Seeso Greenlights 1970s-Set Comedy from Paul Reiser

NEW YORK: Seeso is bringing to series There’s…Johnny!, a comedy set behind the scenes at The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

The coming-of-age story is set in 1970s Los Angeles, when The Tonight Show moved from New York to Burbank. The show is written by Paul Reiser (Mad About You) and David Steven Simon (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You). The series is being produced in conjunction with the Carson Estate.

Reiser said: “Growing up, the coolest thing imaginable was to someday get on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and make Johnny laugh. The fact that I got to do that was a dream come true, and going back now to explore that world, and pay homage to Johnny and that golden time is an absolute joy.”

Evan Shapiro, the executive VP of digital enterprises at NBCUniversal, said: “1972 was as chaotic as today—cultural unrest, an unpopular war, an election that would change politics forever. Despite that, each night, from a studio in Burbank, a bunch of folks put on a show that made all of America smile, together. This inventive story looks back, and inward, at just how important humor is to the American psyche. Plus, the chance to bring both Paul Reiser and Johnny Carson back to the NBCUniversal family is an awesome, once in a lifetime thing.”