Remember when late night TV was funny and pretty much clean?

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

(Rod Serling Night Gallery voice). Imagine if you will, and step into my time machine to another time........

JHC

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Huh!  Flew the Maurader!  I didn't know that. But then, I didn't know that he was a pilot.

 

Apparently a difficult plane to master.  So much so that many men were afraid to fly it, or even refused.  I think it was General Hap Arnold who asked Jacqueline Cochran to fly one to various bases to show the men that "it's so easy, even a woman can fly it!"  

[watab kid]

you remember the war ? there was not one japanese aircraft that got past tulsa ...................yup there was a time back in camelot when late night TV was great , no one outshines jonny 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

5 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Huh!  Flew the Maurader!  I didn't know that. But then, I didn't know that he was a pilot.

 

Apparently a difficult plane to master.  So much so that many men were afraid to fly it, or even refused.  I think it was General Hap Arnold who asked Jacqueline Cochran to fly one to various bases to show the men that "it's so easy, even a woman can fly it!"  

She may have, but it was Jimmy Dolittle who did the heavy lifting. He traveled from base to base to demonstrate the plane was easy to fly once its flight characteristics were taken into account. Up to that time AAF didn’t teach pilots how to handle the newer planes. 

[Dapper Dave]

My stepfather always said the B26/A26 looked like someone shoved a razor blade through a cigar. He was a radio operator on a C-47 with the AAF, 1943-1946, and during Normandy, so I guess he earned his opinion. 

[Pat Riot]

Imagine, if you will, you are reading a thread about late night TV but you find yourself immersed, yet again, in WW2. Next Stop…The Saloon Zone

 

Doo do do do, doo do do do…

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Dean flipping his cigarette ash into Goebel's cup is hilarious..........Just boys being boys.

[Trailrider #896]

13 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

She may have, but it was Jimmy Dolittle who did the heavy lifting. He traveled from base to base to demonstrate the plane was easy to fly once its flight characteristics were taken into account. Up to that time AAF didn’t teach pilots how to handle the newer planes. 

The other thing that made the B-26 safer was lengthening the wings, and increasing the approach speed so it didn't stall out as quick! The original approach speed placarded in the Dash-1 was too close to the stall speed, resulting in a lot of inexperienced pilots augering in! 

 

I have often quoted "Lonesome George" in my own case. I wanted to bore holes in the sky, but got sent to maintain, target & align Minuteman missiles instead. Well, I went where I was told to go, and did what I was told to do, to the best of my ability, and, so far, there are no nuclear craters on the North American continent except at the test sites!

 

That episode of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and those guys was priceless! No wonder my wife and I quit watching late night TV after a few episodes with Jay Lenno! 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

5 hours ago, Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme said:

Dean flipping his cigarette ash into Goebel's cup is hilarious..........Just boys being boys.

 

Also when George Goble walked out with Bob Hope, Dean Martin already there he commented about himself, Finally a heavyweight on the show. Something like that anyway. 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

Two of my favorite Carson moments:

(1) I don't remember the quest, but he was working with John Wayne on a movie at the time. Of course Carson had had The Duke on many times, but only really knew him professionally. Ed McMahon however WAS a personal friend of The Duke. So Carson started his conversion, which was about the movie. The guest turned to Ed and told him "Oh, by the way, The Duke said to tell you 'Hi'". Ed thanked him and the interview continued. When the next guest came out, he ALSO turned to Ed and said that The Duke had said "Hi". He wasn't working on the movie though. The next two or three guests did the same thing, which drove Carson nuts. 

(2) They were setting up to do a "Carnac the Magnificent" bit. Carson came out, dressed in his turban and such, bowed, and walked over to where Ed was already sitting by his desk. As usual, Carnac tripped over his own feet and fell into the desk. Unbeknown to Carson or just about anybody but Ed, the Prop guys had made a reproduction of the desk out of Balsa wood. When Carson hit it, it absolutely exploded into pieces, and carson fell into the remains. TOTALLY surprising him. 

[watab kid]

i watched jonny near every night [when i wasnt working - back then i worked a lot of nights] late] but when jonny retired and letterman took the show i quit , i cou;ldnt stand letterman at that point , the show stopped for me with jonny - nothing has ever measured up since 

 

always funny and well presented without a political bent , thats whats wtrong with todays media , but they wont accept it till they are broken , financially and by followers , our media has devolved to what is the last flush in the toilet , they wont check their oinfo and they no longer report - they editorialize and opinionate , its not reporting anymore ......wish they would , 

 

jonny was an open stage for all people new in the BIZ as well as all opinions of the times with a lot of kidding and banter between the desk and the couch - we just dont see that opportunity for tallent to showcase or for those under contract to promote their recent productions anymore , i miss all that a lot 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

Carson and other hosts decades ago would occasionally mention politics or a politician when something funny or unusual warranted it.  But it wasn't constant, night after night, one sided bitterness. These days late night talk shows are just part of a coordinated indoctrination program along with Hollywood and the media.

 

Also back decades ago old time movie stars, musicians weren't constantly on TV on entertainment tonight and other shows you see today, Iet alone the internet. It was rare fun seeing Jimmy Stewart, Jack Benny and so many others at that time.

