Watching that program makes Larry Sanders all the more funny and biting: the insecurity, the casual affairs, etc. I wonder what Carson thought of that send-up.
I didn’t see it. Did they discuss the incident where apparently Carson struck his wife at a Hollywood party?
From what I have heard about him, he was quite the Pagliacci (i.e., famous clown with his own deep sadness inside).
I’ve only watched the first half of the program so far (will watch the rest tonight) but basically, Carson’s mother played favorites with his older sister and didn’t think much of her two sons. He was always hoping to get her approval and she really never gave it to him. There was a heartbreaking story in the documentary where a newspaper reporter sat with her to watch Carson’s monologue one night; when the monologue finished, she said, “Well, that wasn’t funny at all,” and got up and left. Pretty cold.
Just very remote and distant. When he told her he was receiving the Governor’s Award at the Emmys, she said “I guess they know what they’re doing.” That kind of thing.
It’s available online; that’s where I watched it last night. Excellent show. Who knew there was a real Bombastic Bushkin. And they slipped in one of the greatest moments during the closing credits.
I’ll watch some tonight: thanks.
ETA: Is it on Youtube or PBS. If PBS I might be blocked in Canada. Not sure.
PBS. Here’s the link.
Admiral Morrison never really got Jim either. 
Hmmm… Won’t play, but I don’t know if that’s a work firewall or a Country issue.
Not a knock on you at all; but I remarked to my wife as I was watching this show that the generational thing is interesting: our children and their children will see Carson as some guy who’s funny only to the old folks. They won’t get the appeal.
I’m not judging anyone on that; it’s the same for the boomer generation when it comes to someone like Rudy Vallee or Clara Bow. We may know the names, and know they were very popular stars, but we don’t fully get the appeal (and I’m speaking broadly here, as a generation. Individuals may of course be as in love with “old” celebrities as their parents/grandparents. But I doubt you’ll find too many 20-somethings who think Jack Benny is as funny as those who were watching him in his prime.)
And the same thing will happen with today’s generation: there will be a time when Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga will be playing the oldies circuit, and the then young generation won’t understand the appeal. It’s the way things go.
Having said all that, I thought the show was remarkably well done, and was saddened when they showed the clip of Bette Midler singing to Johnny during the final show.
Has anyone ever compiled a list of comedians invited/not invited over to the couch and their later success or failure?
I heard Carson didn’t like Gallagher’s act at all even though he got very popular after his appearance.
I think when Johnny retired is when I stopped watching any late-night TV. He was simply the best there was.
I watched the clip of Drew Carey’s Tonight Show debut the other day. The look of sheer amazement and wonder on Drew’s face when Johnny called him over to the dias was heartwarming.
I dunno. As far as age, I’m 35 and used to love watching Carson when I was younger. I never felt like he was just for the old people. I do feel that about Jay Leno these days, though.
I really need to see this.
Some of my favorite Carson shows were when he got serious. He burned Uri Geller badly one night, making it very obvious that the supposed “psychic” was a bottom-feeding fraud; sadly, this gained little traction with the general public.
Michael Landon came on the show when he was dying of pancreatic cancer. That’s the only time I can remember Carson honestly struggling to find the proper tone, but once he realized that Landon was there to play for laughs, they went with it. I’m sure it was satisfying for Carson to be able to join Landon in blasting the tabloids for their irresponsible reporting; it was a rare instance of the general public being able to see how those vultures destroyed lives.
I understand what you’re saying, but I am not sure this applies to Carson. I lived with a woman for a while who was born in 1986. On our second date, she brought up how much she loved Johnny Carson–she’d seen lots of his stuff on DVD and YouTube. Some of the old stuff is dated, sure (especially if you’re hung up on fashion), but he’s one of those guys with cross-generational appeal.
Here’s the clip of that, if anyone else is interested. Drew did a pretty good job, I think. You can tell he’s nervous as hell, though.
Drew actually was a pretty talented comedian. I remember when he toured on the regular circuit. He was well-received.
Thanks, that was great!
I wanted to catch this, but my DVR was full.
At 40, I’m old enough to have caught some of his career. I recall when my bedtime was right after the news, and my parents would watch the monologue. I remember finally being old enough to watch, and then staying up later than my parents to watch the show.
I am quoting myself just to bump up this question. Was this incident mentioned? I remember hearing/reading about it maybe in my 20’s, when Carson was king and the incident was well-known to insiders but just not spoken of, so someone like me who saw Johnny as this always-there icon, it was a shock to hear he had that dark side…
I don’t think they did. They did talk with his second wife and she talked about how she knew about the womanizing and partying and chose to ignore it for the sake of his career and family. They also talked about how when Ed and he went out, it was Ed who always took care of Johnny by taking him out of the party when he got too drunk and belligerent.