This is the entirety of a Tonight Show that Johnny Carson did back on December 6, 1973. The show was 90 minutes back then and the whole feel and pace of it was, as you'll see if you watch even a little of it, much more leisurely than the hour-long talk shows of today.. It was even different from the hour-long ones Johnny did after it was trimmed in September of 1980.
The guests announced at the beginning are Sammy Davis, Diane Keaton, columnist Erma Bombeck and a brand-new comedian, Freddie Prinze. Diane Keaton talks with Johnny and does a song. Then Sammy Davis does a song, talks with Johnny, then does another song. In an episode after the show went to an hour, there would have been only one song. There also would probably not have been a number from the band. Late in this show, Johnny introduces one instead of bringing out Erma Bombeck who wound up being bumped. I would love to know how and why that decision was made. The hour shows almost never stopped to let Doc and the boys play for a few minutes.
This episode is historic because of Freddie Prinze's five minutes of standup. A lot of books and articles will tell you it was his TV debut but he'd actually appeared earlier that year on Jack Paar Tonite. That was Mr. Paar's short-lived attempt on ABC to return to late night television. In fact, it's said that it was his appearance with Paar that called him to the attention of Carson's talent bookers.
That may not be so because I've also heard that NBC had already taken an interest in Prinze before he first appeared with Johnny. He was already destined to be in a new sitcom for the following season. In that version of the story, his appearance with Carson was arranged to begin the process of making him a star. A couple years later when I was a writer for Welcome Back, Kotter, it was for the same company that did Chico and the Man and that's where I heard the allegedly "real" story.
Prinze's appearance on this episode was one of the most-cited examples of how important a good spot on Johnny's show was to the career of a new stand-up. If he — they were almost all guys — got on The Tonight Show and scored, he had a career. If he bombed or couldn't get on the show at all, he might as well forget about comedy and apply for a job stocking the shelves at a Walmart.
The biggest success was if, after his set, Johnny had him come over and join the panel instead of taking a bow and disappearing behind the curtain. At The Store, I heard comics say that Freddie was the first young stand-up to be so honored after his first appearance and that he was surprised, Watching that moment in this show, it seems pretty obvious to me that Freddie knew that when he finished his set, he was supposed to walk over and join the panel.
I later saw other comics finish their routines, then look hopefully to see if they'd be waved over. Prinze didn't wait for a signal. It was all pre-arranged.
At the Comedy Store and a few other local clubs then, I saw a lot of great comedians before they hit big — Leno, Letterman, Seinfeld, etc. Freddie Prinze was one who never impressed me much and I had one run-in with him and it was not pleasant. I'll tell that story here one of these days. Here's the episode and maybe you'll like him more than I did…