Mark Malkoff is a comedian, writer, and podcaster, and he is the author of the new book Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend. He joined Tony Mazur on the Check Your Brain podcast to talk about who Johnny was, how the Tonight Show gained its footing, the move from New York to Burbank, and all of Carson's admirers and imitators. They also touched on the state of late night TV in 2025, the failures of Chevy Chase and Magic Johnson, and the wars between Team Letterman and Team Leno, as well as Team Leno vs. Team Conan.

Mark's book is available to purchase right now, which can be found here. Love Johnny Carson by Mark Malkoff: 9780593472552 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

He also hosts the Inside Late Night podcast. Podcasts - LateNighter

Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur.

Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free.

Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].