> 2. Why was the audience so unruly - they were practically heckling > Leno and Obrien, and stepped on several of their lines. Is that > typical for Leno's audience? I used to watch Carson's Tonight Show > fairly frequently in the mid 80s, and my memory is that they always > made a huge deal about not shouting anything out during the taping, > emphasizing that if anyone did anything like that they would be asked > to leave. I only ever saw one person yell something out from the > audience, Johnny was clearly pissed, and sure enough that person was > escorted from the studio.
Well, having watched the show now, and having attended a few months ago, I can tell you that the biggest difference is in who does the warm up. Stuttering John does not do a good job. He doesn't deliver the rules in an entertaining way, and so they get ignored. Add to that the fact this was an atypical crowd filled with friends and family of staff members, and you have the makings of an unruly mob. As for the last show, Jay left the Tonight Show the way he went in... without thanking Johnny Carson. But seriously folks, the final segment of the show, Jay's legacy, meant more to me as someone who knew many of the people mentioned and pictured as the closing credits ran. I'd guess that roughly a third of them were there from the days of Carson, and will continue to be there (either working for Jay or Conan). The children may be Jay's legacy, but that crew is the Tonight Show's legacy. Certainly, there can be no Tonight Show without hosts and guests, and that's who people remember. But people might also want to remember and thank the Tonight Show for stereo television, since audio engineer Charlie Weeks was the first person to convince NBC brass the technology could be achieved largely by turning one knob to the right and another knob to the left. And that palm-sized camera you all carry around is courtesy of a guy who once worked on the Tonight Show named Ray Figelski, who was the first person in history to disconnect a camera from its base, slap it on his shoulder (permanently damaging his shoulder in the process) and show viewers images that would have otherwise gone unseen. Believe me, the list goes on. For being a simple, formulaic talk show, The Tonight Show has impacted history in more than a few ways. I hope that is the legacy that continues, because the crew is comprised of good people, and NBC owes them a debt. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
