What do Seth Meyers’ “Late Night” band and the MTV News archives have in common? More than you might think.
Both are among some of the tiny business cuts that have been making their way through the media industry in recent weeks as companies like NBCUniversal, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery try to winnow down costs while their main flows of revenue — cash from advertising and distribution — grow less reliable.
Most late-night shows have a band — one of the de rigueur elements that have been in place since Johnny Carson held sway with Doc Severinsen. But Meyers’ 12:30 a.m. program on NBC will, starting this fall, no longer boast one, owing to what has been described as “budget cuts.” MTV is a shadow of the cultural behemoth it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but fans could get a taste of its power by surveying the archives of MTV News — until recently.
Both are among some of the tiny business cuts that have been making their way through the media industry in recent weeks as companies like NBCUniversal, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery try to winnow down costs while their main flows of revenue — cash from advertising and distribution — grow less reliable.
Most late-night shows have a band — one of the de rigueur elements that have been in place since Johnny Carson held sway with Doc Severinsen. But Meyers’ 12:30 a.m. program on NBC will, starting this fall, no longer boast one, owing to what has been described as “budget cuts.” MTV is a shadow of the cultural behemoth it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but fans could get a taste of its power by surveying the archives of MTV News — until recently.
- 7/2/2024
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
NBC isn’t cutting “Late Night” off the network’s regular schedule, but it is going to cut the show’s budget.
The 8G Band, a signature element of the Seth Meyers-led program since it launched in 2014, will stop appearing on the after-hours NBC show, commencing in the fall. Eli Janney, the combo’s keyboardist, told Vulture Tuesday that the trio was informed in recent weeks that the band would cease to be a regular part of the program due to budget cuts.
“In the end, NBC was adamant about where they wanted the budget to go,” Janney told the entertainment-news site. “It’s not just the band; there’s a whole crew that works with the band, so there’s a lot of people employed. I think this was an easy way for them to cut the budget. Easy is not the right word.”
NBC declined to make executives available for comment,...
The 8G Band, a signature element of the Seth Meyers-led program since it launched in 2014, will stop appearing on the after-hours NBC show, commencing in the fall. Eli Janney, the combo’s keyboardist, told Vulture Tuesday that the trio was informed in recent weeks that the band would cease to be a regular part of the program due to budget cuts.
“In the end, NBC was adamant about where they wanted the budget to go,” Janney told the entertainment-news site. “It’s not just the band; there’s a whole crew that works with the band, so there’s a lot of people employed. I think this was an easy way for them to cut the budget. Easy is not the right word.”
NBC declined to make executives available for comment,...
- 6/12/2024
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
How many drummers does it take to make a late-night show? Well over 300 if you’re Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Drummers have been a fixture in late-night for years – think of Max Weinberg, the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band who became the bandleader for Conan O’Brien and Ed Shaughnessy on The Tonight Show with Jonny Carson – but Meyers’ NBC show has paved a new path for stick wizards.
Eric Leiderman, a producer on the show, has been overseeing a rotating group of drummers that since the show began – ten years ago on Saturday.
This has included the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, Guns N’ Roses’ Matt Sorum, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, Allison Miller and Mudhoney’s Dan Peters.
As the show celebrates this anniversary, Leiderman tells Deadline how this under-the-radar scheme came about and why...
Drummers have been a fixture in late-night for years – think of Max Weinberg, the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band who became the bandleader for Conan O’Brien and Ed Shaughnessy on The Tonight Show with Jonny Carson – but Meyers’ NBC show has paved a new path for stick wizards.
Eric Leiderman, a producer on the show, has been overseeing a rotating group of drummers that since the show began – ten years ago on Saturday.
This has included the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, Guns N’ Roses’ Matt Sorum, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, Allison Miller and Mudhoney’s Dan Peters.
As the show celebrates this anniversary, Leiderman tells Deadline how this under-the-radar scheme came about and why...
- 2/23/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Emily Marshall, who parlayed a gig as a secretary for producer Fred de Cordova on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show into a two-decade career as a sitcom writer on Newhart, Rhoda, Wkrp in Cincinnati and Designing Women, has died. She was 79.
Marshall died March 17 of lung cancer at her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her friend and mentor, Emmy-nominated writer-producer Barry Kemp, said. She served as a staff writer on Newhart, which he created, from 1982-84.
