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Rating:  Summary: For Carson Fans Review: "More Than Laughter" gives an insider's look at how guests were lined up in the early days of The Tonight Show. The author, Sy Kasoff, was the Head Talent Coordinator, and later Associate Producer for the first four years of Johnny Carson's reign, starting in 1962.Kasoff's book is a collection of anecdotes of booking various guests and what they were really like. Henny Youngman was a nice guy, Bob Hope did not have an entourage, Tommy Smothers worked without a net, Buddy Hackett was surprisingly professional, and so on. Along the way, there are enough stories and reactions of Carson and McMahon as to provide personal perspectives on these men the drier ones offered by other biographies out there. Why the three star rating? First, the book needs the help of an editor, as some things we may say verbally just don't work in print as sentence fragments. Second, it is of most interest to Carson fans and less so to outsiders. While it is not a deep, analytical work, it is a pleasant light read, and I do recommend to Carson/Tonight Show fans.
Rating:  Summary: More Than Nausea Review: "More Than Laughter" gives an insider's look at how guests were lined up in the early days of The Tonight Show. The author, Sy Kasoff, was the Head Talent Coordinator, and later Associate Producer for the first four years of Johnny Carson's reign, starting in 1962. Kasoff's book is a collection of anecdotes of booking various guests and what they were really like. Henny Youngman was a nice guy, Bob Hope did not have an entourage, Tommy Smothers worked without a net, Buddy Hackett was surprisingly professional, and so on. Along the way, there are enough stories and reactions of Carson and McMahon as to provide personal perspectives on these men the drier ones offered by other biographies out there. Why the three star rating? First, the book needs the help of an editor, as some things we may say verbally just don't work in print as sentence fragments. Second, it is of most interest to Carson fans and less so to outsiders. While it is not a deep, analytical work, it is a pleasant light read, and I do recommend to Carson/Tonight Show fans.
Rating:  Summary: More Than Nausea Review: This hodgepodge of anecdotes will undoubtedly prove fascinating to the legion of Carson worshippers, but for those who are somewhat less enamored of Carson, it will serve to confirm that most of Carson's guests were as stale, uninteresting, and boorish as the great Carson himself - this one is for rabid Carson groupies only.
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