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Mark interviews comedian and writer Mark Malkoff. · The Mark Simone Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Mark Simone on sevent tenor.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Well, hey, if you're a big Johnny Carson fan, listen carefully.
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  Speaker 2: First of all, this is a thing called the Carson Podcast.
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  Speaker 2: It's excellent. It's everything you could ever know about Johnny Carson.
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  Speaker 2: Mark Malkoff the host. He's done like six hundred episodes
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  Speaker 2: interviewing everybody that was ever on The Tonight Show worked
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  Speaker 2: at the Tonight Show. Listen, start listening to it. The
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  Speaker 2: Carson Podcast. Now that all turned into a book. It
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  Speaker 2: just came out this week. The book is called Love
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Johnny Carson. It is the most detailed, fascinating, never before
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  Speaker 2: told story of Johnny Carson the Tonight Show. It's called
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  Speaker 2: Love Johnny Carson. You can order it right now. Here's
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  Speaker 2: the author, Mark Malkoff, Mark Malcoff. How you doing, Mark.
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  Speaker 1: It is so good to talk to you. Thanks for
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  Speaker 1: having me on. And I have to tell you your expertise
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  Speaker 1: on this book.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you're very generous.
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  Speaker 1: You say that you knew everything about Johnny Carson, and
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  Speaker 1: I was the one person that presented all these new
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  Speaker 1: things to you and some other people. But your expertise
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  Speaker 1: on Carsons this downs me. I'm grateful for your help.
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  Speaker 1: In this book, and you're all over the book with
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  Speaker 1: your quotes, and you added so much to it, so
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  Speaker 1: thank you.
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  Speaker 2: I did I knew everything you could know about Johnny Carson.
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  Speaker 2: I start listening to your podcast, I learned like twenty
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  Speaker 2: seven thousand more things I didn't know now. But you're
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  Speaker 2: a young guy, so you were not really around in
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  Speaker 2: the original days of Carson. How did this love of
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  Speaker 2: Johnny Carson start with you?
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  Speaker 1: You know, I was like five or six years old
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  Speaker 1: and my dad would let me stay up on Friday
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  Speaker 1: nights and watch Johnny and then they would do these
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  Speaker 1: primetime anniversary shows every October, and I just the clip
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  Speaker 1: shows were the best because I would watch Johnny with animals,
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  Speaker 1: with kids, with senior citizens, the sketches, and he'd be
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  Speaker 1: so funny and so witty, and it was like this
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  Speaker 1: adult party. And the politics at that time was over
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  Speaker 1: my head. But you know, I was sixteen when he
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  Speaker 1: went out the air on May twenty second, ninety two,
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  Speaker 1: and I just missed him, like the nation missed him.
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  Speaker 1: And there were just so many questions I had about
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  Speaker 1: the show. Who was holding the curtain open for Johnny
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  Speaker 1: behind the scenes, What was it like for a guest
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  Speaker 1: to be on the show. So I just started this
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  Speaker 1: podcast and I interviewed something like sixty or seventy Carson
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  Speaker 1: staff members. I was with Irving Davis, the guy who
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  Speaker 1: held the curtain open for Johnny for twenty years, to
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  Speaker 1: find out what was going on behind the scenes. And
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  Speaker 1: it was just this whole different world for me. It
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  Speaker 1: was amazing.
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  Speaker 2: So besides the funny and the guests in the entertainment,
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  Speaker 2: there was something about Carson for a little kid, I
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  Speaker 2: kind of the same thing. He would kind of like
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  Speaker 2: teach you about how to be an adult, how to
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  Speaker 2: have a personality, right, that kind of stuff.
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  Speaker 1: I think. So Johnny was really on the show all
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  Speaker 1: about manners. He would say, though the one time he
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  Speaker 1: was knock good with his manners manners and he talked
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  Speaker 1: about it on the shows, and he struggled with this
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  Speaker 1: was his drinking. He would say on the show, when
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  Speaker 1: I drank, I have one extra drink, I would turn
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  Speaker 1: into a table of the hunt. But he was all
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  Speaker 1: about manners and he was really really good with his guests.
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  Speaker 1: He never made fun of people with some top show
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  Speaker 1: hosts will try to get a laugh at the expense
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  Speaker 1: his rule. Peter Less Aali Johnny's producer told me uniquely,
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  Speaker 1: Johnny would always make the guests look good. It was
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  Speaker 1: not to get a laugh for himself. And just the
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  Speaker 1: way he handled himself, the way he dressed, the class
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  Speaker 1: that he had, I think really separated himself. And when
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  Speaker 1: you were a kid, you're impressionable, and there was just
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  Speaker 1: something really about him that was special.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's different when you look back now because it's
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  Speaker 2: so many years, but at the time he was a
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  Speaker 2: very cool guy too. You learned how to be cool
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  Speaker 2: watching him.
