Paul Reiser’s “There’s Johnny” Gets a Home at Hulu
Paul Reiser’s new Tonight Show based dramedy series “There’s….Johnny!” was all set to premiere on Seeso this past summer, and then just before the series was set to debut, Seeso announced that the network was shutting down, leaving a long list of projects homeless. Although many of the Seeso series found homes quickly, the question of what would happen to Reiser’s homage to Carson’s Tonight Show remained unanswered.
Thursday, it was announced that the series would find a home at Hulu and finally get a series debut this Fall.
Two episodes of There’s…Johnny premiered earlier this year at the TriBeCa Film Festival with Q&A from creator Paul Reiser, cast members Tony Danza, Jane Levy and Ian Nelson along with co-creator David Steven Simon, producer-director David Gordon Green, and moderator Bill Carter. This is a series 17 years in the making and a passion project for Reiser who was able to obtain the approval and participation of the Carson estate for the series with access to the entire Carson archive.
The show integrates the most iconic series in late night television history. Set in 1972, There’s…Johnny follows a young Nebraska boy who mistakes a standard response to a fan letter as a job offer, and hops on a bus to follow his dream of working for the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Once in L.A., he indeed manages to get a job working on the iconic series and through his eyes, we get to see the hallowed halls and inner workings of the iconic late night talk show.
The series uses some clever devices to combine real footage from Carson’s Tonight Show with the scripted goings on of the crew who makes the show happen, and Johnny himself is only seen and heard through archival footage and a few real-time glimpses of his back or his arm or an off-screen comment. The sets are absolutely gorgeous and perfectly faithful to the original. Contentwise the jury is still out. As we wrote after the screening, “there’s a lot to like in the series, but it’s too soon to tell if this is a hit or a miss.” The show leans more rom-com dram-com than a Larry Sanders-esque peek behind the curtain, and whether the Carson show is an integral part of the series or just “window dressing” for a story about a couple of kids remains to be seen. The episodes we saw gave just a taste of what’s to come. There’s definitely enough there to keep us wanting more. Ever since the news dropped that Seeso was shutting down, we’ve been anxiously awaiting news of the series’ fate.
There are some powerful moments, particularly an emotional close to episode four, and the series does delve into some of the tumultuous events of the 70’s including the Vietnam War, the progression of the feminist movement, and the counter-culture of the hippie movement. Series stars Jane Levy and Ian Nelson are very likeable as Joy, a talent coordinator for the show and Andy, the fresh-faced Nebraskan kid that she takes under her wing. But as we said in our initial review, “there are early hints that the series may suffer from some of the problems that plagued music biz themed series Vinyl and Roadies.” We withheld judgment on whether There’s…Johnny is a hit or a near miss, but as we said back in April, we are 100% rooting for its success, and anxiously awaiting its debut.
My character in the upcoming series THERE'S JOHNNY! It's all about the behind the scenes of The Tonight Show w/ Johnny Carson! @SeesoTV pic.twitter.com/6QV3hcE7N2
— Tony Danza (@TonyDanza) March 29, 2017
With Hulu picking up the series, Reiser now finds himself involved in all three big streaming platforms. Over on Netflix, he’s set to star in Season Two of Stranger Things; he’ll be playing Dr. Owens, a scientist sent to Hawkins Lab by the government to clean up the mess left behind by Matthew Modine’s character. And Amazon is getting ready to premiere the third and final season of Red Oaks which centers on a New Jersey swim and golf club in the 1980s.
There’s…Johnny will debut this fall, on Hulu.
