Even when the jokes were bad, it was hilarious. I remember staying up late and watching this as a kid in the 70s and was then a fan for many many years.
I just love a Carnac segment where it seems like most of the jokes are dying. Johnny and Ed's reactions always make up for a line that bombs. I think I almost fell out of my seat when Ed grabbed a card & went "really, is that what it says"... 😂
Carson was the best with a flat joke. I laugh more. His facial expressions and Ed laughing as the joke dies get me. I miss great late night comedy. Too serious now.
There was so many things to like about The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but Carnac the Magnificent was the one I liked best. I used to call out to my parents loudly so wherever they were in the house they and my brothers knew that the skit was showing when Ed said so. The whole family would come to the couch to watch it, though some would sit on the carpet as the couch wasn't big enough for the whole family. Those family moments are what I'd like most to revisit if I could.
Yeah, home-video was in it's infancy. And with all the home video out there, I've yet to see a video from the 80s or early 90s of a family watching TV! :)
Carnac bits were such a happy ritual, enjoyed by all. The Tonight Show at it's peak was so successful, it created it's own genre. Fifty years later, Johnny, Ed, and Doc are still the archetypes for host, sidekick, and band leader.
Obviously not possible in current crop of poseurs; probably not possible to do it any more skillfully either. Current poseurs of course aren't even in the ball park, not only don't they have what it takes, but they're too busy playing with themselves beyond the Left field fence to even care.
Wow! June 1979 I graduated from high school and a few weeks later Iwas in boot camp at Paris Island. Johnny was such a consistent and reliable performer. Ed was a great sidekick with just enough belligerence to keep things bouncy and together they were a great team. I truly appreciate this channel and the laughs and guffaws it allows me to relive. Keep up the good job.
Right behind ya the following year. But went Air Force instead. Funny he mentioned Nicaragua. After I got out I found myself there fighting with anti communist rebels, the contras. Spring of 85. .... can you say Iran contra affair. Ugh what a mess..
Carson not getting laughs or blooping in the show was better than guests. The man's capacity to laugh at himself and put the audience at ease was extraordinary.
I know when Ed was off, at least one time Johnny was Carnac Doc handed him the hermetically sealed envelopes. One wonders how Carol Wayne would have handled Carnac . . .
Carol did at least one episode filling in for Ed (it might have been when the band was on strike, so Doc and Tommy - who also filled in for Ed a few times - were not available)
How do you get there? Let me tell you friends, how do you get there! You take the San Diego Freeway to the Ventura Freeway. You drive to the Slauson Cutoff, get out of your car, cut off your Slauson, get back in your car, then you drive six miles till you see the Giant Neon Vice-Squad Cop.
Tea Time Movie w Carol Wayne. Loved those. Don't forget the "fork" in the road. He broke the pointer once and I thought Ed was going to die he laughed so hard. 😂
@@johncaputo5538 Exactly the best, Art Fern Tea time movie. They would cut to the movie and come back and he'd be making out with Carol. Yes my Friends! Then Floyd R Turbo, Aunt Blabby, The Edge of Wetness when they would cut to audience members, playing Reagan, Well, the mighty Carson Art Players! Just hilarious! He would hit politicians on both sides and be great. I remember he constantly killed Carter and then when Jim Watt was Reagan's Secretary of the Interior Carson would kill him and it was so funny. Not mean crap like with these clowns today but good clean humor. Like when George Carlin in 1996 killed both Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. Genius and hilarious and not biased but funny! Bob Dole says I'm an honest guy! Bullshit! Clinton gives you a hot heaping dose of bullshit and lets you know but at least he's honest! Genius!
I think every Carnac at this time took pot shots at Fred Silverman, who was a VERY disliked president of NBC at the time. NBC was tanking in the prime-time ratings thanks to many misfires throughout 1978 through 1981. Silverman high from his success at ABC tried to do the same stuff he did at ABC but failed miserably and was quickly disliked universally by nearly everyone who worked for NBC. Carson, with his cushy contract and high ratings (being one of the only bright spots in NBC's programming at the time) had no problem firing quips at the unpopular Silverman any chance he got.
When Carnac trips over the riser, he does kind of look like a clumsy Bob Gibson as he delivers his pitches. ‘Course, Gibson was a starter for St. Louis. 😉
