Want Johnny Carson's Desk? A Trove Of TV Memorabilia Is Up For Auction

By Gabriel J. Sánchez and Justine Kenin | NPR

Published Jun 2, 2023 10:19 AM

A TV soundstage with a host's desk, an armchair and a couch all in a line facing the audience. Behind the furniture is a blue background with fake palm trees. Audience chairs can be seen in the foreground.

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Are you interested in taking home the bar from Cheers? How about Johnny Carson's desk from The Tonight Show set? Or the prop rifle that made Jed Clampett a millionaire in the Beverly Hillbillies?

It's all up for auction, as Hollywood memorabilia collector James Comisar looks to relinquish a trove of treasures — from scripts to costumes and even fake mustaches — that have taken decades to amass.

A headless white mannequin wears a red and pink crop top and harem pants.

Comisar said his bond with television was formed early on.

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"I ran home, grabbed a Pop-Tart and sat there watching all these great shows," he told NPR.

Later, when he learned the iconic costumes and props were being thrown away he knew he had to take action. In the midst of his work as a writer in Hollywood, Comisar moved into building his collection full-time.

"When I started collecting in the early 1990s, I already had a day job. I was writing questions for bachelors on The Dating Game," he said. "I was writing jokes at night for Joan Rivers and Howie Mandel and others, and I was busy. But it became clear to me that these pieces were being actively thrown into the garbage and taken to the dump."

A square wooden bar with wooden bar stools all around. The bar stools have red leather tops. At the center of the bar is a lamp and cash register.

A man with medium brown skin who appears to be in his 50s holds up a pair of pink ballet-style flats. He wears white gloves to handle them. He looks at the camera and smiles. Behind him is a row of movie costumes and props.

Comisar said he's gathered more than 10,000 pieces of TV history and sees himself now as curator of pop culture more than a memorabilia collector.

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"I would say in my core collection there were many, many thousands," he said. "But I wanted to make sure that there was something for every price point and most of the pieces in the [auction] start at $1."

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The auction has the original George Reeves Superman costume, Batman and Robin's crime fighting capes, and some fine custom suits worn by Tony Soprano's crew in HBO's hit The Sopranos.

The online auction, which ends on June 4, puts a fine point to a career of collecting that all started with some Carson cue cards.

A TV set of a living room. It is humble and homey, with a golden-brown cast. Two chairs are in the center, facing towards the camera with a small table between them. A set of stairs is in the background. Several lamps are placed throughout. Most of the furniture and decorations are brown-ish yellow.

But not everything in the Comisar collection is up for sale.

"I did keep Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox's California Highway Patrol uniforms from CHiPs and a few other pieces that were sort of at the heart of my watching television as a young person," he said. "They sort of motivated me to start this hunt for TV treasures, and I think those are going to live on with my family for a good, long time."

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