Johnny Carson Memories: Johnny's Babe Ruth Trivia Gets Upstaged By Tommy Newsom And Fred de Cordova

[@ryanellis4474]

Johnny was the Babe Ruth of Late Night (and still is)!

[@HaveSomeFunNow]

I agree completely!

[@ronaldressler3418]

I miss Johnny.

[@jdbaes]

It is so great to be able to watch these clips of Johnny. Didn’t mind Jay Leno as host but he wasn’t in Johnny’s league. No one is……….but Jimmy Fallon’s show, even though I like him , is for me unwatchable. It is impossible to believe that in May it will be thirty years since the last show Johnny hosted. Time flies by ❤️🌈👍

[@StevenTorrey]

@@jdbaes And Johnny as host last 30 years from 1962-1992--so 60 years ago from his first Tonight Show,

[@TonyWud]

@@jdbaes Fallon is what makes it unwatchable.

[@mattschneider6773]

You can NOT replicate the banter these guys had. So good. And I miss it all the time.

[@billp4]

HI YOOOOOOOOOOH

[@bubbagump6934]

The more the show bombed, the funnier it got. No one could ad lib and improvise like Carson.

[@paultruesdale7680]

Ed McMahon was the perfect side kick, his wit and laugh just before the audience kept the show alive. Pure comedy and entertainment.

[@arpeggiomikey]

Tommy was frickin' hilarious (and he knew it, too)! Johnny/Ed/Doc/Tommy -- what a stable of mirth! 🤣

[@stevegualtieri8566]

At about 1:00... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmXOmnuOl51rjdk

[@errose5967]

Johnny could always adapt at a moments notice and go for the ride, whether he was the brunt of the joke or not. No one since Johnny has come close to being this good.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Johnny was great when a joke bombed or someone did one of these upstaging moments. He stayed the master.

[@Thedaleb1]

I miss Johnny and our decent civil society

[@waldolydecker8118]

Don't worry, Trump promises he will return your "decent civil society" just the way you remember it.

[@bertroost1675]

@@waldolydecker8118 Idiotic political comment.

[@waldolydecker8118]

@@bertroost1675 - it can't be idiotic because Trump said it himself, and Donald J Trump don't say anything idiotic.

[@bertroost1675]

@@waldolydecker8118 The OP wasn't being politically biased. You were. Therefore you're being idiotic. Trump lives rent free in your head obviously.

[@pgroove163]

@Honest Abe can you imagine someone being so triggered by a comment that he actually has to mention Trump for some reason..🤣..

[@bkatbamna]

Moments like this is what made Johnny the best that was and will ever be.

[@waltermorris337]

Carson just standing slightly miffed was funnier than anyone else

[@Jeff_Pendleton]

Another thing perhaps not a lot of you know is that Tommy Newsome was an incredibly gifted musician, and wrote the scores for original numbers the the band performed and a lot more. Taking over when Doc was out of town was a piece-of-cake for him. Obviously he was pretty reserved, but I'm sure he enjoyed being the butt of many jokes on the show.

[@lewisc215]

Everyone knew this.. Do you live on the moon?

[@Mike1614YT]

@@lewisc215 seems you knew it, thats for sure

[@anonygent]

One more interesting bit of trivia: Tommy MADE Doc Severinson's trumpet. I was astounded when I learned that.

[@vikings844]

If Tommy wasent a gifted musician he wouldn't be director of the tonight show band on occasion! Dah!!!

[@brianbrinkman7964]

I went to see Doc Severinsen in concert when I was in high school and Doc made a point of playing an arrangement of Tommy’s and mentioning his arrangement talent. I think Doc and the OP of this comment felt it was worth pointing out that Tommy Newsom’s willingness to be seen as dull (but still quietly witty) was an add-on to his status as a highly successful technician. We know about Tommy and he didn’t have to know about us, so I guess that’s a given, but for some reason people from Doc on down wanted to share his behind the scenes value.

[@porflepopnecker4376]

It was great being able to watch this show every weeknight.

[@randallswanson3435]

It must have been fun to sit in the band each night and listen to this!

[@notintohandles]

When you have a talented crew. Just right for Carson.

[@roncaruso931]

Only the great Johnny Carson can ad lib like this.

