D:71-TV: "The Tonight Show" with guest host Burt Reynolds (Sept. 13, 1971)

Former "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson was famous for not working--and for having a plethora of guest hosts sit in for him. Here's an excerpt from a September 1971 "Tonight Show" episode guest hosted by Burt Reynolds (who seems like an odd guest host choice to us now.) This is the opening segment of the episode (during which Burt's guests were Charo, Alex Karras, "Tonight Show" stalwart The Amazing Kreskin, and the newly-crowned Miss America), including a funky opening title sequence with neon-like imagery (preceded by the NBC peacock animation!) and Reynolds' monologue.

In the monologue Reynolds jokes about how infrequently Carson hosted his own show, indicating that Johnny's lax work ethic had already taken root and become famous at this (for Carson's tenure) fairly early date. Almost all of the jokes that Reynolds' cracks are woefully bad, proving that ability to deliver a monologue was not a prerequisite for the job of guest host. (Indeed, Johnny probably liked it that way, meaning he would not be shown up by a sub.)

(Length: 5:21; video source: YouTube)