YW!

This may be THE oldest clip!

@@danbritt6214 agree

YW!

The first TEN years were deleted by an NBC employee who re-used the tapes for later episodes.

Yes, he was pretty nervous, especially in his younger days! I received a video from Johnny Carson himself, along with a hand-signed letter, after I wrote the show during his last year on the air in 1992. The video he sent me had no sound, and was of the flight only. I learned that NBC had a fire in their old films vault at some point, and they lost a large stockpile of films, including the one here with sound. I later reached out to Major Gen. (Ret.) Neil Eddins, slot pilot prior to my dad (who later came back in 1967-1969) for another two-year tour as Commander/Team Leader. Gen. Eddins lives in Las Vegas (where the Thunderbird team is stationed at Nellis AFB). He went to the Thunderbird Squadron and was able to talk someone into searching through their film vault for this Tonight Show episode. He said there were thousands of reels of film, many of which were not labeled, and normally it would have been impossible to dedicate the time to finding this, but amazingly, one of the airmen just happened to luck out and lay his hands on it right away! Needless to say, I was thrilled to receive it, since I have very little to remember my dad by after losing him in Vietnam when I was only 10. Wes Bell, Executive Director Kirbyville Housing Authority (KHA) & Rural Homeless Network (RHN) 414 S. Vallie Ave. Kirbyville, TX 75956

Thank you, sir!

I received a video from Johnny Carson himself, along with a hand-signed letter, after I wrote the show during his last year on the air in 1992. The video he sent me had no sound, and was of the flight only. I learned that NBC had a fire in their old films vault at some point, and they lost a large stockpile of films, including the one here with sound. I later reached out to Major Gen. (Ret.) Neil Eddins, slot pilot prior to my dad (who later came back in 1967-1969) for another two-year tour as Commander/Team Leader. Gen. Eddins lives in Las Vegas (where the Thunderbird team is stationed at Nellis AFB). He went to the Thunderbird Squadron and was able to talk someone into searching through their film vault for this Tonight Show episode. He said there were thousands of reels of film, many of which were not labeled, and normally it would have been impossible to dedicate the time to finding this, but amazingly, one of the airmen just happened to luck out and lay his hands on it right away! Needless to say, I was thrilled to receive it, since I have very little to remember my dad by after losing him in Vietnam when I was only 10. Wes Bell, Executive Director Kirbyville Housing Authority (KHA) & Rural Homeless Network (RHN) 414 S. Vallie Ave. Kirbyville, TX 75956

Thank you, sir!

I received a video from Johnny Carson himself, along with a hand-signed letter, after I wrote the show during his last year on the air in 1992. The video he sent me had no sound, and was of the flight only. I learned that NBC had a fire in their old films vault at some point, and they lost a large stockpile of films, including the one here with sound. I later reached out to Major Gen. (Ret.) Neil Eddins, slot pilot prior to my dad (who later came back in 1967-1969) for another two-year tour as Commander/Team Leader. Gen. Eddins lives in Las Vegas (where the Thunderbird team is stationed at Nellis AFB). He went to the Thunderbird Squadron and was able to talk someone into searching through their film vault for this Tonight Show episode. He said there were thousands of reels of film, many of which were not labeled, and normally it would have been impossible to dedicate the time to finding this, but amazingly, one of the airmen just happened to luck out and lay his hands on it right away! Needless to say, I was thrilled to receive it, since I have very little to remember my dad by after losing him in Vietnam when I was only 10 (less than three years after this Tonight Show episode). Wes Bell, Executive Director Kirbyville Housing Authority (KHA) & Rural Homeless Network (RHN) 414 S. Vallie Ave. Kirbyville, TX 75956

@@wesbell4791 what an amazing story! You could write a short book for children or teens with this story!

Not sure I follow you. How is this ironic?

@@wesbell4791 it's not important however if you're having a look at Louise Elizondo on 60 Minutes yesterday you should know he simultaneously talkin to constitutional law attorney Daniel Sheehan about the fact that there is no threat from outer space and that he's always known that but that he's being told to lie so that he can get funding and now the Pentagon is pissed off at him and wants to take away his security clearance he's asking Daniel Sheehan to take it case even though he's been apart of this lot for years

Sorry, wish I did. I was only able to get a copy of this episode from the Thunderbirds squadron at Nellis AFB. The reason (given to me) that a lot of the earliest episodes are not available is due to the fire NBC had in their film vault long ago that destroyed many of their original films.

The show was 1 hour and 45 minutes every night back then (and Johnny worked five nights a week)...there was a lot more time.

Sorry, no, this is just a clip with my dad that I got from the Tonight Show and from the Thunderbirds squadron at Nellis AFB. Dad was killed in Vietnam less than three years after this Tonight Show episode.

I read that Carson was burned out by 1967. Carson and his reps were masterful at getting concessions from NBC, including a significant salary hike after he walked out in '67, the move to LA so he could enjoy year-round good weather, then shortening the show to 60 minutes and finally getting ownership of the time slot, including the first 30 minutes of Late Night, while reducing his own schedule to 3 days/week with many vacation weeks.