Backstage at the Tonight Show

by Don Sweeney, Don Sweeney

Don Sweeney was with the Tonight Show for nearly twenty years, and was one of the few staff members asked to remain when Jay Leno took over in 1992. This book is a collection of celebrity vignettes and anecdotes from the peak years of the Tonight Show, and includes behind-the-scenes looks at more than two dozen celebrities, including Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, David Letterman, Regis Philbin, Ray Charles, Tony Randall, Buddy Rich, Don Rickles, Stevie Wonder, Ed McMahon, and Johnny Carson himself. With an eye for the eccentric, amusing, or downright bizarre, Sweeney's brief portraits offer a glimpse at celebrity from the other side of the curtain.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Joy H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book during December 2014. It was fun to read about what goes on behind the scenes. A lot of preparation before the shows is necessary which I had never thought about, like getting the sheet music ready for the band each night. I learned a lot about drummer Buddy Rich too. Interesting. A relaxing read.

[Muffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really dull and silly. It had a handful of interesting anecdotes but they were buried in pages and pages of every celebrity the author ever encountered during his uneventful run on The Tonight Show. He was also absurdly self-aggrandizement, writing as if he was close friends with everyone who worked on the show and essential to keeping things running for twenty years. He had a somewhat interesting job and a few interesting encounters but this book was way too long.

[Mike James · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book title is misleading. It is nothing more than an autobiography of Don Sweeney and a way for him to promote himself and see his name in print. There are a few chapters about the Tonight Show and the Guests on the show, but the majority of it is written in attempt to glorify the author's life and show what he has done.