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  Speaker 3: Oh.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's really interesting in the sixties, especially because
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  Speaker 1: back then, you know, they go to Hollywood for these trips,
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  Speaker 1: because the show is based in New York, and it's
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  Speaker 1: the smoking and the drinking and the suits, and it's
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  Speaker 1: like people like Dean Martin and Buddy Hackett and Rickles.
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  Speaker 1: It was definitely this hip party and then, as you've
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  Speaker 1: mentioned many times, in New York, it's this very high
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  Speaker 1: brows show with you know, people like Jimmy Breslin and
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  Speaker 1: Gordon Badal. At the same time, he could have the
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  Speaker 1: funniest people like round the Dangerfield on and I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I think he just had such a good variety of guests.
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  Speaker 1: His one only criteria for a guest was excellence. If
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  Speaker 1: you were good at what you did, it didn't didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to be Johnny's paste in music or whatever you did.
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  Speaker 1: He wanted you on the show was about excellence.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Now, the book, you should get the book. It's
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  Speaker 2: called Love Johnny Carson. It's a massive book with great pictures.
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  Speaker 2: But everything you would want to know about Johnny Carson
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  Speaker 2: is called Love Johnny Carson. But he was also I
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  Speaker 2: was a little kid. You know. He was the guy
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  Speaker 2: that introduced us to everybody. He's the one who introduced
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  Speaker 2: you to Don Rickles and Buddy Hackett and all those guys.
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  Speaker 2: But tell us about that part of it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean definitely. In terms of the comedians, the
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  Speaker 1: one thing that I that I really stuck out to
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  Speaker 1: me when I talked to famous comedians especially is there
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  Speaker 1: was the introducing of comics. I would talk to people
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  Speaker 1: like Drew Carrier, talk to people like Bob Saget, and
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  Speaker 1: they would highlight their TV guide when a comic would
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  Speaker 1: be on, and it would be their introduction. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: every was making their debut. Everyone from Flip Wilson said,
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  Speaker 1: Johnny did more for comedians than anybody I know. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: Flip ended up with his own show and NBC and
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  Speaker 1: is winning Emmy's David Letterman for appearances and his guest
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  Speaker 1: hosting the show and before he knows it launches his career.
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  Speaker 1: And it was just it was uniquely Johnny. I mean
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  Speaker 1: even people like Jimmy Buffett who told me he was
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  Speaker 1: so excited to.
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  Speaker 3: Talk to me.
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  Speaker 1: I said, mister Buffet, why would you be excited to
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  Speaker 1: talk to me? And he said, going on Carson was
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  Speaker 1: the biggest break of my career. And no one has
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  Speaker 1: ever asked me about it, no journalist, no one has
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  Speaker 1: ever had And it was one of those things where
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  Speaker 1: he introduced music, He introduced people like Ross Perrot, the
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  Speaker 1: first billionaire. He was in New York and they had
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  Speaker 1: him on and that was he showed up without any security.
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  Speaker 1: He showed up for his pre interview, and that was
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  Speaker 1: his introduction to so many people that became iconic.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, obviously Ed McMahon a big part of the show,
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  Speaker 2: no longer with us. But Doc Severnson is alive, isn't he?
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  Speaker 3: Doc?
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  Speaker 1: As he's in Tennessee. We've talked on the phone a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of times. And he's been on the Carson Podcast,
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  Speaker 1: and yeah, Doc, you know, I don't know if he's
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  Speaker 1: still you know, unfortunately, you know, Carson's no longer with us.
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  Speaker 1: He would have been one hundred years old yesterday. But
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  Speaker 1: I think I can still get the sense talking to
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  Speaker 1: Doc that he just how much he misses Johnny. I
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  Speaker 1: don't think that hurt ever went away. I mean they
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  Speaker 1: were really close. Now. Ed McMahon would say that that
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  Speaker 1: him and Johnny were close, and they definitely had a bond.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, Johnny and Doc would go on vacation
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  Speaker 1: with the wives where Ed and Johnny were tight back
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  Speaker 1: in the New York days, especially when they were hosting
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  Speaker 1: an ABC show called Who Do You Trust on forty
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  Speaker 1: fourth Street which is now the Hell and Hayes Theater.
