Customer Reviews

The Best of Johnny Carson and Friends

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Before he became the king of late-nite TV, Johnny Carson hosted a self-named summer replacement series. Ten examples of that half-hour program are here, as well as samples of Johnny's quiz show, his morning program and the very early (1953) "Carson's Cellar."

NOTABLES--

"The Johnny Carson Show" aired Thursday nights at 8:30 on CBS from 6/30/55 to 3/1/56. The quiz show, "Who Do You Trust?" ran on ABC-TV from 1957 to '63; based on his performance here, Johnny was hired by NBC to replace Jack Paar on "The Tonight Show."

"Bobby Darin and Friends" was a pilot for a variety series the network rejected. It was written by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear ("All in the Family").

"Shower of Stars" aired once a month on CBS-TV. The most frequent host was Jack Benny.

"The Milton Berle Show" was the Berle variety series that came after "The Texaco Star Theater."

"The Colgate Comedy Hour" had a long run (with rotating hosts) on NBC-TV in the 1950s.


For more vintage TV programming, try the 150 episodes on MILL CREEK's ESSENTIAL FAMILY TELEVISION.


CONTENTS of "Best of Johnny Carson and Friends":

DISC ONE--
THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW:
Dillinger The Mental Wizard
Ed Sullivan Impersonation
Evolution of Dance
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Life in the 80's
James Arness
Jack Albertson
Dimitri Tomlin
Stay-at-Home Husband
Eva Gabor
Dorothy Shay
CARSON'S CELLAR (one episode)
THE JOHNNY CARSON MORNING SHOW (one episode)

DISC TWO--
WHO DO YOU TRUST? - Johnny Carson/Ed McMahon (two episodes)
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM (10/22/63) - Johnny Carson/Barbara Wooddell
BOBBY DARIN AND FRIENDS (TV-1961) - Jimmy Durante/Joanie Summers/Bob Hope
FRANK SINATRA TIMEX SPECIAL ("Bing Crosby and Dean Martin Present High Hopes") (TV-1959) - Mitzi Gaynor/Jimmy Durante
TIMEX ALL STAR COMEDY SHOW (TV-1962) - Johnny Carson/Mel Brooks/Carl Reiner/Buddy Hackett/Joyce Brothers/Kaye Stevens
CAESAR'S HOUR (two episodes) - Sid Caesar/Howard Morris/Carl Reiner

DISC THREE--
THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR (Two episodes hosted by Martin & Lewis) - #1- Jack Benny; #2- Burt Lancaster
THE MARTHA RAYE SHOW (1/23/54) - Edward G. Robinson/Cesar Romero/Rocky Graziano/Don Pardo
SHOWER OF STARS (5 episodes, hosted by Jack Benny) - #1- Liberace/Jayne Mansfield; #2- Nanette Fabray/Johnny Ray; #3- Tony Martin/Vivian Vance/William Frawley #4- ?; #5- ?
STARS IN THE EYE - Jack Benny/Lucille Ball

DISC FOUR--
THE MILTON BERLE SHOW:
Danny Thomas
Frank Sinatra
Gertrude Berg/Andrew Sisters
Jackie Cooper/Vic Damone
Peter Lawford/Carol Channing
Ronald Reagan/Dolores Grey
Zsa Zsa Gabor

This boxed set has 23 hours of classic tv. Not a bad price for that much. I disagree with one of the posters. If you read the back of the set it tells you exactly what programs are included, so you know Johnny is not on all the shows. Mills Creek may not be putting out digitally perfect cds, but you can't beat the price. If you like old tv you will love this inexpensive set. I have the Ozzie and Harriet set by Mills Creek and it's a great bargain too.

I'm not a Johnny Carson fan in the slighest but I love this set!! This is an awesome collection of super rare variety shows from the 1950's and 1960's, a potpourri of pioneering tv stars in 35 episodes of various programs! You get 16 very early Carson shows with such guests as James Arness and Eva Gabor, seven episodes of The Milton Berle show with guests including Ronald Reagan, The Andrews Sisters, Carol Channing, and Frank Sinatra; The Frank Sinatra Timex special with Dean Martin and Bing Crosby; a Jack Benny program; Bobby Darin special; two episodes of Sid Caesar's Hour, The Martha Raye Show with Edward G. Robinson, Two Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis Colgate Comedy Hours, three episodes of Shower of Stars with Jayne Mansfield, Vivian Vance, Jack Benny, Tony Martin, Liberace, and a super rare 1952 special Stars in Their Eye featuring Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and nearly all of the CBS stars of the era!! Many of these programs I would have gladly paid $10 each for - and here you can get all 35 in one package for around $10!! This may well be the best bargain on the market for lovers of vintage television seeking rare programs.

