Reiser’s new comedy recalls the world of Johnny Carson

Fisher wins ‘Dancing with the Stars’

NEW YORK, Nov 23, (Agencies): Her-r-rr-rre’s Paul Reiser!

You can find him on the Amazon comedy “Red Oaks,” whose third and final season was recently released with Reiser as the power-packing president of a New Jersey country club in the 1980s.

You can also find him on the just-posted second season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” as a government scientist who may not be quite what he seems.

And though you won’t see him on Hulu’s “There’s . Johnny!,” Reiser is very much part of this comedic peek behind the scenes of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” circa 1972. All seven episodes, with Reiser as co-creator and -writer, are now available for viewing.

“The fact that I suddenly have three different shows on three different streaming platforms suggests that I’m clever and I planned this. I planned nothing,” says Reiser before joking that his goal now is to be on every platform and every device, “even when you shut it off.”

The 60-year-old Reiser, whose acting career began with a bang in the films “Diner,” “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Aliens,” and who starred in NBC’s 1990s sitcom hit “Mad About You,” is also a veteran standup comic who appeared many times on Carson’s “Tonight Show” during its heyday.

His experience on Johnny’s couch, coupled with his earlier memories of staying up late on school nights to catch Johnny’s monologue and the comedians whose careers he launched with a sanctifying thumbs-up, spurred Reiser to develop “There’s . Johnny!” with partner David Steven Simon.

That took more than a decade, much of it spent securing the support of the Carson estate, which has furnished clips from vintage 1972 shows that are inserted into the comedic narrative. It is through these snippets that Carson resides in “There’s . Johnny!” No actor plays him.

This contrasts with Showtime’s contemporaneous dramedy “I’m Dying Up Here,” set at a 1970s Sunset Strip comedy club whose up-and-coming comics dream of a career-making shot on “The Tonight Show.” Carson is portrayed by Dylan Baker.

While paying no less reverence to Carson’s lofty stature, “There’s ... Johnny!” is instead a TV workplace comedy. Its action centers on 19-year-old Carson-idolizing Andy Klavin, who stumbles into a job as gofer on the “Tonight Show” staff. Fresh from Nebraska, wide-eyed Andy (Ian Nelson) works closely with a fellow staffer, jaded Hollywood child Joy (Jane Levy), who treats Andy’s naivete with exasperation and wonderment.

All of the characters are fictional, other than Freddy de Cordova, Carson’s longtime executive producer and ring-a-ding-ding consigliere, who is played with gusto by Tony Danza.

Reiser recalls that it was de Cordova who served as Carson’s liaison with the staff and, until they stepped onstage, with Johnny’s guests, too.

“I did the show a lot and, other than sitting there next to Johnny on camera, I never hung out with him, never SAW him,” Reiser says. “He was this looming presence in the building — it was all Johnny’s world — but even when he was going from his office to makeup or the stage, all I saw was an elbow rounding a corner or the back of his head. That was the feel that I wanted to put in the show: You know he’s there, it’s all about him, but it’s only on the air where you see him.”

It was on the air that Carson took form for the nation as an intimately felt companion whose impact and reach is almost impossible to fathom today.

“He was the GUY,” says Reiser. “Johnny was a part of our lives in a way I don’t think any television show or performer can be today. You couldn’t record the show, so you had to stay up until 11:30 to watch, or you missed out.

“There are people 40 and up who remember Johnny and still miss him. But you don’t need any prior experience or knowledge of Johnny Carson to enjoy our show. It’s not ABOUT him. He’s the background. And I like to think that it will make people not familiar with him happy that they now know about him.”

Also:

LOS ANGELES: In today’s roundup, Fox Sports announces a LeBron James-produced

documentary for its new ‘Magnify’ series, ABC sets an all-athletes edition of “Dancing with the Stars,” and more.

The first film in Fox Sports’ new “Magnify” series of feature-length documentaries will be “89 Blocks,” executive produced by Sports Illustrated with Uninterrupted’s LeBron James and Maverick Carter. The doc, directed by Emmy winner Josh Oshinsky, tells the story of the East St Louis High School Flyers, a football team in an at-risk Illinois community, and their challenges and triumphs during the 2016 season. It will premiere Sunday, Nov 26 on Fox. Fox Sports will feature live regional NFL coverage this Sunday at 1:00 pm ET and 4:05 pm ET with NFL broadcasts available in both competing teams’ home markets, plus several additional cities. Viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 1:00 pm ET can watch ‘89 Blocks’ at 4:30 pm ET; viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 4:05 PM ET can watch the doc at 2:30 PM ET.

Netflix has released the trailer for its original film “El Camino Christmas” which will launch globally on Friday, Dec 8 at 12:01 am PT. Directed by David Talbert, “El Camino Christmas” stars Tim Allen, Vincent D’Onofrio, Luke Grimes, Dax Shepard, Jessica Alba, Kurtwood Smith,

and Michelle Mylett. It follows Eric Roth (Grimes) as his search to find the father he never knew leads him to a remote desert town. There, law enforcement mistake him for a drug dealer and pin him down in a liquor store on Christmas Even along with five other lost souls, including his father.

LOS ANGELES: Disney Channel star Jordan

Fisher has been crowned the winner of “Dancing with the Stars” alongside partner

Lindsay Arnold.

Fisher beat out violinist Lindsey Stirling and actor Frankie Muniz for the Mirrorball Trophy on the season 25 finale of the ABC reality competition Tuesday.

Fisher paid tribute to Arnold on Twitter after the announcement, writing: “There aren’t words to describe the feeling of going through BATTLE with my SISTER. Putting in all the time and effort and energy for 12 weeks, then to be rewarded for it after having the most incredible time?! Unbelievable.”

Fisher has starred in several Disney Channel series and films. He has also appeared on Broadway in “Hamilton.”

This is the first ‘Dancing with the Stars’ title for Arnold.