Okay, here it is: Your all-time favorite of all the video links we've provided on this site.
On December 13, 1976, Bob Newhart was guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Don Rickles was guesting, mainly to plug his then-current sitcom, CPO Sharkey, which taped right across the hall from The Tonight Show. During the spot, Mr. Rickles accidentally broke the cigarette box that had been in permanent residence on Mr. Carson's desk.
The next night, Carson was back and a bit was arranged to capitalize on the moment. As you watch this, it may be helpful to remember that while Johnny did his best to make it all look spontaneous and unarranged, it had to have been carefully planned. Rickles probably was not in on it and may have been genuinely surprised…but Johnny's producers and director must have been prepared for what transpired, and the producers of CPO Sharkey almost certainly knew. (At the moment Johnny entered, Don just "happened" to be shooting on the set closest to that door. The surprise wouldn't have worked as well if they'd been on one of the other sets. It wouldn't have worked at all if they they'd been between scenes or taping a portion of the show that Rickles wasn't in.)
Carson's show was taped in Studio 1 at NBC Burbank. The Rickles sitcom was in Studio 3, where Leno now tapes. These studios are side by side and share a common corridor of dressing rooms and a make-up department. You'll see Carson, in a seeming impulse move, take his microphone and cameras across the hall to interrupt Don's taping. (If you look carefully on the left side of the screen as Johnny crosses that corridor, you'll catch a quick glimpse of the late and legendary Pat McCormick, who was then one of Carson's writers. He's the tall guy with the mustache.)
While David Letterman would later make this kind of "wandering the halls" bit commonplace on his NBC show, this was done at a time when Dave was still showcasing for no money at The Comedy Store. I remember seeing Johnny burst in on Don that night and I laughed my fool head off. Later, when I knew enough about the teevee biz to realize it had been planned, my admiration for Johnny's ability only grew. Doesn't he give a great performance, making you think it was all something that just occurred to him on the spot?
So enjoy your new, all-time favorite clip on this site. And thank Peter Avellino for letting me know about it.
