about more comedians compilations ? Or "best of" discs organized by year ? I know the early years of Johnny's reign apparantly don't exist anymore but what about the 20 or so years of material that still does ?

It's kinda sad that Dick Cavett has been completely outshining Carson in the DVD market.
Reply
post #13 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:38am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I loved when Don Rickels broke Carson's cigarette box. Then like a few days later it falls apart in Carson's hands. He was like who the hell broke my box? When they told him Rickels did it Carson went right next door to the set of CPO Sharkey and let him have it. Funny stuff to this 12 year old. But i always loved Rickels humor.
Reply
post #14 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:56am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
It's kinda sad that Dick Cavett has been completely outshining Carson in the DVD market.
That's because Cavett's shows are complete and he is still around to personally oversee the release of his own program on DVD.

Carson was the better entertainer of the two, however, and had the superior show. Johnny was funny and Dick....well, Dick is an intellect. He's at his best writing funny material for other performers.
Reply
post #15 of 77
10/14/06 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Yeah...but when Johnny was around, he showed no interest in releasing the vast amounts of stuff in the vault. On his show, he constantly mourned the decision to diestroy all his early stuff...including his premiere show with Groucho, Joan Crawford, Tony bennett, etc. But, he also never did much with his older material himself except for his annual anniversary shows when he would pretty much trot out the same "highlight clip" material year-after-year.

I'm hoping that his estate will, with his passing, decide to mine the vault and allow his sizeable fan base the chance to continue to appreciate his talents.
Reply
post #16 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:17pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I remember the 2 hour The Tonight Show anniversary specials that Johnny and Ed did wearing tuxes. For the most part they didn't show the same clips every year.

It's a shame that so many of the 1960s shows that Carson did were erased. What the hell was NBC thinking? Even The Tonight Show with Jack Paar was shot on color videotape beginning around 1958 or 59, and those too now exist only as grainy black & white filmed (kinescope) copies. It's really a shame. Meanwhile, quite a few transcription discs of much older radio shows have been well preserved and some of those series sound as good as new even without remastering!
Reply
post #17 of 77
10/14/06 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I recently watched an old VHS tape of my own on which I had recorded an old Letterman "Late Night" anniversary show (done in Radio City Music Hall). He had Bill Murray on as a guest and set up a clip of Murray's first appearance on Late Night Show #1. However, he showed the infamous clip of Ed Ames throwing the tomahawk from the Carson show. It must have taken me at least 10 minutes to explain what it was AND why it was funny to my 16-year-old son.
Reply
post #18 of 77
10/15/06 at 9:25am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I may be mistaken, but doesn't the audio from Johnny's debut show still exist? If so, it could be added as a bonus? I do know that several years ago, a major push to locate any video copies in the hands of private collectors was launched. Unfortunately it wasn't successful.

Ed McMahon's health is reportedly not good. It would be nice if he and Doc Severinson could be tapped to do intros, etc. for Carson compilations before it is too late.

One of my favorite Carson memories was when he assembled all the then living "Tarzans" on a show (probably mid 70s). I can still remember the thrill of seeing Johnny Weismuller,looking older and heavier, coming out and doing his yell. Another favorite memory was from the mid 80s when Bob Hope, who was still on the top of his game, did a devastating funny monolouge and followed it up with a wonderful rendition of "I Can't Get Started". Hope's singing talents occasionally get overlooked.

Steve
Reply
post #19 of 77
10/23/06 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Okay...LOTS of NEW information courtesty of homemediaretailing.com.



Best news is that the new set is NOT supposed to duplicate material from the original "Ultimate" 3-disc set!

Quote:
The three-disc, $39.99 Best of Carson Vol. 1 contains footage new to DVD that wasn’t already included in the Ultimate Collection. Featured are moments from a variety of the show’s segments, including Carson’s monologues, Carnac the Magnificent, Aunt Blabby, visits from wildlife handler Jim Fowler, sports heroes, fan-favorite guests and stand-up comics.

The DVDs include an early performance from Steve Martin, as well as Ellen Degeneres’ “Tonight Show” debut.

Also included are appearances by the likes of Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield and Garry Shandling.

“It really is a who’s who of show business,” Hepner said.

Among the more than four hours of bonus material is the segment “The Lost Episode,” featuring unrehearsed antics after Carson receives an unannounced visit from Bob Hope, Dean Martin and George Gobel.