Marshall was the third wife of Doc Severinsen. She married the colorful Tonight Show bandleader and trumpet player in 1980 and was with him for nearly 40 years through 2013.
Marshall also created the 1988-89 CBS sitcom Coming of Age, which starred Paul Dooley, Phyllis Newman, Alan Young, Glynis Johns, Kevin Pollak and Ruta Lee. The comedy, set in an Arizona retirement community, opened with Severinsen performing the boisterous big band number “Sing, Sing,...
Marshall died March 17 of lung cancer at her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her friend and mentor, Emmy-nominated writer-producer Barry Kemp, said. She served as a staff writer on Newhart, which he created, from 1982-84.
Marshall was the third wife of Doc Severinsen. She married the colorful Tonight Show bandleader and trumpet player in 1980 and was with him for nearly 40 years through 2013.
Marshall also created the 1988-89 CBS sitcom Coming of Age, which starred Paul Dooley, Phyllis Newman, Alan Young, Glynis Johns, Kevin Pollak and Ruta Lee. The comedy, set in an Arizona retirement community, opened with Severinsen performing the boisterous big band number “Sing, Sing,...
- 4/12/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The NBC comedy Cheers was the place “where everybody knows your name.” The staff and regulars at Cheers were all friendly amongst each other, and to any newbies who wandered in for a cold one. The show was so popular that lots of celebrities guest starred on Cheers, too. Most were lovely, but two stood out for their hostility.
L-r: Bill Medley not one of the bad guest stars, Woody Harrelson, Rhea Perlman, and Kelsey Grammer | NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Cheers writer Ken Levine named those 2 on an episode of his Hollywood and Levine podcast about Cheers celebrity guest stars. Here’s why Ed McMahon and Wade Boggs were rude to Levine and the creators of Cheers.
Johnny Carson did ‘Cheers’ but his sidekick refused to guest star
Tonight Show host Johnny Carson appeared on a season 10 episode of Cheers shortly before his retirement. The show filmed on...
L-r: Bill Medley not one of the bad guest stars, Woody Harrelson, Rhea Perlman, and Kelsey Grammer | NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Cheers writer Ken Levine named those 2 on an episode of his Hollywood and Levine podcast about Cheers celebrity guest stars. Here’s why Ed McMahon and Wade Boggs were rude to Levine and the creators of Cheers.
Johnny Carson did ‘Cheers’ but his sidekick refused to guest star
Tonight Show host Johnny Carson appeared on a season 10 episode of Cheers shortly before his retirement. The show filmed on...
- 4/1/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
When Lorne Michaels set out to shake up the late-night television landscape with "Saturday Night Live," there were certain, long-standing traditions he was willing to observe. One of those was the assemblage of a house band. Though the show wasted no time filling America's living rooms with the provocative music of Gil Scott-Heron, Jimmy Cliff, and Frank Zappa, the Saturday Night Live Band was an impressive if unexciting assortment of solid session musicians. And the man who brought them together was a then relatively unknown composer named Howard Shore.
The Toronto-born Shore had the inside track to the gig thanks to a friendship with Michaels that stretched back to summer camp. But while Shore had made a name for himself via the jazz fusion band Lighthouse and his score for magician Doug Henning's popular stage show "Spellbound" (which eventually transferred to Broadway as "The Magic Show"), he wasn't overly...
The Toronto-born Shore had the inside track to the gig thanks to a friendship with Michaels that stretched back to summer camp. But while Shore had made a name for himself via the jazz fusion band Lighthouse and his score for magician Doug Henning's popular stage show "Spellbound" (which eventually transferred to Broadway as "The Magic Show"), he wasn't overly...
- 3/11/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Viewers tuning into “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Friday got a rare treat when television bandleader Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band — legendary for their longtime affiliation with David Letterman — replaced The Roots for one-night-only as the NBC late-night talk show’s house band.
With Questlove, Black Thought and the Roots off to Los Angeles to curate and play alongside LL Cool J, De La Soul, Ice-t, Missy Elliot and others for the 2023 Grammy Awards’ 50th year anniversary tribute to hip-hop, NBC and Fallon announced Shaffer’s return to late-night on Jan. 30.
“Paul Shaffer is one of the most important musical figures in late-night history,” Fallon said in a statement Monday. “From ‘SNL’ to Letterman, he’s done it all. I’m beyond honored and excited that they’re getting the band back together.”
Getting “the band back together” for one night meant Shaffer calling...
