BROKEN CIGARETTE BOX - Johnny Carson & Don Rickles - COMPLETE 1976/78
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ย. 2017
- 1 - Dec. 13, 1976 - Guest Don Rickles breaks Johnny's cigarette box while horsing around. Bob Newhart is the Guest Host.
2 - Dec. 14, 1976 - After discovering the broken box, Johnny breaks into a taping of CPO Sharkey to confront Rickles with the box. Includes the usually-not-shown last part where Rickles "introduces" Johnny.
3 - Nov. 13, 1978 - Rickles is Guest Host and starts messing with the box again.
Probably the only time in his life that Rickles was speechless.
I think his soul left his body when he realized what happened
Until Frank busted in the next night while he was filming Sharky
He found his voice eventually, but he was stunned.
and when he was interviewed on set of kellys heroes. search it up its funny!
Hamna-hamna-hamna-hamna-hamna.
"I don't give a damn if they're on the air, open it up." And no one tried to stop him. Only Carson. LOL
Carson basically owned NBC at that point, to get in his way was career suicide. A few years later NBC had to give so much stock to Johnny to keep him that he was God in that building. The weirdest thing at the end was that they denied him giving the show to Letterman. He was livid about that for years, but I think the studio wanted to send him a message that he wasn't in charge anymore and they didn't care about his approval so he wouldn't step on their toes after he left......
Doc: "Rickles did it last night. He was having a fit..."
Johnny: "How can you tell?"
LMFAO!
Doc was amazing
Doc threw Rickles under the bus!!
@@jdhrap It was on national television hahaha.
Johnny always got the best digs in at Rickles, and picked his spots so well. The 'how could you tell?' bit is awesome (the dry delivery makes it), but once they're on the CPO Sharkey set Johnny also gets in the, "Millions of dollars?! What're you doing with the money? This can't be it." Love it!
Rickles was never the classiest man. He could've let Carson know before he saw it; obvoiusly, he valued it.
A major league, iconic TV moment. For any number of reasons, this kind of brilliant entertainment will never see the air again in our lifetimes.
R.I.P. Johnny and Don.
"They know who I am!" I love how that line broke Rickles completely lol
I guess it's better that the typical celeb's rhetorical snit: "Don't you know who I AM!?" :)
Johnny slapping him at the end was the cherry on the sundae 🤣
"I hope you kept the cotton mill down south" LOL. Could you imagine if a late night host said that today? They'd be off the air the next day.
Next day?? How about next commercial break!
@@jchis9852 hangin, not hang him
He simply doing Rickles-style comedy to Rickles.
I think he’d never make a joke like that now because he wouldn’t have to. Today, you can be loudly anti-racist. Back then, you had to be quiet about it if you wanted to find a broad audience. The fact is that Johnny Carson had considerable credibility with Black Americans in that he had made room for Harry Belafonte to guest host for him for a week in the late 60s and ensured that all of his guests got equal treatment. He highlighted Black actors and comedians and joked with them as he would with anyone else. Racial humor isn’t as mainstream today, of course, so Johnny would probably make other jokes like the ones he sent to Letterman on the 90s and 00s.
If that happened, another network would pick up Johnny Carson, the network would be making millions. NBC would lose their juggernaut Late Night Ratings King, lose 15 million viewers, and lose millions of dollars. If no one can handle jokes from a comedian, they shouldn’t bother watching.
I was watching the night this aired. The funniest talk show host ever. Even when Carsons jokes didn't land, he would manage to still make you laugh.
Comedy gold the likes of which we will never see again.
Johnny Carson is probably the only person that could interupt a live taping and not get in trouble for it. the cotton mill joke would never fly now adays lol
Santino , i was thinking the same with the cotton mill joke !
I knew a woman who was a PA on this show a hundred years ago (when this was taped.) It was all a set-up. But a well executed one, anyway. They don't "ad-lib" like that .. everything is scripted. (Though perhaps they kept Rickles in the dark to make it appear authentic.)