[@tomcollins3137]

Typical Carson -- took that pause, allowed others to shine, then had that mother-in-law look of frustration sans speaking one word. ** BRILLIANT AND UNBELIEVABLY CLASSIC **. Bravo J.C. - from: Coolavoohig, county Cork, Ireland.

[@jeffreyjeziorski7646]

The Jack Benny school of getting a laugh. Jack, of course, was Johnny's hero.

[@LoveMusic9973]

Classic comedy. It doesn’t get much better than this. ❤️😂

[@jennifersman7990]

Anytime Fred DeCordova came out of the shadows was special because you knew a great ad-lib from Johnny would follow

[@JoeKoOhNo]

Johnny on the ad-lib was the best part of the show.

[@mervjb809]

Johnny always hit it out of the park!!

[@mat4410]

It’s moment like this what made the Tonight Show unreachable from there on end.

[@peterscocca3024]

Back when the show was Great

[@billp4]

Back when he might slip one by the censors and it was funny.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Hahaha 😂too funny...Johnny perfected this gig

[@PhilMoskowitz]

Charlie Root probably thought- "They'll never let me live it down", and he was right.

[@JoeKoOhNo]

Caught on that new-fangled recording medium for all posterity. In Charlie's defense, the film is not conclusive.

[@Fireplug52]

Those who are so-called late night shows cannot garner enough people to watch their junk and they all together cannot get the audience that Johnny Carson would get in one night. I still laugh so hard watching these old clips.

[@paultruesdale7680]

Great find!

[@ryanellis4474]

Yes!

[@tomcooper6108]

Those guys knew about the Babe Ruth thing and studied up on that game. That's what was funny!!!!

[@johncirillo9544]

Except Tommy got the year wrong. Ruth’s alleged called shot off of Charlie Root was in the 1932 World Series, not 1933.

[@cisium1184]

That's the thing about baseball fans - baseball fans will just know that stuff. And they'll be able to recite it to you.

[@CaryMGVR]

*What a cool moment!!*

[@mgwilliams1000]

He was a very private man in his personal life, but he was at his best with the people he liked to make laugh so much.

[@alant5354]

Ed McMahon said it best that Johnny was great with 10 million people but lousy with 10

[@jeffreygranger6913]

Freddie got into the act too!

[@JohnC-er3rg]

I remembered this episode and alway remember the name Charlie Root from watching that night.

[@jimmcnamara6523]

This was back when the Tonight Show was actually good- Johnny and the guys made it feel like cocktail hour, especially when they had hot broads on as guests.

[@kvernon1]

Someone shouted out "1933"! but that is incorrect. It was the 1932 World Series. The Yankees swept the Cubs 4-0.

[@samiam9008]

The guy was the best ..

[@Norvo82]

Carson's biggest strength was making things seem spontaneous and off the cuff. There's no way this wasn't a prepared bit. The director knew what was coming, the backstage area was perfectly lit and all of a sudden these massive cameras had enough mobility to follow him across the studio floor? It makes for great television, all the same.

[@Zane_Zaminsky]

No

[@billp4]

Doesn't matter.

[@casualobserver3145]

Priceless!

[@BMan100]

This i what is missing from late night stuff.

[@Eddie_Schantz]

Based on he Babe Ruth story, this show aired on Feb. 6, 1988

[@Mike1614YT]

some of the older people in that audience may have seen the Babe play

[@jeffsanders663]

Or, had heard the game on the radio.

[@theshoe21]

Johnny always got upstaged by Tommy. He knew it was going to happen and didn't mind it, otherwise he never would have talked to Tommy.

[@christopherstarr8050]

he loved it and set Tommy up .

[@porflepopnecker4376]

Johnny loved being able to turn to the audience and do that deadpan "take" after Tommy said something funny.

[@TacomaPaul]

Did you know... Stadium High School in Tacoma. Dale Chihuly, Babe Ruth, Louis Armstrong, and Teddy Roosevelt ! ;-)

[@robertyates9500]

February 6, 1988. Also President Reagan’s 77th birthday that day.

[@lewisc215]

manure

[@dangeroreilly2028]

I did remodeling a year or so ago, found a bunch of newspapers from 1916 and 1917. One sports page interviews Red Sox manager. He said they had a rookie with real potential as a slugger, Babe Ruth. He called that right!

[@TheCream14]

Ah, back when TV was quality entertainment.

[@gregoryvschmidt]

My cousin was at that World Series game. First major league game he attended. His last one was Mark Buehrle’s perfect game. Nice bookends huh?

