BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A courtship gift -- 10 episodes of the 1955-56 "The Johnny Carson Show" -- given to Johnny Carson's second wife have been transferred from black-and-white film to a two-disc DVD set available from Shout Factory.

The black-and-white films were a romantic memento for Joanne Carson from a "very shy"Johnny Carson who wooed her with screenings of the comedy-variety show. He then gave her copies, episode by episode: one for her birthday, one for Christmas, another for Valentine's Day.

"They were valuable to me because they represented a very touching time, a very special time, when you're getting to know someone," said Joanne Carson, whose nine-year marriage to Carson, his second, ended in 1972.

Although they divorced, Joanne and Johnny Carson occasionally got together and remained good friends, she said. Emphysema claimed her former husband in 2005 at age 79.

"Because we started as friends, it was very important to Johnny that we end friends. And we stayed friends," said Joanne Carson, 75. "About a year before Johnny died, he said, 'Jo, do me a favor. Take those films someday, put them on DVD and share them. Because there aren't going to be anymore.'"

She was preparing for an auction last year of memorabilia from her late confidant Truman Capote when she rediscovered Carson's courtship gift.

"Joanne, you've got gold there," a friend remarked.

The shows are available on a two-disc DVD set from Shout Factory (24.98 U.S. dollars). There were 39 episodes produced of "The Johnny Carson Show," which aired Thursdays at 10 p.m. on CBS, and Johnny had picked his top 10 for Joanne.

She's unsure if there are any other copies. In the early days of television, live shows were recorded by filming a TV monitor. Known as kinescopes, the recordings often were lost.

The networks and producers "didn't keep anything. They erased the first 10 years of 'The Tonight Show,'" Joanne Carson said.

"The Johnny Carson Show" was part of Carson's journey to stardom which included radio and TV jobs in Nebraska, his home state, Hollywood and then New York after CBS canceled "The Johnny Carson Show."

"He got very upset about it, left Los Angeles and moved to New York," she said.

That's where Joanne Copeland, then an actress and model, met Carson and where he got a fresh start.

There were a few acting roles, then the game show "Who Do You Trust?" (1957-62), then an offer to replace Jack Paar on "Tonight." The late-night show, which Carson hosted until his retirement in 1992, made his career but helped end their marriage, Joanne Carson said.

"Johnny couldn't go anywhere, we couldn't stick our noses out of the door of the apartment, because people would grab at him. He had all these benefits to go to, all these openings. ... I was a little girl from California," she said. "You just get to a point you can't do this anymore."

But Joanne Carson, who returned West and went on to earn graduate degrees in psychology and physiology, said her memories of Carson himself are only good.

"He was the best of the best. And that kind of style and class -- you won't see it again," she said.

(Agencies)