On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Diner <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/johnny-carson-tonight-show-full-episodes-antenna-tv-1201568250/ > Johnny Carson Returns: Antenna TV to Air Full ‘Tonight Show’ Episodes > (EXCLUSIVE) > August 12, 2015 | 06:00AM PT > > The full-length segs will re-introduce viewers to the show that cemented > the template for the late-night talk-variety format, from the monologue to > goofy banter with sidekicks to showcasing promising comedians. Carson also > invented a host of characters over the years, including Carnac the > Magnificent, Art Fern and Aunt Blabby, as well the leading the “Mighty > Carson Art Players” sketches. >
I know that Carson "borrowed" the characters of Art Fern from Jackie Gleason and Aunt Blabby from Jonathan Winters. I also know that Carnac was a borrowed character but I can't remember if was from Steve Allen. Two things I take from reading this press release: first, the Tonight show archive is depreciating in value. Carson Entertainment has guarded their content and licensed it at a premium. They might have done well by releasing DVD sets and the little licensing they did but that value is dropping as older fans are no longer shelling out money and younger people neither know nor care about that era of the Tonight Show. While airing the reruns on older-skewing Antenna keeps the show from losing all value due to obscurity, I don't know if that is enough to get it in front of younger people. Even though they have music rights, Johnny did not like rock acts and rarely had them on the show. There will be no equivalent to the PBS pledge Ed Sullivan collection of classic rock acts of that era. The second thing is that Tribune successfully negotiated music rights at a price Antenna TV could afford. Through the DVD era that was such an obstacle to getting variety shows on DVD. I'm still waiting for the later seasons of The Muppet Show. I will take this deal as a hopeful sign that the rights holders see more value in getting those old sets back on the air rather than watch them drift into obscurity due to high rights fees. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