Did you catch how right after he first interacted with the black actor he returned to Rickles, leaned in and said "hang him!" Try saying THAT in public nowadays.
@@LA2047 Love both Carson and Rickles but joke or not shouldn't be saying that anytime.
@@ocan1033 Of course it was all set up beforehand only a numpty would think otherwise. You don't just cut to cameras in another studio on a whim, they had to be patched to the vision switcher in Johnnys control room, and the camera operators in the other studio needed Johnnys director comms which also had to be patched to them beforehand.
Nothing like this is ever spontaneous. If a single hand held camera had followed Johnny and that was the only shot during this then sure I'd believe it was not set up in advance.
Otherwise, there is no way any on air talent would ever try this. Because they know the technical problems they are throwing at the crew are going to end up making them (the person in front of the cameras) look like a complete idiot.
Yes you can get away with unscripted antics like this within the confines of your own studio where there is a boom and operator, a hand held mic you can grab and a nimble camera crew and director who can follow the action. But the limits of what you can get away with have very defined boundaries and somebody like Johnny would be all to aware of them.
Rickles and Newhart were best vriends. They travelled all over the world together. Rickles was truly speechless when Johnny confronted him.
Kids today will never ever know how big this show was, no one has ever replaced him
No one has replaced him because there’s better things to watch now
@@George-fh9zm I am “a lot younger” im not sure what im being compared to there but i probably am, but I’ve also seen hundreds of replays of Carson, because i would watch them with my mom. The format of the tonight show has always been fairly boring, it was just the most popular thing for decades because it was one of the only things to watch. Carson was great at what he did, i would take him over jay or both jimmys any day, but the show would never have competed with shows where boundaries are pushed and the format is played with. But it will always be the biggest because it plays to biggest audience that doesn’t want to be challenged right before they go to sleep
@@Butterratbee ok, Ill bite..such as?
"Johnny Carson!"
"They know who I am!"
"He's got 40 million dollars and he sits with his wife Joanna on the floor and goes, YOUR TURN. anyway. They put the trains through the tunnel its a damn whole thing". LMFAO... how did only 1 person laugh at that.
Because it wasn’t funny. Much like most of Rickles shit.
Baldi Locks Millions disagree with you. Don is the best of all time.
PaulDA2000 watch his roasts and other stuff here he used the same jokes over and over. Totally overrated
Baldi Locks He’s not overrated, he doesn’t use the same jokes over and over he tweaks them to the situation. And many of his comebacks are original. I’m sorry you have a right to your opinion but your way in the minority. Rickles is considered one of the greatest comedians of all time. He’s the only person that could come up with things off the top of his head. He’s sold out all of his appearances until he passed away a few years ago. So you may not have liked him but millions of people loved Don Rickles.
Baldi Locks you realize every single comedian ever uses the same joke more than once right? You have no idea what you’re talking about
This six minute clip is funnier than all of the current late night shows combined.
Fallon, his writers and producers combined couldn't come up with what Carson did off the cuff, that's genius and comic greatness.
You nailed it
That's because only letterman and Conan and Ferguson were good post johnny and they are all done so.
NOT AS FUNNY AS YOUR BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND!!!!
Absolutely 😂❤
Oh how I long for the days when comedians were actually funny!
X - Files When they didn’t need to rely on cussing every other word or making it all about politics.
What about Fluffy?
@@Renville80 Just so ya know, I didn't care for Jay Leno when he took over from Carson
NO One can replace Carson
also, I'll betcha you didn't like people roasting Bush, Clinton, Bush, Jr. or Obama....right?
There are still funny comedians, but the PC police doesn't let them make jokes anymore.
@@Renville80 You’re worried about cursing? Since when did society get so soft?
Watching Johnny's brilliant mind start to think of where he could take this, shows a master entertainer and comic. Just watch his face once he discovers the broken box and see the wheels turning as he contemplates whether his crew would be capable of such an improvised left turn out of the studio and into another. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant, and it resulted in one of the best moments of his entire run. It predated the improvised silliness of Letterman by several years. Johnny did most things first. And he did most of them best.
