Another episode on DVD

[hte_trasme]

At Wal-Mart the other day I purchased a DVD released by the Timeless Media Group called "Here is..... the Johnny Carson Show." It has:

-Two episodes of Johnny Carson's variety show from 1955. These both start out with very funny monologues by Johnny then continue with some poorly-written sketches,

-One episode of "Who Do You Trust?" from 1958. This is like a watered-down live version of "You Bet Your Life" with Johnny Carson instead of Groucho Marx. George Fenneman hightens this sense by showing up in an advirtisement to promote another quiz show of his,

-Some advirtising spots that seem to have been filmed on the set of "The Tonight Show" in the 1970s,

and of special interest here,

-The 20 November 1955 episode of "The Jack Benny Programme." This is a hilarious episode that does not seem to have shown up anywhere else. In the first half Johnny Carson appears and accuses Jack of imitating his mannerisms (as he does a very accurate Jack Benny impression), and in the second half Rochester tries to calm the nerves of Jack, who is sure that someone has followed him home.



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[Maxwell]

-One episode of "Who Do You Trust?" from 1958. This is like a watered-down live version of "You Bet Your Life" with Johnny Carson instead of Groucho Marx. George Fenneman hightens this sense by showing up in an advirtisement to promote another quiz show of his,

Right idea, wrong quiz show. Who do you trust was a live daytime verson of a show that lasted one season in prime time called "Do You Trust Your Wife?" starring Edgar Bergen and his dummies. The idea, iirc, and it has been something like 45 years since that show was on the air and I'm going strictly from memory was that two husband-wife teams competed each other by answering quiz questions asked by Bergen. The husband had the option of answering the question himself or letting his wife answer. (Boy was this pre-feminism!)

The format of the show was kind of similar to "You Bet Your Life" in that the quiz simply served as a framework around which to feature the comedy of Bergen and his dummies.

When the show (I believe on CBS) moved to daytime (on ABC), the married couple angle was dropped, but the contestants were still male-female teams.

Now if only I could remember the name of the guy that replaced Carson when he left to do the Tonight Show.

[David47Jens]

Now if only I could remember the name of the guy that replaced Carson [on "Who Do You Trust?"] when he left to do the Tonight Show.

That would be the little-known and faintly-remembered Woody Woodbury http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940207/ , known for several early 1960s comedy LPs, the creation of the BITOA (Booze Is the Only Answer) "religion" http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/08-04/08-04-woody-woodbury.htm, and a featured appearance as "Uncle Woody" in the 1964 film "For Those Who Think Young," with James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Paul Lynde, Tina Louise, Bob Denver, Nancy Sinatra, Ellen Burstyn(!), and the delightful Sammee Tong! Woodbury had a brief stint as the host of his own talk show in 1967-68 (syndicated, I believe).

[Maxwell]

Now if only I could remember the name of the guy that replaced Carson [on "Who Do You Trust?"] when he left to do the Tonight Show.

That would be the little-known and faintly-remembered Woody Woodbury http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940207/ , known for several early 1960s comedy LPs, the creation of the BITOA (Booze Is the Only Answer) "religion" http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/08-04/08-04-woody-woodbury.htm, and a featured appearance as "Uncle Woody" in the 1964 film "For Those Who Think Young," with James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Paul Lynde, Tina Louise, Bob Denver, Nancy Sinatra, Ellen Burstyn(!), and the delightful Sammee Tong! Woodbury had a brief stint as the host of his own talk show in 1967-68 (syndicated, I believe).

Thanks, David. I doubt if I would have ever remembered his name.

Semi-Jack Benny connection with Sammee Tong. He played Peter, Bentley Gregg's houseboy (speaking of stereotyped roles in that other thread) on Bachelor Father, which alternated with Benny's show on Sunday nights after Private Secretary got cancelled.

You know, I never really thought about it, but Peter, wearing his short white jacket and giving out wise cracks might just have been inspired by Rochester.