MovieChat Forums > The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) Discussion > Steve Martin was wrong

Steve Martin was wrong

posted 8 years ago by rogueforte
5 replies | jump to latest

When he was scheduled to host the Academy Awards, Steve Martin pitched an idea to Carson where Martin would state during the ceremony that the show was going so well, he felt like the best host ever, at which point Billy Crystal would come out. They would joke for a couple moments where Crystal would say he was the best host ever, whereupon Carson would walk out on stage.

Carson declined because he thought it would be just an attention-getting stunt. But it shouldn't have ended there. I think Bob Hope was still alive and still moving under his own power. It would have been one of the greatest moments in Academy Award history for Hope to come out after Carson and stand on stage along with Martin and Crystal. Definitely a chance for a great moment lost.

[–] bwalright 8 years ago

Great story but glad they didn't come out cause they were too classy & old for that. Probably rather be on their yacht, golf course, ect,..

[–] vbv20 8 years ago

If Bob Hope was going to upstage Carson, it's no wonder Carson said no to it.

[–] rogueforte 8 years ago

That's what is weird about it. Martin left Hope out of the pitch, with just Carson coming out after Crystal.

But, then, maybe Carson, with his keen sense of how show business works, saw that, if he agreed to it, someone would quickly get the bright idea of having Hope upstage him and is the real reason he opted out.

Regardless, it would have been a great moment in Oscar history if it had been done, with Martin, Crystal, Carson, and Hope all on the stage at the same time.

[–] wordsatplaytoday 8 years ago

Yeah, I guess that would have been OK.
But what we do have is when Carson came out for a surprise appearance on David Letterman and that may be enough.
So at least we have that instead of nothing.

Humans are not the only species on earth.
We just act like it.

[–] rogueforte 8 years ago

I always thought Carson's Letterman show appearance was his way of sticking it to NBC, sort of like "This is the guy who should have gotten The Tonight Show" or "If I come back, it sure as hell won't be on NBC".

Carson's virtually complete absence from the entertainment industry after his retirement is really amazing. I can only think of one other instance of something similar, and that's Cary Grant. Ironically, Grant was the only major Hollywood star who never appeared on The Tonight Show. Maybe that was the cue Carson took his retirement from.