In the 1960s, Joey was the fill-in for Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show.” But it’s easy to go in and pinch-hit for someone: you just sit in the chair and do what’s been done. The pressure starts when it’s your own show—and Joey felt it when “The Joey Bishop Show” launched in 1967. It was his big shot in a fierce late-night talk-show market. So every day before taping, we’d walk around Hollywood, talking through jokes and trying to relax. Joey would smoke a few cigarettes and drink a cup of coffee. It was an upper for him to leave the studio in a polo shirt with the collar popped and people calling his name. It also calmed him. He’d know he was doing a good job when people yelled his famous line. “Joey! Joey!” they’d shout, “you’re a real son of a gun.” He’d get a kick out of that. But he had another comfort. “Heard from Dean today,” he’d say. Oh, yeah? “He said those first seven minutes we do are the best on TV.” That helped, too.