Gotta love rickles' audience reaction when johnny mentioned the box
I think you'll find that Steve Allen (predated Carson as host)) was big on the improvision stuff. Johnny was King of course, but Steve was a true innovator of the medium and was known for the variety of skits Johnny did less often but just as well. It was a good time for all of us back then.
And he did not care that he was interrupting a taping. It was costing money, but Carson made so much for the network that no one was going to get on him. Besides it was too funny.
I couldn't have said it better myself, Mr. Sellar. Well done, sir.
This was all scripted and staged it was not at all spontaneous Johnny knew Don broke the box so he and his writers thought up this funny way to "get even with Don" there is no way this was spontaneous.
Rickles reaction is priceless and hilarious! "Rickles!!!! Did you break my cigarette box!!!!???!!!" This clip is a classic! One of my favorite moments ever!
"What the hell happened to this?" I lose it every time!
I... I... I... I... I... I...
Don Rickles was having a fit. "How can you tell?" That sums up his personality exactly back then.
“I don’t give a damn if they’re on the air.” Hahahahaha!!! Johnny Carson was great.
Were they actually on air live or just taping?
That's what you call power. Real power.
@@lastlaff2777 Neither Rickles' or Carson's show would have been 'live'.... They were TAPING live in front of an audience.... Only Carson's show would have shown this 'visit'.... Rickles' show would have simply edited it out, and re-shot scenes as necessary... A studio audience for a sit-com never sees the same timing, or even sequence scenes as it is seen when broadcast (they may have to sit through several takes of the same scene, for instance)...
@@lastlaff2777 This was staged
@@lastlaff2777 taping
Rickles at 4:12 "I'd give it to Tony Randle for a wedding gift." LOL!! Robert at 67.
How many people would know that Tony Randall was a crazy anti-smoking zealot? Rickles was just a savage..
One of the trumpeters starts blowing "Charge" @2:50.. Nice touch!
Good catch!
Thanks man for making the chronological event of the boxgate.
I was watching the night Carson crashed Rickles' set and he was actually angry. I fell off the couch laughing. Don and Johnny go way back and were close friends, which made it hilarious. I've always remembered that as one of the funniest things I ever saw, because TV was so much different back then. This was the first time I watched it again after all those years. Thank you!
I remember this. Johnny was not happy at all about this but kept it as classy as he could under the circumstances. You could tell that it really affected Johnny.
I think he was ok with it
I didn't see the show the night the box got broken, but was watching the next night when Johnny discovered it, and crashed Don's taping. 🤣🤣🤣 Thank you for putting all the related piece's together in one video.
I love how rickles looks like a little boy who stole a cookie from the jar when Johnny confronted him 😂
Carroll O'Connor lighting up a cigar on TV...awesome.
He was speaking in his Archie voice too.
I saw this the night it aired. One of the funniest moments on tv ever !
Same here. I had a 19 black and white TV in my bedroom watching Carson Mon -Fri
Ditto!
thats awesome! how old where you all watching this? its an awesome thing to see people youre age on youtube,and three of them aswell,go old youtube generation!(sry for calling you old)
@@GreedyOrange I was 24 & am 68 now.
Back then millions watched Carson & I loved Rickles.
Yep. I was seven and thought "How can Johnny do that..." I watched CPO Sharkey and Johnny Carson; different nights different times. Well, I was seven...
Johnny outrickled Rickles!
JerGer918 Are you crazy? Rickels would have buried him!
@@josephortiz3274 This is all staged
@@floatsting20 of course
Johnny is the only person who could have outrickled Rickles!!!
@@josephortiz3274 Well ... RIckles DIDN'T bury him! Carson caught him by surprise, leaving Rickles babbling, "I ... I ... I ..."
Breaking Johnny Carson’s cigarette box is like breaking Archie Bunker’s chair. I was thinking that then the next thing you know I see Carroll O’Connor.
