# Mark Malkoff (author, Love Johnny Carson) Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson.md Podcast: [Ian Talks Comedy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290) Published: 2025-12-06T14:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich/episodes/Mark-Malkoff-author--Love-Johnny-Carson-e3btct4 Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/play/112161124/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-5%2F9a19e439-7869-c06e-4560-a56276da7a2b.mp3 Processing state: processed JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson Duration seconds: 4584 ## Resource Mark Malkoff joins me to discuss Johnny's likability; booking of civilian guests like the potato chip in front of celebrities; finding them; Vlasak Kresick; Martin Mull; Rohan Varvedecker; couldn't get Letterman or Bette Midler as guests; tried for years to finally get Angie Dickinson & Dyan Cannon; getting into podcasts at the right time; Jimmy Buffet wanted to talk Johnny; wanting to book Jim Downey; talking to Robert Smigel; Stephen Colbert's cancellation; SNL's format is what keeps it popular; Johnny's breaking of Sahara hotel record in 1964 solidifies his fame; having old time guests; retiring and then gaining some weight kept him off TV; NBC's 75th; Carson gains power in 1967, more in 1979; show goes from 90 minutes to 60; some guests like Buck Henry & Suzanne Pleshette don't come back; wanting good talkers, not just big stars; James Garner & Burt Reynolds were both; comedians Rickles, Rodney, Martin Short & David Steinberg; Cher goes on with guest hosts; Warren Beatty; didn't like "bit" comedians; banning Orson Welles, Uri Geller & Kreskin; origin of Carnac; Steve Allen; Prof. Backwards joke makes him mad at SNL; Dana Carvey's Johnny sketches; Johnny on ;s "Here's Cliffy" episode of Cheers; Marc Shaiman; Jan Hooks; rock stars were few like Chuck Berry & ZZ Top; kept booking Tony Bennett; Arsenio never out rates him; warning Chevy Chase; Dennis Miller; Top Weekend Update anchors; Elaine Stritch; Buck Henry on Paar; Rickles and the geisha girls; Tiny Tim & miss Vicki; Ed Ames; Doc Severinsen still alive; Johnny's popularity grew through anniversary shows; only Letterman did them; Johnny places on Dave; picking Lorne Michaels brain; Tom Davis; Mark's natural curiosity ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.