With Questlove, Black Thought and the Roots off to Los Angeles to curate and play alongside LL Cool J, De La Soul, Ice-t, Missy Elliot and others for the 2023 Grammy Awards’ 50th year anniversary tribute to hip-hop, NBC and Fallon announced Shaffer’s return to late-night on Jan. 30.
“Paul Shaffer is one of the most important musical figures in late-night history,” Fallon said in a statement Monday. “From ‘SNL’ to Letterman, he’s done it all. I’m beyond honored and excited that they’re getting the band back together.”
Getting “the band back together” for one night meant Shaffer calling...
- 2/4/2023
- by A.D. Amorosi
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Gene Cipriano, the always busy woodwind player who soloed on tenor sax for Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot and recorded with everyone from Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra to Glen Campbell, Paul McCartney and Olivia Newton-John, has died. He was 94.
Cipriano died Nov. 12 of natural causes at his home in Studio City, his son Paul told The Hollywood Reporter.
Perhaps the most recorded woodwind player in show business history, Cipriano played soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones, all the clarinets and flutes, the oboe and bass oboe, the piccolo and the English horn.
Affectionally known as “Cip,” the session musician performed as a member of the Academy Awards Orchestra in the neighborhood of 60 times since 1958. (At the 1977 show, he exchanged “yo’s” with Barbra Streisand, who had just arrived at the podium after having won for “Evergreen.”)
Cipriano...
Gene Cipriano, the always busy woodwind player who soloed on tenor sax for Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot and recorded with everyone from Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra to Glen Campbell, Paul McCartney and Olivia Newton-John, has died. He was 94.
Cipriano died Nov. 12 of natural causes at his home in Studio City, his son Paul told The Hollywood Reporter.
Perhaps the most recorded woodwind player in show business history, Cipriano played soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones, all the clarinets and flutes, the oboe and bass oboe, the piccolo and the English horn.
Affectionally known as “Cip,” the session musician performed as a member of the Academy Awards Orchestra in the neighborhood of 60 times since 1958. (At the 1977 show, he exchanged “yo’s” with Barbra Streisand, who had just arrived at the podium after having won for “Evergreen.”)
Cipriano...
- 11/27/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The original three amigos: band leader Doc Severinsen, Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon.
By Lee Pfeiffer
It's almost too good to be true. After long, complex negotiations the cable channel Antenna TV has closed a deal to begin showing full length vintage episodes of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" beginning January 1. The shows will provide a fascinating time capsule that extends over Carson's thirty years hosting of the iconic NBC late night program. Full one hour episodes will air on weeknights while earlier 90 minute episodes will be telecast on weekends. In today's age of basically crass, dumbed-down interview shows, Carson's "Tonight" episodes will probably resonate better than ever. The show would present an astonishing array of guests that represented everyone from legendary actors and singers to literary figures and politicians. For a generation that grew up on the show it will be great to hear Ed McMahon once again bellow,...
By Lee Pfeiffer
It's almost too good to be true. After long, complex negotiations the cable channel Antenna TV has closed a deal to begin showing full length vintage episodes of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" beginning January 1. The shows will provide a fascinating time capsule that extends over Carson's thirty years hosting of the iconic NBC late night program. Full one hour episodes will air on weeknights while earlier 90 minute episodes will be telecast on weekends. In today's age of basically crass, dumbed-down interview shows, Carson's "Tonight" episodes will probably resonate better than ever. The show would present an astonishing array of guests that represented everyone from legendary actors and singers to literary figures and politicians. For a generation that grew up on the show it will be great to hear Ed McMahon once again bellow,...
- 12/30/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Jimmy Fallon's “Tonight Show” proved to be very different from the version Bill Cosby last visited in New York City. The 76-year-old comedy legend was in fine form on Wednesday night, employing a bit that asserted his elder statesman status while also poking fun at the generation gap between himself and the show's host, Jimmy Fallon. Later, this included giving Fallon an impromptu piggyback ride. See video: Jimmy Fallon and Jude Law Made Terrifyingly Ugly Faces on the ‘Tonight Show’ Maybe it was a little inside baseball that Cosby pretended to be looking for Carson bandleader Doc Severinsen (and...
- 3/27/2014
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Wrap
Fact #1: Jay Leno has been the most popular late night host in America for the majority of the past 19 years.
Fact #2: Comedians, Hollywood insiders, and laypeople alike just love hating on Leno, and have been doing so consistently for over 20 years.
