This past Sunday saw the somewhat unexpected passing of Johnny Carson, the legendary television icon who hosted
The Tonight Show for thirty years. Every channel, not just NBC, carried word of his death at age 79, and tributes to him as well. Even here at "TSoD", where we don't normally stop talking about TV-DVD releases, we just
had to take a moment
and note his passing.
We chose a straightforward way to do this: instead of picking a new release to be our "Pick of the Week", which is our custom here, we instead picked Respond2's
The Ultimate Carson Collection, an excellent compilation of the best moments through three decades, a look at Johnny returning to his roots, and the final two episodes of the show (including Bette Midler singing him out). You can read more about the release
here.
Trade magazine
Home Media Retailing (formerly
Video Store Magazine) is
reporting that Respond2 ("R2" for short) is flooded with orders for these DVDs. Fans who have always wanted the
Tonight Show set, but held off in order to prioritize other purchases, now want this release very badly in order to see more of Johnny Carson's greatest moments, and remember him and show him off to a younger generation that may not know much about who he is.
Home Media Retailing writer T.K. Arnold talked to R2's Vice President, Brant Berry:
Since R2 began selling video compilations of "Tonight Show" episodes four years ago, the company has moved nearly 1 million copies of both The Johnny Carson Collection videocassette and The Ultimate Carson Collection DVD.
The videocassette set is only available online, but the three-DVD set, which retails for $49.99, is widely available at retail stores nationwide, including Tower Records and Video, Best Buy and Borders.
Three of the biggest retail chains in the country - Wal-Mart, Target Stores and Costco - will have the Carson DVD in stock by the end of this week, Berry said.
Shortly after news of Carson's death broke, the Carson DVD hit the No. 1 spot on Amazon.com's top-selling DVDs list.
In fact, Amazon not only sells
The Ultimate Carson Collection, but other
Tonight Show titles such as
Return to Studio One, and a pair of Amazon exclusive titles:
The Tonight Show - Comedians Vol. 1 and Comedians Vol 2., both of which feature many of the great stand-up comic acts which appeared on Carson's show. To see all of Amazon's
Tonight Show offerings, with varying degrees of current availability, click
here. Otherwise, as R2 says, keep checking back with your local branchs of the big chain stores, because all of them are trying to get it restocked. Costco members should also check there; it's been spotted at many locations at an excellent price. We recommend that any fan of Carson's should own this set.
Rest in peace, Johnny Carson. You will be sorely missed.