These are early television programs, often filmed on kinescopes rather than film so don't expect perfection in picture quality but it's generally very good indeed and certainly at that price you can't complain (although of course there will always be those who find something to complain about.) I would have preferred for it to have been sold more as an all-star set rather than concentrating on Carson but then he does dominate the collection in episodes and has a higher profile today than many of the late greats to be found here. I just love this set and often wonder if my deceased relatives saw these shows back when they first aired; certainly it's wonderful in recreating a wonderful era of show business long since vanished.

Don't be misled. This does NOT contain any episodes from the Tonight Show that made Carson famous. Rather, this set features a few shows he did well before the Tonight Show, when he seemed uncomfortable with the lame foremat of the variety and quiz show. He was quite thin, had black greasy looking hair and was just too slick all around. It is of interest only to those who want to see from whence he arose to become one of the most powerful men in show business--ever.

There are other variety shows that have nothing to do with Carson, from the same period of the mid-1950s. In fact, more than half the shows have nothing to do with Carson. They are the "and friends" in the small print of the set's title. The secondary shows also look a bit lame today, but there are some guests of interest, like Liberace, and some that faded fast, like Rod McKuen.

All in all, this is no better than fair and of more interest historically than for entertainment value.

This is a four disc set I found in a Wal Mart bargain bin for $5. I was looking for some good stuff of Carson, and it sounded interesting. The first thing a buyer should know is there is nothing from The Tonight Show on here. It is all from his early days with CBS. In fact, there is nothing on here past 1962, and it's all in black and white. The first disc is jam packed with many full-length (even commercials) episodes of The Johnny Carson Show. To me, it is the best disc in the set.

The other three discs feature other CBS shows of the period, many of which Johnny guest starred on. Disc two includes two episodes of Johnny's short run on ABC as a game show host, which was pretty funny as well. A lot of the shows on discs 2-4 are great to watch, but some of them can get a little boring. The gems that stuck out for me were the Timex specials, the Colgate Comedy Hour (a.k.a. The Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Show - probably the biggest laughs in the set other than Carson), and The Milton Berle Show on disc four has its moments. The rest I could take or leave.

Overall it's a good set if you want to really get to see comic legends during and before their heyday. It's a bargain set, and for four discs if you enjoy classic comedy legends, it's worth the small investment of your time and money.

I purchased this four DVD set primarily because it was SO cheap in price. And I am SO GLAD I Did. There is material in this set I HAVE NEVER SEEN, and I had some belly laughs viewing it. This is comedy from a bygone era. There is NOTHING that compares to it these days. In it you get to see how Johnny Carson's humour evolved. Remember his KARNAK routine on THE LATE SHOW? It actually began with a sketch on his 1950's CBS show THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW, in an episode called DILLINGER THE MENTAL WIZARD. Johnny is so tongue in cheek I fell over laughing. Goofy, yes. Funny, yes. Vintage television- you betcha. Some of these episodes have the original sponsors commercials, like JELLO ("SEVEN FLAVOURS") and LUCKY STRIKE ("IT'S LIGHT UP TIME!"). What a blast-before political correctness made paranoia a catchword in AMERICA.
Included are also a couple of episodes of WHO DO YOU TRUST?
This was a quiz show that required the contestants to have extraordinary knowledge of arcane history. For example, one of the quiz questions was to name the ten levels of officer ranks in the US NAVY. Or name all the winners of the Forest Hills tennis tournaments for the last twenty years. (You had to be EINSTEIN to earn your five-hundred dollar prize).

The video and audio quality of the set is overall quite good, with the exception of a Bobby Darin show which is blurry and almost unwatchable.

But overall these discs are a delight. The real bonus is THE FRANK SINATRA TIMEX SPECIAL. Shown in 1958, this SPECTACULAR featured FRANK SINATRA, BING CROSBY AND DEAN MARTIN and MITZI GAYNOR singing some wonderful COLE PORTER and SAMMY CAHN standards and others. A CLASSIC 1950's TELEVISION MOMENT.

In addition, thrown in are other golden comedic tracks with other stars like JACK BENNY, SID CAESAR, MILTON BERLE, CARL REINER, HOWARD MORRIS, BOB HOPE, JERRY LEWIS and many more.
I recommend this collection to those who want to see what 1950's comedy television was REALLY like. I haven't laughed so hard in ages. And NOWADAYS, THAT'S SAYING ALOT.

This CD arrived promptly in perfect condition. I was a little disappointed that all the shows were in black and white, Johnny Carson's early days on TV. He was and is still the best.

The item I receice the case was all cracked. I think you guys need to wrap it up more!!!! It was really sad getting my product and i was all cracked up.

Bought this for my Dad as well as a Johnny Carson favorite moments from the Tonight Show video; he absolutely loved this one as well. He can't stop talking about it, every time he watches some of it, he calls me to tell me about it. This was a great purchase!

This DVD has a episode of "The Johnny Carson Show" the CBS variety show with Barbara Eden though is credited Barbara Huffman (since this was before she began using the stage name Eden) playing the role of Bar Bar in scenes with Johnny Carson and guest Rudy vallee