The Ultimate Collection Starring Johnny Carson Volume 1-3

I grew up watching Johnny Carson and laughed through my teen years watching The Tonight Show. I guess I had seen the infomercials enough times to finally have a sentimental need to get some DVD's so I could watch again. I got this set and put them on one day while I was working on a new quilt project. Let me just say, after a few minutes of watching, I walked away from my sewing machine for two reasons: I wanted to just sit and watch to enjoy the clips, and secondly, I was laughing so much I was afraid I was going to mess up the quilt! It was so wonderful revisiting the most hilarious moments on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carsons classic reactions. It was also wonderful to see some of the performers who are no longer with us.....and made me kind of sad seeing them again. I can't say how much I enjoyed this series though and it left me wanting more. I also enjoyed the bonus video of Johnny going home to the town in Nebraska where he grew up. In this video you get a real glimpse into what a nice man he must have been. No one could top Johnny Carson in the late night shows......in so many ways he truly was the king of late night. This series is definitely one to get, although I warn you it will leave you wanting more. I do think more clips should have been added to this collection and the clips aren't in any particular order, but still a very enjoyable collection of highlights from the years of entertainment Johnny Caraon brought to us all.

Non-Stop Laughs On This DVD Collection From The King Of Late Night Extremely funny DVD collection that covers 30 years as host of the Tonight Show. At one time back in the 90s, Carson had an average audience of 15 million people per night. Disc 3 has May 21, 1992 with Robin Williams and Bette Midler and the May 22, 1992 last show. Includes clips from Jay Leno, Robin Williams, George Carlin, David Lettermen, Don Rickles, Jack Benny and Dean Martin- just to name a few, They have also included animal clips. Johnny also takes you back to his hometowns in Iowa and Nebraska where he grew up, showing you the car that he first drove in as a kid, his childhood home and all of his childhood memories including actual video that his father took of the family as a youngster and a teenager. I didn't even know that this was a part of this DVD collection. If you put all of the current late night talk show hosts together, they still wouldn't be able to equal Johnny's talent. We were laughing thru all 3 DVD's. The best $17.00 that we have ever spent on a DVD collection. We purchased ours from the "more buying choices" button on Amazon and we saved about $10.00 over the Amazon Prime price. I also added a quick David Letterman clip- this is after NBC passed on him and they gave the Tonight Show to Jay Leno (who was the permanent Tonight Show fill in host for Johnny at the time) before Jay was given the Tonight Show by NBC.

Great DVD set

Other reviews have pointed out flaws in the disc mastering and "Best of" segments, so I won't repeat those. My biggest disappointment was in the way the final two shows were absolutely butchered. The next-to-last show is missing an entire segment (the classic Ed Ames segment from 1965). The major part of the segment is on disc 1, but still, deleting it from the show is unforgiveable. The final show is missing a segment as well--a classic montage of the great musical talents who passed through Studio One. Finally, the end of the final show--Johnny's farewell--is absolutely hacked. All of the shots of audience members--Johnny's staff and family among them--were deleted. Those are some of the shots that add to the emotion of the very end of the King's reign. When the video dissolved to credits, the music stopped--Doc and the band played to the end of the actual show. There are still good things to recommend--"Johnny Goes Home" is an interesting look at the man and his background. The camera iso footage from the last show is a good "behind the scenes" kind of thing, and the "Danger Johnny" extra is some neat, rare footage from the 1960's. Having said all of that, the quality of the entertainment make this worth having. We'll never see the likes of Johnny Carson again. And to be fair, take a look at the extra discs in the larger "Special Collector's Edition"-the clips are longer, and show each performer in better context. Very enjoyable.

These were Johnny's favorite moments on the show over his entire 30 year career. Lots of guests and lots of laughs. These are many short clips from many different shows focusing on the guest stars more than on Johnny himself. If you are looking for full length shows with Johnny's full interviews with his guests, you might want to purchase "The Vault Collection". I really enjoyed this overview of special moments chosen by Johnny himself. I also enjoyed seeing the full final 2 shows again with Robin Williams and Bette Midler as well. It came in the original packaging from the original Carson collection, which was a nice surprise because I've seen it repackaged lately in very plain cheap looking packaging. All in all a great collection of memories at an affordable price. The seller packaged it well so it wasn't damaged in shipping and it arrived quickly as well.

Ok, I've see reviews that say they were expecting entire shows & interviews. Not even close....read the "do the math" comment below. I discovered Johnny Carson here in the US on Antenna TV, I am from England. In watching the selections they show on TV, I really find some of it hilarious. Now everyone's funny bone is different, this is 7 hours of which 4-5 hours are clips from what they consider "the best of". Each little sketch offers great entertainment regardless of who you are or how old you are, I admit there were a couple where I laughed so much I had tears. Do the math: think of it from a movie stand point. Each DVD offering 2 hours per movie which this 3 pack would offer 6 hours. Now if Johnny Carson had 30 years, say 5 days a week take that at 30 minute shows (minimum) that would be at least 7,800 hours of material which is impossible to jamb in to 3 - 2 hour DVD's. I'll be generous & give each DVD 8 hours which would mean I should be looking for a set of around 975 dvd's to have the entire Johnny Carson series.

No matter what happens, Johnny Carson was, is and always will be the greatest late night host ever and one of the most towering figures in television history. David Letterman is terrific, but even he pales next to Carson. It's amazing to think that it's already been ten years since Johnny retired. This DVD collection brings it all back and reminds us all of just how great Carson was. (The Ed Ames tomahawk throwing segment just might be the funniest moment in TV history) The only disappointing thing about this set is that it does not include that much material from the first ten years. It's sad that so much classic material was lost. However, the set has a very comprehensive sample of Carson's funniest moments from over the years and show why Johnny will always be the King of Late Night.

It's great to be able to relive the good ole days of television comedy with these! I had almost forgotten how funny he and his shows were! It's also fun to see some of today's biggest stars when they were just starting out and still nobodies. There is no one like him on late night today and interviews are not handled the same as he did it. I had expected these to be arranged in chronological order but they are not. They jump around from the oldest to the newest and then somewhere in between. I would recommend them for anyone who wants to relive some fond memories of late night TV.

Thoroughly enjoyable reminder of why Carson was the best chat show host in the world. No silly gimmicks and playing with pencils or loud guffaws like Leno and Graham Norton, this man showed the way and he has never been equalled. The quality of the discs is outstanding particularly when you realise that a lot of the footage comes from NTSC colour video tape from the 70s and even some from the 60s. The cream of Hollywood appeared on the show and often revealed things that any other host could never have obtained. Unfortunately, I had to import this set and it is in Region 1 NTSC but most DVD players are or can be made multi-region so this should not pose a problem.

For years I've been looking for the Rachael Welsh interview from the early 70's where she brought in a kitten. She asked Johnny,:"Do you want to pat my pussy?" Johnny said, "Sure move the cat." I'd pay twice as much for that one interview, just the expression on Johnny's face made it priceless. . You can't find anyone who was funnier than Mr Carson & anything to do with Johnny Carson is great.

Jeder Johnny Carson Fan wird sich unheimlich über diese DVD freuen. Qualität ist 1A, Ton auch, Die DVD ist nur in English und code 1, also nicht überall abspielbar. Ich habe sie genossen da ich immer die "Tonight Show" in der USA angeschaut habe.

As advertised

WORTH THE MONEY. I JUST WISH THE TONIGHT SHOWS WERE LONGER.