According to the Associated Press, there was one man between Johnny Carson’s iconic “The Tonight Show” set and oblivion — James Comisar. And Comisar did not become the President of the Comisar Collection and The Museum of Television, the world’s largest television memorabilia archive, by backing down. A few honeyed words, and the set was his.
“I would love to say that I convinced him that I was the best guy for the job, but really, if I’m being honest, I had to convince him to save the set at all,” James Comisar told the Associated Press. “He told me he had the tackiest set in Hollywood and who would ever want to see it?”
Now Comisar has amassed a sprawling collection of television memorabilia. From props to sets to costumes, parts of his vast collection are now set to be put up for auction. In early June, Dallas-based Heritage Auctions will put set items from hit shows such as “I Dream of Jeannie,” “All in the Family,” “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” on the auction block.
Most notably, the upcoming auction will feature the iconic bar from the hit series “Cheers,” which can be seen on display within the video provided above.
The auction will feature roughly 1,000 lots, wrapping up with live bidding from June 2 to June 4 in Dallas. The Comisar Collection, according to the company’s website, is dedicated to conservation. The upcoming auction however, is open to anyone interested in owning a piece of television history.
“Since its inception in 1989, the collection’s mission has been to conserve and celebrate television’s tangible history, and its artifacts span the history of television from the first flickering moments of the broadcast medium to what was on TV last night,” the website said.
