{"podcast":{"title":"Ian Talks Comedy","slug":"ian-talks-comedy-140290","podcast_index_feed_id":140290,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded/5576385/5576385-1589847499688-96aa14b6ccf94.jpg","author":"Ian Fermaglich","episode_count":330,"summary":"Join NYC teacher and former stand up comedian Ian Fermaglich as he talks comedy with some of comedy's best.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-28T12:18:37.346010+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290"},"episode":{"title":"Mark Malkoff (author, Love Johnny Carson)","slug":"mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson","published_at":"2025-12-06T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich/episodes/Mark-Malkoff-author--Love-Johnny-Carson-e3btct4","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/play/112161124/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-5%2F9a19e439-7869-c06e-4560-a56276da7a2b.mp3","summary":"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","meta_description":"Mark Malkoff joins me to discuss Johnny's likability; booking of civilian guests like the potato chip in front of celebrities; finding them; Vlasak Kresic…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4584,"processing_state":"processed","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/mark-malkoff-author-love-johnny-carson.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}