Also included are “Tonight Show Memories” highlights and a gallery of rare photos, including pictures of Carson on the set during his first night on the “Tonight Show.” Recordings of the broadcasts for Carson’s first 10 years were not saved by the network, making any footage from this era a rare find.
Reply
post #20 of 77
10/23/06 at 9:44pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Who wants to see Ellen DeGeneres?? Enough of these clip shows.
I want complete Tonight Show episodes. Who agrees?
Reply
post #21 of 77
10/23/06 at 10:03pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

No, I don't agree. The Tonight Show like any variety-oriented show was inconsistent in quality. Why would I want to fast forward through useless segments of an entire episode when I could get wall-to-wall clips that are actually worth watching ? Besides, you aren't likely to see entire eps anyway as they would take up way too much space on a disc and only a few could be included. Plus music licensing rights would be a nightmare.

They need to start putting out more box sets of the best individual segments.
Reply
post #22 of 77
10/24/06 at 7:40am
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I just don't see how complete episodes would make sense either...except maybe in special circumstances. But, then, they already seem to have done that with the "lost episode" disc of the 3-6-69 show. Maybe they could release some of the anniversary shows...but I'm not sure how much further ahead you would be than with these compilation discs.

This new set will likely be under the Christmas tree for me.
Reply
post #23 of 77
10/24/06 at 8:46am

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Best news is that the new set is NOT supposed to duplicate material from the original "Ultimate" 3-disc set!
Hmmm, I'm not sure if that's a good assumption from the text you quoted (unless you've read something else that states it definitely). In particular this passage:

Quote:
The three-disc, $39.99 Best of Carson Vol. 1 contains footage new to DVD that wasn’t already included in the Ultimate Collection.
just states that the new set has some new material. Not all new material. My guess is that there is duplication, but that it also contains new stuff. Just a matter of how much.

Quote:
Who wants to see Ellen DeGeneres??
As a Stand-Up performer she was very sharp and funny and I'd love to have some of her routines.
Reply
post #24 of 77
10/24/06 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Bob: Your mind is sharper than mine. That was exactly the trap I fell into. And, a little further research proves you are, indeed, right.

Quote:
Among the more than four hours of bonus material is the segment “The Lost Episode,” featuring unrehearsed antics after Carson receives an unannounced visit from Bob Hope, Dean Martin and George Gobel.

Also included are “Tonight Show Memories” highlights and a gallery of rare photos, including pictures of Carson on the set during his first night on the “Tonight Show.”

The Lost Episode had been released separately...but not as part of the Ultimate collection.

"Tonight Show Memories" was also a separate Carson DVD release and, according to the Carson DVD website:

Quote:
Originally Posted by http://www.johnnycarson.com
Condensed from the 3 volume Johnny Carson Collection, this best of the best DVD will bring back all of your favorite memories from The Tonight Show.

So, "Tonight Show Memories" is just a condensed version of the Ultimate Collection. Hopefully, that is only a small portion of the new release. The damn "official" site is really sparse on details with their stuff.
Reply
post #25 of 77
10/24/06 at 1:05pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
I just don't see how complete episodes would make sense either...except maybe in special circumstances. But, then, they already seem to have done that with the "lost episode" disc of the 3-6-69 show.


And that was not a complete episode (much to my disapppointment), but a highlight reel of that episode. It's less than half the length of a regular episode, if I recall right. Since it was recovered from a military film print (a "color kinescope" made from the original, now presumed destroyed, videotape master), the show was likely edited down quite a bit at the time. No idea if Carson's company did any further editing apart from monkeying with the credits sequences, which they've done on all their releases, even the few "complete episodes" from the end of Johnny's reign.
Reply
post #26 of 77
10/24/06 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Andy: I'm very interested in this. Can you tell us more about that episode? Do they include the opening and monologue? Or is it just the guest segments? I only know what I've seen on the anniversary shows...and that was limited to the cigarette flicking and the infamous Gobel line which brought down the entire crew and house.
Reply
post #27 of 77
10/24/06 at 9:53pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I saw that clip with Gobel, Martin, and Hope and although I've enjoyed the comedy of each of those guys over the years, I didn't feel their Tonight Show joint appearance was all that great or funny.
Reply
post #28 of 77
10/24/06 at 10:28pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff#
I saw that clip with Gobel, Martin, and Hope and although I've enjoyed the comedy of each of those guys over the years, I didn't feel their Tonight Show joint appearance was all that great or funny.
You had to have seen the original show to appreciate it. At the time it happened it was hysterical.
Reply
post #29 of 77
10/25/06 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff#
I saw that clip with Gobel, Martin, and Hope and although I've enjoyed the comedy of each of those guys over the years, I didn't feel their Tonight Show joint appearance was all that great or funny.

Thanks for sharing, Jeff.
Reply
post #30 of 77
10/25/06 at 8:47pm

Re: New Carson Collection?!?

You're welcome, Mike.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: TV on DVD and Blu-ray