Just random a observation about Tommy Newsom, who substituted as bandleader on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson whenever Doc Severinson was away. Johnny always made jokes at Tommy’s expense about being bland and colorless, and Tommy would make a dry retort that would bring down the house. IMO Newsom had a very underrated sense of humor.
My guess is the show writers wrote both the joke and the comeback.
StG
How dare you say that! All substitute bandleaders are known for their fantastic improvisational wit! Tommy Newsom was actually the seventh Marx Brother. They made him change his name because he made them look bland and colorless. Nobody wrote his lines, although they are now inscribed on the pillars of immortality!
And who would know better than you?
RTFirefly?
mmm
I’ve been watching the re-runs on Antenna TV and you are right. I really liked his dead-pan demeanor.
I do get tired of Ed McMahon laughing his ass off every time Johnny says anything. I know that was his job, but it still gets annoying.
One time, Carson posed a question to McMahon and his guests, “What would you be if you were an inanimate object?”. He wound up the bit by posing the question to Tommy, who answered something like, “I am.”
In contrast, Carson once remarked, “Doc has a problem - playing louder than his clothes”.
Johnny and Tommy were wearing similar looking jackets in the same shade of brown, and when Johnny remarked on it, Tommy said, “They told me mine was the only one like this.”