TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON, THE {NEIL SIMON, JOE GARAGIOLA, BILL MAHER} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of late-night talk/variety programs hosted by Johnny Carson. Carson's guests for this program are playwright Neil Simon, comedian Bill Maher and sports announcer Joe Garagiola. In his opening monologue, Carson touches on the following topics, among others: his return from vacation and the guest hosts of the past weeks, including Dick Cavett; "smog alerts" and the Soviet Union's reluctance to send their athletes to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles due to the city's infamously bad air quality; "back-to-school" season and his memories of a schoolboy crush; Yasser Arafat's recent departure from Beirut; President Reagan's tax increases; the fluctuating stock market and Carson's own investment plans; and a strange story about "Miss Nude Ohio."
Carson and co-host Ed McMahon acknowledge several cyclists in the audience who have ridden from Alaska to Burbank to raise money for charity. The first guest, Simon, then joins Carson onstage and discusses his recent unpleasant experience with a slipped disc, which left him on the floor of his hotel room for several days during the famed Wimbledon tennis tournament; his newest play "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and the advantages of opening in Los Angeles before moving to Broadway; painful-but-funny memories of a forgetful actor's error in dialogue that altered the plot of one of his plays; and Carson's recollection of a similar incident on "Caesar's Hour."
Maher then takes the stage in his first "Tonight Show" appearance and performs a stand-up routine in which he touches upon the following topics: dangerous drivers; Reagan's "macho" foreign policies; his views on dictatorial General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev; Vice-President George W. Bush's possible attempts to "oust" Reagan; his immigrants parents' Jewish/Catholic "mixed marriage"; his views on religion and the creation of circumcision; and a surprising fact about Swedish baby-naming techniques.
Finally, Garagiola chats with Carson about the ejection of Seattle Mariners pitcher Gaylord Perry for "ball doctoring"; how other players get away with mild forms of cheating; Garagiola's own most embarrassing moment on the baseball diamond; and his hopes for the Brooklyn Dodgers to make it to the 1982 World Series. Garagiola also introduces several clips of funny errors and "bloopers" from other players. Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: August 31, 1982 11:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:55:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:44990
- GENRE: Talk/Interview
- SUBJECT HEADING: Talk/Interview; Comedy/Variety
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1962-1992
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Anacin 3 painkillers
- TV - Commercials - Cella wines
- TV - Commercials - Century 21 realtors
- TV - Commercials - Formby's furniture refinisher
- TV - Commercials - Intellivision televisions
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Product 19 cereal
- TV - Commercials - Oscar Mayer products
- TV - Commercials - Sears stores
- TV - Commercials - Spray n’ Wash stain remover
- TV - Commercials - Vanish toilet bowl cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Windex glass cleaner
- TV - Promos - "Late Night With David Letterman"
- TV - Promos - "The Devlin Connection"
- TV - Promos - NBC News Overnight
CREDITS
- The NBC Orchestra … Music by
- Doc Severinsen … Conductor
- Johnny Carson … Host
- Ed McMahon … Co-Host
- Bill Maher … Guest, Performer
- Neil Simon … Guest
- Joe Garagiola … Guest
- Yasser Arafat
- Leonid Brezhnev
- George W. Bush
- Dick Cavett
- Ronald Reagan
- Gaylord Perry