[@johncirillo9544]

Wow, 1932 to 2009, that’s a 77-year window!

[@billp4]

@@johncirillo9544 He was probably about 8 or 9.

[@peggylemire5572]

❤❤ Johnny Carson the funniest show ever!!❤❤

[@howie9751]

Tommy said it was 1933. It was 1932.

[@johndcornell6341]

There used to be real men in Hollywood that knew shit like this

[@AwesomeBeatles]

I was born in Baltimore 61 years ago.

[@stevenwiederholt7000]

I wasn't. Unless They lied to to me.

[@kimparish1982]

Well good for you! 🥴

[@waldolydecker8118]

Great. Have you ever pointed into the stands in Wrigley Field and called a homer in a World Series game?

[@stephenwoehr6500]

Carson got schooled!!

[@epaddon]

This kind of highlights something that I noticed over the years. Johnny knew NOTHING about baseball. When he was a guest panelist on To Tell The Truth and Roger Maris's wife was a subject, he literally tanked his entire questioning round. When he would have baseball guests on like Joe Garagiola he tended to ask grade-school generic stuff and that was in part one reason why when A's owner Charley Finley went on the show in 1976 at the height of his feud with Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, he knew he wasn't going to get tough, knowledgable questions from Johnny. This whole bit reveals how little Johnny really knew compared to real baseball fans (and I'm not saying that as a knock on Johnny, it's just something that over the years I tended to notice after watching so much of him).

[@billp4]

He didn't claim to be an expert in baseball and he never asks tough knowledgeable questions does he? I can't argue he was not knowledgeable about baseball tho.

[@stevenj9970]

Carson‘s frozen dead pan stare stage right, one of the funniest moments on his television show ever. Just goes to show you less is more, pity the late night host these days don’t realize that.

[@TonyWud]

Fallon's fake laugh is painfully lame.

[@stevenj9970]

@@TonyWud Fallon is the WORST late night host SINCE conan left.......

[@7777shayna]

That stare is from his idol Jack Benny

[@stevenj9970]

@@7777shayna No question about it, and it worked....

[@stevenj9970]

@Brian Allen amen

[@waxwax8781]

I'm a direct descendant of Lord Baltimore. ;)

[@Music--ng8cd]

The Native American tracker who hunted down Paul Newman and Robert Redford?

[@Howrider65]

The only reason I keep cable TV is football everything else is garbage now. Nothing tops old TV shows.

[@josephforest7605]

Also all the celebrities on stage in this clip are gone .RIP to Johnny , Ed , Freddie and Tommy , it is so sad .

[@billp4]

I'm not a fan and I have NO reason to keep mine. Especially since its You Tube TV. Actually my wife is a baseball fan so after the playoffs, gone.

[@LouisEmery]

Many of the audience would have known the same stuff too.

[@jerseyinsd]

except it was the 1932 world series, not '33 as tommy said

[@mattschneider6773]

Johnny was funnier when he bombed. And Tommy was just deadpan.

[@themopar426]

when late night had class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@billkaldem5099]

When our country had class

[@radsdad1]

Looks like Tommy's mini me in the screenshot.

[@robertdembro4246]

Johnny was upstaged..

[@tomster927]

It was actually in 1932.

[@55tumbler]

Thats what they said 32

[@newsycpl]

@@55tumbler No, he said 1933! @ 0:50.

[@raffriff42]

And I thought Letterman invented the "follow me" cam… ah well, he stole from the best.

[@civwar054]

Steve Allen did it in the 50s.

[@raffriff42]

@@civwar054 I remember (barely) watching Steve Allen on my daddy's knee, specifically with "Jose Jimenez" as a ski jumper [EDIT or maybe a high diver… oh, never mind]

[@waldolydecker8118]

"you thought" lol Carson didn't invent that, Steve Allen did - along with the show itself and 90% of everything else Carson did on it.

[@jeffreyjeziorski7646]

@@waldolydecker8118 Steve also was a prolific song writer, something like 2500 published songs....A real Renaissance Man.

[@THE-HammerMan]

@@raffriff42 His name was "José Hemayonnaise"! LOL!

[@ericgoldfarb4870]

1932

[@angelthman1659]

How about putting the year this aired? Not hard to research that it was 1988. Sorry but that's just lazy.