Why? In their minds, the reasons are legion: Because he stole The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson’s rightful heir, David Letterman, way back in the early ’90s. Because he refused to simply retire when NBC tried to replace him with Conan O’Brien in 2009. Because his primetime Jay Leno Show tanked, sinking Conan’s Tonight Show...
Fact #2: Comedians, Hollywood insiders, and laypeople alike just love hating on Leno, and have been doing so consistently for over 20 years.
Why? In their minds, the reasons are legion: Because he stole The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson’s rightful heir, David Letterman, way back in the early ’90s. Because he refused to simply retire when NBC tried to replace him with Conan O’Brien in 2009. Because his primetime Jay Leno Show tanked, sinking Conan’s Tonight Show...
- 2/5/2014
- by Hillary Busis
- EW.com - PopWatch
For some documentaries to work, all the director needs to do is turn on the camera and let her subjects chat away. In I Stand Corrected, there's chatting plus the bonus of some real fine jazz, the interplay of which combines to create a simple, compelling look at a very brave, extremely talented woman, Jennifer Leitham.
The thrust of the tale, though, is that, after a highly successful career as a southpaw player of the double bass, appearing with the likes of Mel Torme and George Shearing, at age 48, Ms. Leitham underwent sex reassignment surgery. Yes, she started out life as a John.
Growing up in Redding, Pennsylvania, in the '50s, was no picnic for a lad who used to sneak into the closets of his mom and his best friends' sisters to try on their dresses. John knew then that was what made him happy. "My body was...
The thrust of the tale, though, is that, after a highly successful career as a southpaw player of the double bass, appearing with the likes of Mel Torme and George Shearing, at age 48, Ms. Leitham underwent sex reassignment surgery. Yes, she started out life as a John.
Growing up in Redding, Pennsylvania, in the '50s, was no picnic for a lad who used to sneak into the closets of his mom and his best friends' sisters to try on their dresses. John knew then that was what made him happy. "My body was...
- 6/21/2013
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Los Angeles (AP) — Ed Shaughnessy, the jazz drummer who for nearly three decades anchored the rhythm section of Doc Severinsen's "Tonight Show" band, has died in Southern California. He was 84. William Selditz, a close family friend, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/1albfp7 ) that Shaughnessy had a heart attack Friday at his home in Calabasas, outside Los Angeles. The New Jersey native began his jazz career as a teenager, playing with Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman and Count Basie. He replaced Buddy Rich in Tommy Dorsey's band. In the mid-1950s Shaughnessy became a staff musician at CBS. From 1963 to...
- 5/27/2013
- by AP Staff
- Hitfix
Ed Shaughnessy, a longtime drummer for The Tonight Show band, died at age 84 of a heart attack while at home Friday in Calabasas, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reports. The jazz drummer played in Doc Severinsen's band from 1963 to 1992. Shaughnessy performed on the drums for artists as varied as Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and Oscar Peterson the Percussive Arts Society noted in a hall of fame profile. Story: Jay Leno Passes the Torch to Jimmy Fallon, or Lights a Fire With It Shaughnessy joined the New York jazz scene as a teenager before later signing up with
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- 5/26/2013
- by Erik Hayden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Here's one of countless punch lines at NBC's expense: On returning from vacation, our "Tonight" show host tells of being warmly greeted at the airport by the network boss – "just before he put my shackles back on."
Sound familiar? Well, this wisecrack was lobbed by Johnny Carson in a monologue that aired nearly 50 years ago.
Compare it to one of the multitude of jokes from current host Jay Leno mocking NBC as it reportedly tries not to shackle him but, rather, send him packing:
"T-Mobile announced they're doing away with contracts," he declared in a monologue this week. "Apparently they got the idea from NBC."
I hate to add to the tonnage of words speculating on Jimmy Fallon as the post-Leno host of a "Tonight" show relocating to New York. But I can't help recalling my early devotion to "Tonight" back when it, and Carson, called New York home – and how,...
Sound familiar? Well, this wisecrack was lobbed by Johnny Carson in a monologue that aired nearly 50 years ago.
Compare it to one of the multitude of jokes from current host Jay Leno mocking NBC as it reportedly tries not to shackle him but, rather, send him packing:
"T-Mobile announced they're doing away with contracts," he declared in a monologue this week. "Apparently they got the idea from NBC."
