The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection - His Favorite Moments from The Tonight Show (Vols. 1-3) (1962-1992)

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Carson is for Real.
Review: The boxed set goes straight to the very best of Johnnie. No fillers or wasted space, just one funny or interesting scene after another, from the famous tomahawk throwing sequence that Johnnie handles with magnificent adlibs to a scene wth Bob Hope, Dean Martin and George Gobel that is pricesless to his final show with Robin Williams and Bette Middler. We have watched these DVD's over and over. Makes you realize how Jay L. and Dave L. just don't come close to the one and only Johnny..

Rating:
Summary: Here's Johnny!@
Review: The news of Johnny's death really saddened me, as I always thought we'd hear one more xmas special or something out of him. Unfortunately, it seems, the networks rubbed him the wrong way, too bad for us. Otoh, I'm glad Johnny stayed Johnny till the end. I feel priviledged to have grown up watching Carson on late nights, he had a great personality and was great with people, and a great American, imho.

Most of the footage I've seen in the various 'tributes' after his death is in this set, which kind of spoiled it, but still nice to see again. I never thought much of the last couple shows, the Bette Midler singing has got way way too much airtime. I wish I had a few taped episodes from the 70-80's. Here's hoping that we see some in the future, sure there'd be some money in that, lol. Hey Ed, you're great too. I'll have to look for some old starsearch episodes now.

Rating:
Summary: We Need More Johnny!
Review: There is good reason that over ten years after his retirement Johnny Carson is still the King of Latenight! I loved this collection, as it brought back many great memories, and reminded me how wonderful talk shows used to be. There is over seven hours of footage - including a few segments designed just for the DVD that were wonderful. This is also one of the most deluxe, best designed DVD sets I have ever seen. The packaging is terrific with lots of photos, and it looks great sitting on the entertainment center. I know what I will be buying as Christmas gifts this year!

Rating:
Summary: a great collection, but somewhat disappointed
Review: This is a great collection of Johnny Carson's TV moments during the years that his show aired. The menu selection of these DVDs are not up to par. I would go to choose any scene from any chapter selection menu and instead of arriving at that particular scene, I would be taken to the very beginning of the disc, not to the scene I selected. Not something a DVD viewer likes too well. If I want to watch a certain scene from a disc, I want to be taken to that scene, not to the beginning of the presentation. Also the video quality of these particular DVDs are kinda fuzzy and when images move across the screen, they seem to drag a bit, causing my eyes to want to squint while watching them. What a downer when I popped in one of the discs and saw this. The extras on the discs are nice and some don't suffer from the same fuzzy video quality as the rest of the collection does. Its a shame that the video quality isn't better, especially after you pay a hefty price for the DVD edition.

Rating:
Summary: There will never be another...
Review: Watching this set of dvds left me with a sense of melancholy and loss. Like spent youth and good times/people gone by. This will not... it cannot... ever happen again. Carson was a master of the Late Nite format in a very special time in our history. It was a time when true stars walked the Earth. Real S*T*A*R*S like Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, etc. would show up on the Tonight Show to trade quips with Johnny and we knew that we were in the presence of greatness... not foul-mouthed little Irish gits like Colin Farrell whose every second utterance is a four-letter swear-word, or the assorted giggling bimbos and boring, scuzzball, here-today-gone-tomorrow boy bands who frequent the Leno show. This rather pricey 3-disc extravaganza will take you back home and leave you wanting more. BEWARE though! The set is advertized as over 7 hours long and that is not the case. Here is the breakdown: BEST OF THE '60s & '70s (48 mins), BEST OF THE '70s & '80s (46 mins), BEST OF THE '80s & '90S (52 mins), JOHNNY GOES HOME (47 mins), SECOND LAST SHOW (32 mins), FINAL SHOW (35 mins). I work it out to just about 4 and a half hours on 3 discs. Mind you, the packaging, picture quality and menus are superb. Definately worth a purchase, but my advice would be to shop around for the best price.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, Truly Carson At His Best
Review: When Johnny Carson died on January 23rd, 2005, a huge void was left in the world of tv. For 30 years, America went to sleep at 11:30 with Johnny Carson. Though he kept a pretty low profile after he left the show in 1992, he still remained a legend in tv history.

"The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection - His Favorite Moments From The Tonight Show (Vols. 1-3) (1962-1992)" is 3 discs filled with some of the most memorable moments in the show's history, from Ed Ames' tomahawak throw to Buddy Hackett talking about his boat to Tiny Tim's wedding to Jimmy Stewart's poetry. Plus many of his great characters are here - Art Fern, Aunt Blabby, and of course, Carnac (Question: Dippy Doo? Answer: What forms on your dippy in the morning).

Disc 2 also features "Johnny Goes Home", a somber look at his return to his hometown in Nebraska. It features a surprisingly serious Carson as he returns to his house and his school. Disc 3 features Johnny's last 2 shows. First is his last show with guests. Featuring memorable appearances by Robin Williams and Bette Midler (whose serenade at the end is heartwrenching), it is a true tv classic. Then there's his last show, a look back at 30 years of laughter.

This is a great collection of classic American comedy. I hope that a second volume will come out to showcase the many more memorable moments from Johnny's 30 years on the show.

Rating:
Summary: Johnny Carson Collection; the Ultimate in film for video
Review: With the exception of the second-to-last show (with Robin Williams and Bette Midler), this is the same release as the Johnny Carson Collection released on Laserdisc years ago.

The only diffence is the the Laserdisc verson didn't drop every other video frame to give the picture a 'film look'.
You remember that dropped-video-frame film-look fad of the mid-1990's; that funny-looking blurred picture in Led Zep's No-Quartet/Unleaded video? Well it back in the Johnny Carson Collection in all it's 15 frame-per-second glory. (Thearical movies are presented at 24 frames/second. Standard video is presented at 30 frames/second, 60 fields, and current DVD supports that format nicely. Just not here.) If the picture doesn't move, it ok. But if anthing moves, hand-arm waving, camera panning, etc, the motion-blur due to the dropped frames is horrendous and distracting. Believe it or not, people, the Laserdisc has both better picture and sound as NEITHER are commpressed! (Back to ebay!)

This could of been a really nice presentation, but they ruined it with the dropped frames and lack of material. And what is shown has also been trimmed. Granted, 30 years is a long time, but if you're going to show a clip, especially a classic clip, show the whole clip. What's another 30 seconds?

The only reason I can think of for the return of the hated film-look is to increase the storage capacity of the DVD in order to prevent the studio from releaseing a FOUR disc set, God forbid!

Unfortunatly, this is the only comprehensive collection of Johnny Carson on DVD, and we're stuck with it! Johhny deserves better!