I think that’s part of what makes The Tonight Show so special and unique, nobody else has The Tonight Show. To be able to use actual footage of Johnny Carson every night as the show these characters are creating and making every night, it really gives it authenticity … And for me, it was just an extra bonus of joy to go through these clips and pick them out. It was an embarrassment of riches. Most of them I have n’t even seen. A lot of them I remembered, but have n’t watched in 40 years. Not only do you see these guests again, but you can watch Johnny’s skill. Johnny Carson every night was just so good. Johnny Carson every night really set the standard.

Paul Reiser today .

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That was the goal, if you could get on the ‘ Tonight Show, ’ that was the standard. So The Tonight Show felt like a great validation … I had played The Tonight Show in my mind so many times, so when I finally got The Tonight Show, The Tonight Show felt surprisingly comfortable. And then when we recreated the set for The Tonight Show, it was eerie … Because I knew what it felt like to sit on that couch. It was electrifying. If you’re a young comedian, but someone has never heard of you, if you’ve done the' Tonight Show, ’ then people think you must be good. That was the only currency people understood. Certainly my parents did. For them, The Tonight Show was like, ‘ All right, he spent all those years staying up late in clubs and making $ 7 a week, but now he must be OK because he was on' The Tonight Show. ’ There was no other show that had that stamp of approval.

Paul Reiser today .

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The Carson company is run by his nephew, and when we told him the story, he laughed and said, ‘ That’s my life story. ’ He got a summer job working in his uncle Johnny’s show. His summer job became a longer job and before you know it, he’s there forever. No matter how much he screwed up, everybody said, ‘ Well, that’s Johnny’s kid. You ca n’t touch him. ’ We obviously did n’t know that, but thought it was perfect.

Paul Reiser today .

entertainment