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  Speaker 1: They go to Sarti's in between shows. But they kind
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  Speaker 1: of grew apart a little bit, yeah, when they moved
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  Speaker 1: to Burbank. But Doc, his memory, his recall is unbelievable.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, Doc was with Steve Allen. I mean, he
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  Speaker 1: and Peter Lesally are really build the lone people that
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  Speaker 1: are still with us, thank goodness.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, if you listen to the Carson Podcast, which you
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  Speaker 2: should how many you did like three four episodes with
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  Speaker 2: Doc telling all his story.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was with Doc a bunch of episodes, and
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  Speaker 1: we're actually going to be releasing some new conversations on
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  Speaker 1: the Carson Podcast. We did almost four hundred episodes and
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  Speaker 1: then I did a lot of additional episodes. Are in
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  Speaker 1: reviews for the book, people like Jay Leno, people like
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  Speaker 1: Mario Andretti who taught Johnny Carson had to drag race
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: in Indianapolis be It Highway in the sixties when Johnny
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  Speaker 1: did a big stunt which was fun. So a lot
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  Speaker 1: of new interviews, but yeah, I just I tried to
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  Speaker 1: talk to as many people and then we're going to
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  Speaker 1: be talking to a lot of new people as well.
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  Speaker 1: That it's going to be on the Carson Podcast, so
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  Speaker 1: stay tuned for that. But yeah, the stories are to
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: be told. I mean the people that just tell me
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  Speaker 1: it was the greatest time of their life. Yeah, there's
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  Speaker 1: just it's endless.
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  Speaker 2: People pick on today's late night shows, but not to
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  Speaker 2: pick on the host. But it's not their fault. The
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  Speaker 2: bigness is gone. It's no longer a massive audience, no
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  Speaker 2: longer these huge, big name stars. What do you think
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: the future is of Late Night. It may not last
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  Speaker 2: much longer.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not I don't. I just the business mind, all
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  Speaker 1: teams Network TV, of the Ravens just keep going down
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  Speaker 1: every year. I just don't think it's probably sustainable. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: let's let's look at this. Johnny at one point was
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  Speaker 1: what twenty five percent of all of NBC's profits. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he was doing an hour in forty five minutes when
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  Speaker 1: he started in New York. I mean, he became NBC's
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  Speaker 1: cash cow. This was a guy. When he started that
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the critics were like, is he gonna last? Or we're
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: going to Is NBC going to bring merv Griffin? And
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  Speaker 1: there were rumors Jack Parr was going to come back.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: And Carson didn't even have his own bathroom in his
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  Speaker 1: office at NBC when he started. In his dressing room,
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  Speaker 1: he had to go to the men's room with the key,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: and it was with all the employees. They did not
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  Speaker 1: treat him like a star. So he's about nineteen sixty four,
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  Speaker 1: he breaks Judy Garland's record at the Sahara Hotel in Vegas.
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  Speaker 1: He starts to get more power, and once he starts
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  Speaker 1: to get more power and creative power from the network
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  Speaker 1: and just was became NBC's cash cow, the High Change,
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  Speaker 1: and by nineteen eighty he gets the ownership of his show,
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  Speaker 1: which was completely unheard of, and NBC is essentially working
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: for Johnny. It's the polar opposite and just that domination
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  Speaker 1: of a network. I don't think we'll see that again.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Hey, we don't have much time with David. You mentioned
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: it's the hundredth birthday of Johnny Carson. What is going
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: on to celebrate that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yesterday they did a big thing of Johnny's alma
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  Speaker 1: mater at Lincoln I'm in the University of Nebraska. They
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: had some former Carson guests. They had Marilyn May who
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: went on the show a lot, who was a singer.
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  Speaker 1: They had a comedian named Pat Hazel who was on
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  Speaker 1: Carol Leefer Lance Berta. They had an amazing Carson debut
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  Speaker 1: as a magician, so they had that going on. And
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  Speaker 1: I did a nice book signing last night. We have
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: We were packed signing books uptown in Manhattan. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I've been just seeing so many people posting about Carson,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: about the centennial, just about how much he's missed, and
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the official Johnny Carson YouTube channel has over a million subscribers,
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  Speaker 1: and it just tells you how much people miss this man.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great stuff on YouTube. We're out of time,
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  Speaker 2: but we'll do this again soon. But everybody, I love that.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Mark.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for your generosa. You've been such a palent.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Great follow everybody. Get the book. Order the book. It's
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: called Love Johnny Carson. It's a long detail. It's everything
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: you'd want to know about Johnny Carson. It's fascinating. It's
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: called Love Johnny Carson. And listen to the Carson Podcast.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: There's hundreds of episodes. You'll love this podcast. And Mark Malcoff,
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: thanks for the book, Thanks for the podcast.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Thanks Mark for everything, Thanks for your support.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to him.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you all right, take care.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, get the book. You'll love it. Hey, coming up
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: at noon today, don't forget. It's Buck and Clay, excellent
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: show every day at twelve noon, Sean Hannity at three,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: the most listened to radio show in America, Jesse Kelly
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: at six, Jimmy Fayala at nine o'clock at excellent show
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: every night nine o'clock on seven to ten. WR