One of the greatest ad-libbed bits ever. Loved Carson mimicing Rickles act.
I saw this in 1976 when I was a kid - hilarious! I loved how Rickles was caught off guard and needed a moment to turn on his schtick! Carson at the top of his game.
I saw it then too. Never forgot it.
Hahaha exactly.
Me as well. But live we only had the camera from Carson's studio. It took some time before we got to see the CPO Sharkey footage from their side. Absolutely classic.
"That's a darn shame, I, I'd give it to Tony Randall for a wedding gift".
Legendary interaction between these two years long friends.
Pretty good adlib by Don there.
Tony randall hated cigarettes
I remember the night this happened and knew Rickles was in trouble. That was damn funny!
I also remember watching The Tonight Show that same night.
Steve Rakes lo lo
Me too!! And it seems on the first one I had JUST turned 15 years old day days prior! Wow... guess I was a pretty hip kid! I still remember laffing SO HARD!!
@ Roger B. The reason Don Rickles said to Johnny Carson to give the broken cigarette box to Tony Randall as a wedding gift is because it was well known at the time that Randall would not allow or disliked it when actors or actresses would smoke cigarettes in his presence. He hated when Penny Marshall (who played the role of Myrna Turner -Oscar Madison's secretary - on "The Odd Couple" comedy show) smoked cigarettes during taping of "The Odd Couple" TV show in the 1970's.
Lol😂😂😂😂. Humor and laughter is the best drug in the world!!!! It’s priceless!!!!! And those guys knew it!!!!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This is one of the greatest TV bits - EVER.
One of the greatest live totally improvised moments in TV history.
The Carson podcast revealed it was planned
I was 10 when this happened,I was watchin with my dad,ex Navy,we were CPO Sharkey fans,and we lost it over this debacle.....
I feel sorry for the security guy who was charged with keeping unauthorized people off the other set. I mean he's going to stop *Johnny Carson*, by popular agreement the #1 man at NBC??
Pretty sure it had been planned ahead, at least in terms of informing the CPO Sharkey crew.
@@TyrSkyFatherOfTheGods Watched this the night it aired. Definitely was not preplanned. CPO Sharkey crew had no idea what was about to happen. Watching it live that night, the only shot we saw was from the camera that followed Johnny through the hallway. This clip doesn't show it but the cameraman following Johnny had a little trouble navigating into the hall there because he was having to cross miscellaneous cables on the floor and such and the shot bounced around quite a bit. That is all we saw. If you notice Johnny, he's turning Rickles toward that camera in the hallway to make sure he had Rickle's reaction The camera shots from Rickles set was edited into this highlight later on for future airings.
@@kentayers4578 Yes I watched it the night it aired also. The only shot we got the whole time was from the Tonight Show camera in the hallway. You can see Johnny pulling Rickles towards the hallway so he would be on camera. The parts from the CPO Sharkey cameras that you see now were edited in later by them.
Yeah but it probably had such a great effect on the ratings that he wound up getting a pat on the back for going along.
@@TyrSkyFatherOfTheGods I think everyone was in on it, except for Don Rickles, he was genuinely surprised.
Johnny was must watch when Rickles came on, miss those days.
Kind of ironic that Rickles says he's gonna give Johnny a X-ray of his lungs to replace the cigarette box.
Roger Smith. Ya he died from emphasima.
@@jacquelinebodkins3946 You mean Carson? He lived to almost 83. Rickles almost 91.
Rickles was in the movie the man with x-ray eyes
@@floatsting20 Carson lived to 79.
Apparently he walked around before he died just muttering “those damn cigarettes” under his breath
This is my favorite moment in television history. Everything was so perfect
This and when Frank Sinatra snuck Dean in on Jerry’s telethon.
Don should have told Johnny. This is all honest and legit…funny as hell.
I saw this on its original air date, when Johnny stopped taping of CPO Sharkey.
What just dawned on me is that Johnny went all Rickles on Don Rickles.
