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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

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TV Series

The Resume

    (October 1, 1962-May 22, 1992)
    Late night talk show on NBC
    Located in New York (1962-1972) and Burbank Studios (1972-1992) in California
    Host is Johnny Carson with announcer/sidekick Ed McMahon
    Music performed by Skitch Henderson (1962-1967) and Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band
    Frequent gags include 'Stump the Band,' 'Carnac the Magnificent,' 'Aunt Blabby,' 'The Mighty Carson Art Players,' 'Floyd R. Turbo' and 'The Art Fern Tea Time Movie'
    Guest hosts include Joey Bishop, Joan Rivers, Bob Newhart, John Davidson, David Brenner, McLean Stevenson, Jerry Lewis, David Letterman and Jay Leno

Why The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson might be annoying:

    They moved from airing live from New York to taping episodes in California.
    It gave us Joan Rivers.
    Swear words, rather than being bleeped out, were dubbed with gibberish words instead.
    Anytime Carson pulled down the boom mike to announce 'Attention K-Mart shoppers!' or broke into a soft-shoe dance as the band plays 'Tea for Two' it was usually a sign that a joke or skit completely bombed.
    Many taped episodes were lost in a fire at NBC, including some with John Lennon, Ayn Rand and Paul McCarthy.
    It became visibly dated towards the end of its life span.
    It brought us Tiny Tim, and even hosted his marriage (December 17, 1969).
    It also brought us Ed McMahon, who laughed hysterically at any odd comment Johnny Carson made.
    When it finally went off the air, it sparked a short-lived talk show frenzy in desperate attempt to fill the void Johnny Carson left behind. This included infamous talk shows from Chevy Chase and Pat Sajak.
    NBC offered the contract for Jay Leno to replace Johnny Carson well before he decided on ending the show, screwing over David Letterman.

Why The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson might not be annoying:

    Because of its enormous success, it gave Johnny Carson the title 'King of Late Night.'
    It was known for not being very political, which ultimately gave it more appeal.
    It gave exposure to many stand-up comedians.
    During the monologue, anything was fair game, including jokes about Carson's on-going legal battles with his now ex-wife.
    Most talk show hosts would consider this show to be their inspiration.
    A lot of the humor was spontaneous.
    When a stunt dog failed to come out on cue for a live dog-food commercial, Johnny came out on all fours, mimicking a dog and licking Ed McMahon's hand, to keep the commercial going.
    At one point when Ed Ames was demonstrating a tomahawk-throwing technique, aiming for a outline of a cowboy on a wall, he threw the tomahawk and it struck right in its crotch (purely unplanned), prompting Johnny to ad-lib, 'I didn't know you were Jewish!'
    On the show, Uri Geller was exposed as a fraud, effectively ending his career of spoon-bending.
    The audience for the last show was estimated at 50 million viewers.
    In its prime, any talk show that tried to step up to the show would fail within months.
    It dominated late night television for almost three decades.

Credit: Captain Howdy


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 5.26% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 19 Votes: 31.58% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 33 Votes: 12.12% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 76 Votes: 43.42% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 31 Votes: 83.87% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 168 Votes: 61.31% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 40.91% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 24 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 390 Votes: 54.87% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 81 Votes: 38.27% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 50 Votes: 34.00% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 133 Votes: 43.61% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 206 Votes: 41.26% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 821 Votes: 42.75% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 272 Votes: 41.91% Annoying