I hate to add to the tonnage of words speculating on Jimmy Fallon as the post-Leno host of a "Tonight" show relocating to New York. But I can't help recalling my early devotion to "Tonight" back when it, and Carson, called New York home – and how,...
- 3/29/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
On May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson ended his 30-year reign as the host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Twenty years after his final broadcast, Carson remains unmatched as an American television icon.
Carson's abilities as a television host set the prototype for all late-night hosts who would come after him. Effortlessly likable, quick on his feet and always present, his monologue and guest interviews were a staple of the American cultural diet. In the new PBS documentary "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," his one-time permanent guest host Joan Rivers called Carson "the ultimate straight man," praising his ability to let his guests have the spotlight during interviews.
One of his successors, Conan O'Brien, said in the documentary that his forebear's greatest slight of hand was to simultaneously appear innocent as well as "the coolest guy in the room."
"Johnny is to comedy what Walter Cronkite was to news,...
Carson's abilities as a television host set the prototype for all late-night hosts who would come after him. Effortlessly likable, quick on his feet and always present, his monologue and guest interviews were a staple of the American cultural diet. In the new PBS documentary "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," his one-time permanent guest host Joan Rivers called Carson "the ultimate straight man," praising his ability to let his guests have the spotlight during interviews.
One of his successors, Conan O'Brien, said in the documentary that his forebear's greatest slight of hand was to simultaneously appear innocent as well as "the coolest guy in the room."
"Johnny is to comedy what Walter Cronkite was to news,...
- 5/22/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
On May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson ended his 30-year reign as the host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Twenty years after his final broadcast, Carson remains unmatched as an American television icon.
Carson's abilities as a television host set the prototype for all late-night hosts who would come after him. He was effortlessly likable, quick on his feet and always present; his monologue and guest interviews were a staple of the American cultural diet. In the new PBS documentary "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," his one-time permanent guest host Joan Rivers called Carson "the ultimate straight man," praising his ability to let his guests have the spotlight during interviews.
One of his successors, Conan O'Brien, said in the documentary that his forebear's greatest slight of hand was to simultaneously appear innocent as well as "the coolest guy in the room."
"Johnny is to comedy what Walter Cronkite was to news,...
Carson's abilities as a television host set the prototype for all late-night hosts who would come after him. He was effortlessly likable, quick on his feet and always present; his monologue and guest interviews were a staple of the American cultural diet. In the new PBS documentary "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," his one-time permanent guest host Joan Rivers called Carson "the ultimate straight man," praising his ability to let his guests have the spotlight during interviews.
One of his successors, Conan O'Brien, said in the documentary that his forebear's greatest slight of hand was to simultaneously appear innocent as well as "the coolest guy in the room."
"Johnny is to comedy what Walter Cronkite was to news,...
- 5/22/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Aol TV.
From 1962 to 1992, keeping America entertained late at night largely was the duty of one man.
And it was a task Johnny Carson performed willingly and enjoyably, as his iconic status as longtime caretaker of NBC's "The Tonight Show" confirms. David Letterman's new CBS contract will make him the longest-running after-hours host in television history, but even he acknowledges the late Carson was the king -- as does PBS' highly enjoyable, thoughtfully organized "American Masters" profile "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," debuting Monday, May 14 (check local listings).
"It's always nice to look back when you're looking at good things," reasons trumpeter Doc Severinsen, Carson's bandleader for 25 of the 30 years of his "Tonight" tenure. "I don't think there was ever a day when we didn't realize where we were and what we had, but that would be true for Ed (McMahon, Carson's perennial announcer and sidekick) and me probably more than for Johnny.
And it was a task Johnny Carson performed willingly and enjoyably, as his iconic status as longtime caretaker of NBC's "The Tonight Show" confirms. David Letterman's new CBS contract will make him the longest-running after-hours host in television history, but even he acknowledges the late Carson was the king -- as does PBS' highly enjoyable, thoughtfully organized "American Masters" profile "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night," debuting Monday, May 14 (check local listings).
"It's always nice to look back when you're looking at good things," reasons trumpeter Doc Severinsen, Carson's bandleader for 25 of the 30 years of his "Tonight" tenure. "I don't think there was ever a day when we didn't realize where we were and what we had, but that would be true for Ed (McMahon, Carson's perennial announcer and sidekick) and me probably more than for Johnny.