Johnny always got in a couple of wisecracks, when Rickles was a guest, but he was full-blown Merchant of Venom, when he barged into the taping.
This was hands down one of the funniest moments in television....
This is why Johnny is legend.
You mean compared to the novices on TV now?
💯
I love Doc’s “uh-oh”
The only time Rickles has been humbled. Always funny to watch this ❤
look up the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. Rickles gets burned quite a bit. Dean, like Johnny, (and Frank) were allowed to humble him.
"Can I Get Over There?"
Dude, You're Johnny Carson! You can do whatever the hell you wanted.
especially if it's planned
even though I have seen this countless times, know whats coming, it still breaks me up every time -- that is the definition of talent
Doc made like Don broke it by being careless, which probably made Johnny more upset, but Doc was the one who made this happen by "enhancing" the story. Don broke the box by accident for sure, but he still got in trouble.
So hilarious. He genuinely caught Don off guard.
I grew up watching Johhny and not matter how crappy my day was, I always looked forward to watching his show. A true comic, who made many people happy.
I can remember watching that live when it happened. One of the greatest moments in late night talk show history.
This was pre-planned peppered with some improv.
how about when Carson threw Rickes into the hot tub?
Carson was a kingmaker in his day. You can tell that everyone including Rickles knew who was in charge. The look on faces when he walks down the hallway was,, Get out of way! Luv this video.
Rickels was having a fit.. how could you tell? Best line ever!
When younger, I didn't "get" Rickles...he just seemed like a jerk, but later on when I "got" his humor, not only was I impressed with his speed and stream-of-consciousness and fantastic timing, I was also appreciative that even though he kept one of the best straight faces in the business while doing his schtick, no one busted up bigger than him when the joke was on him...CLASS!
I wish late night television was still this good. How sad it is that we have what we have now passing as entertainment.
Conan is just as good
I remember watching this live when I was a kid. Great stuff.
The whole nation knew there would be hell to pay for the broken cigarette box. Sort of like two adults playing "Wait till your dad comes home!" Classic comedy by two classic comedians.
I was watching when Carson went over to the set of "C.P.O. Sharkey" which I was a fan of that show as well.
What a class act - Johnny was able to break up two separate audiences and Don Rickles all on an improvised moment.
Johnny was THE MAN back then.
Notice the subtle wink Johnny gives Harrison Page after the cotton mill joke. 5:00.
"I hope a tree falls on your head!" Loved this stuff!!! What happened to us?!😢
HOLY SHIIIITT!
this AWESOME!
yeah, Johnny was out Rickles-ing Rickles😆😆😆
Priceless❤
Carson joking around with Harrison Page in good fun....for the era. Harrison playing right back. Today those off collar insular jokes from Carson to Page would have set off a fire storm.
Don Rickles! They knew who Johnny was. Don owed him for this.
This is incredible and I can't believe I remembered this when it aired, I was 10. Am reading Jason Zinoman's "Letterman Unabridged" biography and it's considered a harbinger of the unscripted brilliance of Late Night. You can hear how much the audience loved it.
This was insanely funny. The not so funny followup is that Carson's health went into a sharp decline not long after he retired. he had a massive heart attack in 1999 that almost killed him and from which he never fully recovered. He died in 2005 from emphysema. His younger brother Dick Carson said the last time he talked to him, Johnny kept repeating over and over again "those damned cigarettes."
As loyal viewers, we saw all 3 shows when they aired. Oh, how we laughed.
Been wanting to say this..
KUDOS to the trumpet player for being right on point at 2:50 ! ☺️👍🏻
It's so refreshing watching this again in Dec 2020. So uplifting
Johnny was quick.
Classic. See the thing is that Rickles was totally at the top of the comedy food chain. He could put anyone and everyone in their place. But he had total reverence for Carson so here is that rarest of moments when Rickles was put in his place. Lovingly of course.
I remember this and Johnny was pissed. Rickles knew he was big trouble when he broke it. A great couple of nights of television.
That's Harrison Page back there. That dude has been on practically every seriously good TV show ever.