[Rye Miles #13621]

My two sons and I went to LA to visit my cousin who moved there. We got tickets to the Tonight show, this was 1992. Elizabeth Taylor and Micheal Douglas were the guests along with a young comedian. Great show and the thing that I remember the most was Doc Severson’s band. During commercials they played! What an awesome band, they sounded great live! Blew me away!

[Eyesa Horg]

Anybody remember the time I think it was Drew Barrymore climbed up on Johnny's desk and flashed him!! The things ya remember!

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

2 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Anybody remember the time I think it was Drew Barrymore climbed up on Johnny's desk and flashed him!! The things ya remember!

I think that was Letterman she flashed.

[Eyesa Horg]

2 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I think that was Letterman she flashed.

Possible I spose! It was many moons ago. Sure thought it was Johnny.

[Eyesa Horg]

5 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

I think that was Letterman she flashed.

A quick Google search confirms that you are correct! She was 20 then! I shall sit corrected!

[Alpo]

43 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

She was 20 then

That's good to know.

 

When you posted your question "remember when Drew Barrymore crawled up on Johnny's desk", I immediately thought of when she was on the show plugging ET. And she was seven.

 

 

And then the question continued "... crawled up on Johnny's desk and flashed him?"

 

Do WHAT?????

 

I knew that girl was strange but MY GOD.

[Eyesa Horg]

Surprisingly, when I Googled the incident, there are bunch of videos of it! 

[Pat Riot]

13 hours ago, Smokin Gator SASS #29736 said:

Carson and other hosts decades ago would occasionally mention politics or a politician when something funny or unusual warranted it.  But it wasn't constant, night after night, one sided bitterness. These days late night talk shows are just part of a coordinated indoctrination program along with Hollywood and the media.

 

Also back decades ago old time movie stars, musicians weren't constantly on TV on entertainment tonight and other shows you see today, Iet alone the internet. It was rare fun seeing Jimmy Stewart, Jack Benny and so many others at that time.

Excellent points. You’re right. Politics was not a constant theme. I am so sick of politics and political bull $#!¥ that I just completely avoid any show where politics will be brought up, even if I may agree with the host or the discussion. I am just plain fed up with it. 
 

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

Regarding the B 26 Marauder, I believe by the end of the war it as considered to be the safest warbird in our arsenal. But first impressions sometimes can’t be overcome by later developments. My late father in law flew 70 missions as tail gunner in a B 25 and always said he felt sorry for crews who had to serve in the B 26. All he remembered about the plane was it’s initial reputation. 
 

Seamus

[Rye Miles #13621]

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=johnny+carson+buddy+rich&ia=videos&iax=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_0wjAWBS-Lk

[watab kid]

On 7/27/2025 at 8:00 AM, Pat Riot said:

Imagine, if you will, you are reading a thread about late night TV but you find yourself immersed, yet again, in WW2. Next Stop…The Saloon Zone

 

Doo do do do, doo do do do…

i did as a youth - teenager - my father watched JC with me often and often the guests had WWII backgrounds , my father did as well and those were the moments

in time when he might open up and actually tell you something about it , mom too , if they started in at a calm moment it was like they were back reliving out loud , myself and my siblings learned to keep qiet and listen at those times , we learned more than we learned in school of the war , 

 

but then i date myself as i was born shortly after the war , it was still a very relevant thing then , i know today its not ....yet so many foolish younger folks think  its not - they have forgotten , the entire habited globe was involved , it was not , NOT , something to be forgotten , because if it ever happens again the entire human race could be eradicated , 

 

the thing about jonnys late night show was he had a lot of guests that were related to the war , or were entertainers in the war or entertainers that served in the war , im not talking about the end of his show as much as im talking about the full duration of it , he was there for us to bring us everything from the past and the present as well as some obscure entertainment we might never have seen , 

 

in a lot of ways he picked up here ed sulivan left off but made it more than part of our living room - he made it almost family

[Pat Riot]

5 hours ago, watab kid said:

i know today its not ....yet so many foolish younger folks think  its not - they have forgotten , the entire habited globe was involved , it was not , NOT , something to be forgotten , because if it ever happens again the entire human race could be eradicated , 

Oh, don’t worry. Humans can’t go too many decades before they clash again. Someday there will be elders telling youths about their experience in yet another world affecting war. 
 

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

7 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

Oh, don’t worry. Humans can’t go too many decades before they clash again. Someday there will be elders telling youths about their experience in yet another world affecting war. 
 

 

True. 
 

The thing that appears different to me as compared to WW2 is the civilian population has been largely disconnected from all the wars since then.
 

Back then, pretty much everyone was involved in the war effort through work or some other endeavor. The number of people in uniform was staggering. They had family members serving across the globe. Pretty much everyone had a stake in it or was affected by it. Just one example is rationing - something we’ve not seen since. 
 

Today, most people’s lives go on as in peacetime without any personal stake outside their own little bubble. Wars are just something they hear about on the news and pontificate about on social media. 
 

Wish it wasn’t that way. 
 

Note: Ken Burns did a multi part documentary about 15 years ago called, “The War”.  In it, he combines the stories of those who served in it and the lives of those on the home front. It’s excellent. 
 

 

[watab kid]

On 7/30/2025 at 5:57 AM, Pat Riot said:

Oh, don’t worry. Humans can’t go too many decades before they clash again. Someday there will be elders telling youths about their experience in yet another world affecting war. 
 

 

i hope not , this would be so devastating to every society on the globe , it would make the worst conditions that exist today look like a great situation