- 5/14/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Chicago – There is arguably no icon on a higher pedestal in the history of television than Johnny Carson, the man who didn’t just host “The Tonight Show” for three decades but became a cultural fixture. We let Johnny into our homes and trusted him in ways that I believe just can’t happen again in a more cynical TV age. He was a nightly visitor for millions and the new PBS documentary about him, “American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night,” is one of the best TV history documentaries yet produced.
TV Rating: 5.0/5.0
Why is “King of Late Night” so captivating? Not only did the filmmakers get unprecedented access to Johnny’s personal and professional archives, they knew how to use those clips to tell his story. With Carson and Ed McMahon gone, they can’t be interviewed, but Carson dropped many biographical nuggets over the course of the show.
TV Rating: 5.0/5.0
Why is “King of Late Night” so captivating? Not only did the filmmakers get unprecedented access to Johnny’s personal and professional archives, they knew how to use those clips to tell his story. With Carson and Ed McMahon gone, they can’t be interviewed, but Carson dropped many biographical nuggets over the course of the show.
- 5/14/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
.American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night. will premiere Monday, May 14, at 9pm Et/Pt and stream after the premiere at http://pbs.org/americanmasters ; http://pbs.org/americanmasters The late, great American institution and comedic genius Johnny Carson, host of the "Tonight Show," is celebrated in the new documentary, .American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night,. by filmmakers Peter Jones and Susan Lacy. This exhaustive and compelling film reveals the layers of Carson's sometimes troubled life and stellar career, with sidekick Ed McMahon at his side. Narrated by Kevin Spacey, tons of archival footage is woven with interviews of those deeply influenced by Carson, like Jay Leno, Doc Severinsen, David Letterman, Drew Carey, Ellen DeGeneres and Conan O.Brien...
- 5/14/2012
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Rickey Minor might have landed his new gig just over 24 hours ago, but The Tonight Show has been on his mind for decades. "As a kid, watching [The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson bandleader] Doc Severinsen, I can't say that I wasn't enamored with it," Minor tells EW. "What musician is not looking at this institution, one of the iconic shows that has live music?" And now, since Minor will be following in Severinsen's and, more recently, Kevin Eubanks' footsteps as The Tonight Show's bandleader, he's prepared for the work ahead, which includes fostering a relationship with the show's host, Jay Leno. "It's like a marriage,...
- 4/15/2010
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
' 'The Tonight Show' is the perfect platform for me,' he tells MTV News after nine-year stint as 'Idol' bandleader.
By Gil Kaufman
Rickey Minor
Photo: Maury Phillips/ WireImage
Rickey Minor has graced a lot of major stages in his decades-long career as a bandleader and music director, but his upcoming move to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" has the veteran arranger very excited.
" 'The Tonight Show' is the perfect platform for me," Minor told MTV News on Wednesday (April 14), the day after news emerged that he would be leaving "Idol" after six seasons to replace Kevin Eubanks as Jay Leno's latest musical foil on the venerable late-night talker.
Minor, who in addition to running the "Idol" band for six years has been the musical director for the Super Bowl, Grammys and People's Choice Awards, as well as for Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera,...
By Gil Kaufman
Rickey Minor
Photo: Maury Phillips/ WireImage
Rickey Minor has graced a lot of major stages in his decades-long career as a bandleader and music director, but his upcoming move to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" has the veteran arranger very excited.
" 'The Tonight Show' is the perfect platform for me," Minor told MTV News on Wednesday (April 14), the day after news emerged that he would be leaving "Idol" after six seasons to replace Kevin Eubanks as Jay Leno's latest musical foil on the venerable late-night talker.
Minor, who in addition to running the "Idol" band for six years has been the musical director for the Super Bowl, Grammys and People's Choice Awards, as well as for Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera,...
- 4/14/2010
- MTV Music News
A great headshot works on two levels. First, aesthetically: It looks good to the eye, even upside down. It grabs the viewer's attention and pulls him or her in. Agents and casting directors receive thousands of headshots a month. Yours has to stand out, grabbing that industry insider by the lapels and saying "Look at me!"Second, a great headshot makes it easy for agents and CDs to mentally cast the actor. They should be able to imagine him or her in certain types of roles: "This actor would make a great romantic lead." "That one would make a great villain." The headshot should be specific enough to define the actor in terms of elements of a type, but not so specific that it limits the actor to only one role. No single headshot can represent all the possible characters that a talented actor could play, but an effective headshot...
