Johnny Carson is returning to television.
TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON -- Aired 11/28/79 -- Pictured: (l-r) Actor/comedian Charlie Callas during an interview with host Johnny Carson on November 28, 1979. (Note: The interview with Callas will not be part of the new series.)
(Joey Del Valle - ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Turner Classic Movies has licensed 50 of Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show interviews from the Carson Entertainment Group – including chats with some brighter bygone stars in the Hollywood firmament: Bette Davis, James Stewart, Fred Astaire, William Holden, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Henry Fonda, etc.
TCM previously ran a series of Dick Cavett talk show interviews, with Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Robert Mitchum, Alfred Hitchcock, etc. – which went on sale as a DVD collection. Cavett was writer for Carson, as well as “Tonight” show’s second host Jack Paar, before landing his own talk show
Anyway, many of the interviews in “Carson on TCM” have not aired since they first premiered on NBC.
Unlike Jay Leno, Carson owned the rights to his “Tonight” show broadcasts, not NBC.
“Carson on TCM” also will include an interview with Truman Capote, who had some pointed things to say about Hollywood stars.
And yes, TCM’s current “The Essentials” co-host Drew Barrymore will be included in the lineup – at age 7. None of her more-talented thespian ancestors, though -- sadly.
The project was pitched to TCM by Peter Jones, who also produced PBS’s docu “Johnny Carson: King of Late Night,” and Carson Entertainment Group prez Jeff Sotzing.
On TCM, Carson will be seen interviewing:
Don Adams
Julie Andrews
Fred Astaire
Lauren Bacall
Lucille Ball
Drew Barrymore
Jack Benny
Candice Bergen
Carol Burnett
George Burns
Mel Brooks
Michael Caine
Truman Capote
Chevy Chase
Sean Connery
Bing Crosby
Tony Curtis
Bette Davis
Sammy Davis Jr.
Doris Day
Dom DeLuise
Angie Dickinson
Kirk Douglas
Sally Field
Henry Fonda
Goldie Hawn
Charlton Heston
William Holden
Bob Hope
Diane Keaton
Gene Kelly
Jack Lemmon
Steve Martin
Dudley Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Gregory Peck
Tony Randall
Ronald Reagan
Burt Reynolds
Susan Sarandon
George C. Scott
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Neil Simon
Red Skelton
Sylvester Stallone
James Stewart
Elizabeth Taylor
Robin Williams
Jonathan Winters
Shelley Winters
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