Turner Classic Movies has announced a new programming initiative called Carson on TCM to debut during the summer of 2013. The cable channel has licensed 50 interviews from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson featuring big name celebrities like Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Mel Brooks, Bing Crosby, Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, James Stewart and more. “Carson on TCM” will begin as five-interview showcases and then transition to single-interview interstitials. Peter Jones will curate. More details and a complete list of interviews can be found here. TCM has released the following promo:
This is not the first time TCM has branched out into television. In 2006, it licensed eight episodes of The Dick Cavett Show featuring interviews with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock and Bette Davis.
I certainly hope the “repackaged” interview “interstitials” don’t completely replace the “Extras” {movie shorts, promotional films, et. al.} and trailers TCM currently schedules inbetween their feature films…attracting a younger crowd is a good idea with these segments, but that would be a triumph of TV over “movies”…