He's a damn good sport too!!
Sledge hammer
he didn't go back to the cotton mill i guess
What impresses me most is that "master control" was able to get the camera and audio feeds from the other studio into Carson's board so that they had good audio and video of the situation (unless- Carson knew about during the commercial break and talked to Peter Lasalley or Fred DeCordova and asked that they link the two studios together? If they actually did it 'on the fly' I'm very impressed with the technical group at NBC Burbank back in '76)
Linking the studio feeds doesn't surprise me at all. In network TV production, all the studios can be linked together. So even on the fly, any studio can tie in to another instantly.
It's also possible they got the recordings from the adjoining studio after the fact and cut them in in post.
I love this segment but it definitely seems set-up. Funny regardless
I can tell you from seeing what's on Carson's archives that they likely got the feed from the other studio and added it in post, because the Carson archive only has the shot from his studio's camera.
One other thing I've thought of many times since seeing this years ago was the sound proofing. The director yells "Quiet on the set!" and they begin taping in a studio that is 20 feet from another studio where there are 450 people clapping and laughing hysterically.
Harrison Page was laughing his ass off with this one! I love it. 😂😂
no he wasn't very amused with that cotton mill line
What I like is the audiences reaction when Rickles picked the cigarette box almost two years after he broke it.
Who could have thought that a cigarette box could be the source of such wonderful comedy?
I don't believe the cigarette box was important to Carson. The fact that he could crash another set was very telling. NBC probably retaped Rickles show from the very beginning. That stunt cost NBC a ton of money. But Carson could do something like that with impunity..
I saw this live when I was in high school. Only time in history that Rickles was at a loss for words. Remembered it last night, can't believe this is posted.
I miss the good old days.. when people expressed things from their heart. That's what I really miss. I couldn't agree more with the wonderful comments on here.. just want to say, why the hell can't people be like that nowadays.. I feel Trump is the only man man enough to be himself, that's why I love him so much, I'm so ashamed of America for not seeing the heart in this man.. look what we have now, an empty carcass being controlled by you know who.. I just want to say to anybody who reads this, we have one chance in our life to be who we really are, and express our heart with no fear, so why not do it...👍
Some of the best Entertainers We ever had.
Thanks for including the scene from the night before, and from two years later. I had not seen either one, though I *was* watching the night Carson busted into the CPO Sharkey set. Absolutely golden.
Classic late nite TV.
I saw the show where Carson barges in on the CPO Sharkey set but never the two before-and-after shows with Rickles.
thanks a bunch for uploading this very funny little saga.. it cut a bit close when Johnny tells Rickles that he'll be expecting a very nice gift to replace it and Rickles says he'll get Johnny a "wonderful large X-Ray" of his lungs.. I heard Johnny got emphysema from smoking, how sad... he was the Crown Prince of Hollywood, and I still miss him
Still watching this once a day....still funny as hell.
I remember seeing this when it aired. I almost peed my pants.
But...that broken lid is an easy fix. You could make the repair virtually invisible and stronger.
Love this back in the good ole days
You're awesome for uploading this gold
Now this was classic Johnny Carson, BEST late night host ever.... this was entertainment .
I remember watching it..!!😅
"can i get over there?' The one man in the business that could walk onto any set at any time asking if he could get over there lol
I remember seeing Both shows the night they first aired! Hilarious!
Don Rickles gave the perfect response when Carson said “I’m expecting a very expensive gift. Something to replace this”.
Rickles says “a wonderful watch. A beautiful X-ray of your lungs”
That is just absolutely perfect. Don Rickles was the man.
2 Of the best We ever had. Thanks for posting this.
Smoking cigarettes and cigars on live TV! Wow, times have changed!
You did a great job! Love the close call with Carroll O'Connor
what is up with Don rickles hair? It looks burnt on his head.
I love Bob Newhart
In Don Rikles autobiography, he talks about this incident. It was the only time in his life that he was speechless, he says.
These were two of my favorite Tonight Show episodes!