- 3/26/2010
- backstage.com
Gene and me in the 1980s. Looking at this photograph by Chicago's Victor Skrebneski, Gene said, "Even our mothers don't think we look that good."
(Photo by Victor Skrebneski)
I was surprised how depressed I felt all day on July 21, when Richard and I announced we were leaving the "Ebert and Roeper" program. To be sure, our departures were voluntary. We hadn't been fired. And because of my health troubles, I hadn't appeared on the show for two years. But I advised on co-hosts, suggested movies, stayed in close communication with Don DuPree, our beloved producer-director. The show remained in my life. Now, after 33 years, it was gone--taken in a "new direction." And I was fully realizing what a large empty space it left behind.
* * * *
Members of the Ebert & Roeper team pose for a farewell photo after taping the last show. Left to right are producer David Plummer, audio engineer...
(Photo by Victor Skrebneski)
I was surprised how depressed I felt all day on July 21, when Richard and I announced we were leaving the "Ebert and Roeper" program. To be sure, our departures were voluntary. We hadn't been fired. And because of my health troubles, I hadn't appeared on the show for two years. But I advised on co-hosts, suggested movies, stayed in close communication with Don DuPree, our beloved producer-director. The show remained in my life. Now, after 33 years, it was gone--taken in a "new direction." And I was fully realizing what a large empty space it left behind.
* * * *
Members of the Ebert & Roeper team pose for a farewell photo after taping the last show. Left to right are producer David Plummer, audio engineer...
- 8/2/2008
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Letterman's Carson tribute is a winner
NEW YORK -- David Letterman's Monday night tribute to his mentor Johnny Carson was Late Show's highest-rated show in almost two years. According to fast-affiliate data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research, CBS' Late Show With David Letterman delivered a 6.0 household rating/15 share Monday night. The show featured Letterman's remarks -- and jokes secretly written for him by Carson before his Jan. 23 death -- and guests Peter Lassally, a longtime producer of NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Doc Severinsen, Carson's longtime bandleader. Letterman's tribute came a week later than The Tonight Show With Jay Leno because Letterman's show wasn't in production last week. Tonight Show delivered a 4.9/12 on Monday. Last week, Leno chalked up near-record ratings with his Jan. 24 Carson tribute episode, which pulled in an 11.2 household rating/26 share.
- 2/2/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Johnny Carson, 30-year king of late night TV, dead at 79
Johnny Carson, a TV icon whose easy Midwestern charm and quick wit made him the king of late night during his 30-year reign as host of NBC's The Tonight Show, died Sunday at his Malibu home. He was 79. "He was surrounded by his family, whose loss will be immeasurable," Carson's nephew Jeff Sotzing told the Associated Press. NBC News reported the cause of death as complications from emphysema. Carson's down-home personality and always-tasteful humor set the standard by which all TV hosts who followed him have been judged. During his 1962-92 run on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the program was a cherished bedtime ritual for millions of Americans and one of the most profitable programs in television history. The audience for his final Tonight telecast on May 22, 1992, was estimated at more 50 million viewers as he, along with longtime sidekick Ed McMahon and bandleader Doc Severinsen, replayed highlights from past shows. Carson's command of the post inspired such followers as David Letterman, who considered Carson his mentor, and Jay Leno, who succeeded him as host of Tonight Show. "All of us who came after him are pretenders," Letterman said. "We will not see the likes of him again."...
- 1/24/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Johnny Carson, 30-year king of late night TV, dead at 79
Johnny Carson, a TV icon whose easy Midwestern charm and quick wit made him the king of late night during his 30-year reign as host of NBC's The Tonight Show, died Sunday at his Malibu home. He was 79. "He was surrounded by his family, whose loss will be immeasurable," Carson's nephew Jeff Sotzing told the Associated Press. NBC News reported the cause of death as complications from emphysema. Carson's down-home personality and always-tasteful humor set the standard by which all TV hosts who followed him have been judged. During his 1962-92 run on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the program was a cherished bedtime ritual for millions of Americans and one of the most profitable programs in television history. The audience for his final Tonight telecast on May 22, 1992, was estimated at more 50 million viewers as he, along with longtime sidekick Ed McMahon and bandleader Doc Severinsen, replayed highlights from past shows. Carson's command of the post inspired such followers as David Letterman, who considered Carson his mentor, and Jay Leno, who succeeded him as host of Tonight Show. "All of us who came after him are pretenders," Letterman said. "We will not see the likes of him again."...
- 1/24/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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