...the end of an era in Television. For those of you who are too young to remember him...you missed a out on a legend. For those of you who were alive to see him, you know Johnny Carson was the absolute King of late night...and always will be. But he was even more than that. Before the era of the internet and hundreds of television stations and options, the country set its watch by Carson. He put us all to bed every night for 30 years...laughing all the way. So, here's to Johnny....still the King. (his last guest on his last show). <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fb4C0gSq_Qw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
don't know if they are re-airing the American Masters documentary on him that debuted on PBS a couple weeks back, but it was great. highly recommended.
Boomers and Xers need to stop reminiscing about everything. The guy should have retired ten years earlier and let Rivers, Cosby (would have been amazing), Jerry Lewis or even a Seinfeld, Harry Anderson or Piscopo get in there. Miller, before 9/11 changed not only his politics but his comedic focus, or even Carvey, would have been a fun risk. Not having cable as a teen in the '90s I loved watching Tom Snyder's second go-round following up for Letterman on CBS; Carson would have been great doing something like that on CNN after or in place of King. Arsenio was a limited, unprofessional, racially one-dimensional puff of smoke, but I think he exposed Carson's potential inability to credibly host or interact with young talent and particularly musical acts that were coming in at the time. Leno gets a lot of heat for opportunism, but if the Norville/Pauley mess on Today was any hint NBC would have made life hard for Johnny had he not left that year anyways.
Hardly. Carson is a rose colored glasses kind of act. Did nothing groundbreaking, just drove his show in to the ground.
If you think piscopo or Anderson would have been suitable replacements, I don't know what to tell you. Cosby might have been great, but that wasn't happening at the time. Jerry Lewis? I'm a fan, but I don't think he would have done better. You probably would have named Chevy Chase too, had they not tried it and watched the whole debacle go teats up like the fish in that tank. Johnny was a classic, and while it was time to move on, seeing that and not appreciating the career (not groundbreaking huh?) seems to be shortsighted, if not just uninformed and perhaps too young to appreciate a career of great television.
"Not having cable as a teen in the '90s" says all I need to know about your opinion of Carson, with all due respect. The man was brilliant. A genius. He made one of the most difficult jobs in the entertainment industry look easy. There's a reason he is considered a legend, and was a legend in his own time. You just don't know enough to "get it," and I can't explain decades of watching late night television to you on a message board. Carson was about context. If you weren't there, and of a certain age, I'm not going to be able to explain his influence to you. For a long, long time, Carson was arguably the most powerful man on television. And good luck telling someone like me to just "stop reminiscing about everything." Toss your own life history into a waste basket. I'll keep mine, thank you very much.
No one could touch Carson. He had the rare ability to keep people interested every night for 40 years.
Carsenio was hip and kept up with the times <object width="512" height="288"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/-ZtqfEV9_xmPhSv0UGs1gA"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/-ZtqfEV9_xmPhSv0UGs1gA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object>
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this is funny - the main thing at Arsenio was criticized for was his poor interviewing skills. Carson truly was a legend..and for good reason. He took a struggling show from Jack Paar and made it great. There were many shows that were groundbreaking during their time and only a few people who weren't around during those times will understand the importance of those programs: War of the Worlds (radio), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Milton Bearle, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Smothers Brothers, Laugh In, etc..are all very important to TV history, and The Tonight Show (under Carson) is equally as important.
LOVED Carson when I was a kid. It meant I got to stay up late. Still watch some of his old YouTube clips.
20 years ago this evening...i took a big old beating got burned in a big infernal fire...lost my leg when the situation turned dire crawled my way out of that hell...overcome by the meaty bbq smell gnawed on my last leg that was well done...and shot my gun in the amazon was being attacked by mean spirited devil cannibals wondering why the hell they weren't named hannibals finally found my way to a boat...but was attacked by a big old goat fell into the water listening to rhianna...and was eaten by hungry piranha 20 years ago this evening...i took a big old beating i'm not really here telling this tale...but the devil allowed me this one post i am not a ghost...just burning in hell with my host the end
