Founder Johnny Carson | Founded 1980 | |
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Carson Entertainment Group (formerly Carson Productions and Carson Productions Group) is a television production company established by Johnny Carson in 1980 to primarily produce The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1980 to 1992 and Late Night with David Letterman from 1982 to 1993.
In addition, Carson Productions also produced many specials with Carson among other TV shows, including Teachers Only from 1982-1983, Partners in Crime from 1984 to 1985, Amen from 1986 to 1991 and TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes (co-produced with Dick Clark Productions) from 1984 to 1993.
It also produced the films The Big Chill (1983) and Desert Bloom (1986).
In the years since Carson's retirement from television (and following his death in 2005), the company's primary function has been to maintain Carson's legacy and license clips (including the sale of commercial DVDs to retail and mail order consumers) of his time hosting The Tonight Show. At the start of 2016, entire episodes were licensed by Carson Entertainment to the digital multicast network Antenna TV for nightly reruns. Johnny Carson's nephew, Jeff Sotzing, currently manages Carson Entertainment Group content.