Carson's Comedy Classics

Carson's Comedy Classics was a stripped 1/2 hour syndicated television show that was first released to U.S. television stations in 1983. The series is narrated by Ed McMahon, who, as a voiceover, introduces the program and each of the segments.

The program was made from segments and sketches taken from the first 20 years of "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson" (1962-1982). Carson's full tenure on the program, which originally aired on the NBC Television Network, was from 1962-1992.

When Carson would have his annual "Tonight Show Anniversary Show" in prime time on NBC, the anniversary shows were mainly flashback clip shows, and it was usually the same vintage sketches which got the showcase on the shows (examples being Ed Ames' classic miffed Tomahawk throw from 1965, Carson and Jack Webb doing a sketch about "Copper Clappers" from 1968, and John Twomey playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" with his hands from 1974; later anniversary shows would feature stand-up comedians, new sketches and clips from the previous year of Tonight Shows), but "Carson's Comedy Classics" show that there were many classic sketches and segments that have never been seen since the original airing that had at least still existed by 1982-1983 (when the show was put into production), and many of the sketches and segments in "Carson's Comedy Classics" have never been released on DVD either. Another note about the anniversary shows is that the popularity of them were probably the catalyst which spearheaded the creation of "Carson's Comedy Classics", which is essentially a classic clip show edited down to a half an hour.

Each segment was carefully edited to avoid any reference to "The Tonight Show" or "NBC". Recurring segments were classic "Carnac the Magnificent", "Aunt Blabby", "Floyd R. Turbo", "Stump The Band", "Tea Time Movie" and other sketches as well as vintage and memorable bits with animal trainers Jim Fowler and Joan Embery and the animals they brought on "The Tonight Show". There are also moments where there are segments where Carson would do an activity, like learning karate (he broke a plywood board with his head on one episode), or gymnastics, volleyball, and even trying to start a campfire in a race to do so spearheaded by some boy scouts. Many clips also showcase celebrities with Carson, usually in sketches; George C. Scott, Juliet Prowse, Bob Hope and Don Rickles among others. The Tonight Show stock regulars who were unknowns but may have had a few lines here and there in certain sketches were referred to as "The Carson Comedy Players" in the opening credits of "Carson's Comedy Classics" (longtime Tonight Show stalwart Carol Wayne also appears in many "Tea Time Movie" sketches). And of course, Ed McMahon, who was Carson's sidekick and announcer, and stayed with Johnny for Carson's entire "Tonight Show" run (1962-1992), is prominently featured in "Carsons Comedy Classics". McMahon also narrates the opening credits on the program as well. Final credits in each episode give mention to the staff of "The Tonight Show" and the producers and staff of "Carson's Comedy Classics" separately.

The programs themselves have no real running order to them, and thus could be bicycled (allowing the station to run the episodes whenever they chose, in any order they chose, usually late in the evening) by the affiliates.

The program was produced and directed by Kenneth J. Koerner. It was Executive Produced by Carson Productions and syndicated by Columbia Pictures Television.

Other appearances

In fall-1996, the former Family Channel aired reruns of the show during its late-afternoon/early-evening time slots.

In Australia, the show aired on the Nine Network throughout the 1980s and 1990s in various timeslots. Since then, reruns have aired on FOX Classics and Comcast's Video on Demand.

In 2008, the Chicago-based TV station Me-Too (WMEU-CA) aired reruns of the show late at night.

Pop culture

On one episode of "The Simpsons", Krusty the Clown hosted a similarly named program, "Krusty's Komedy Klassics", live at the Apollo Theater.