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Watching old episodes of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show is oddly calming during the pandemic


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/arts/television/johnny-carson-tonight-show.html

"Since the pandemic put normal life on pause, the only talk show I have regularly watched is, oddly enough, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which airs weeknights on Antenna," says Jason Zinoman, author of a biography of David Letterman. "This isn’t because I am seeking escape in the pleasures of my childhood — although I have done that, revisiting Heathers and A Tribe Called Quest as if they were old friends. But Johnny Carson holds no nostalgic appeal. When I was a teenager in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he represented the bland center of the mainstream, a toothless holdover from a Vegas-infused era of show business. What could be less cool than pantomiming a golf swing? I returned to his show first out of professional curiosity. Despite being the most visible and powerful comedian in America for three decades, building the talk show into a juggernaut on NBC before ending his run in 1992, Carson has mostly vanished from the public consciousness, discussed more as a gatekeeper than as a performer. But once I started bingeing old episodes of The Tonight Show, I found something oddly calming about his topical jokes about Watergate, Iran-contra and other grave events that no longer seem urgent. Comedy plus time equals a certain indifference. But it wasn’t only that: Carson hosted with an unusually light touch and an equanimity that stands out in today’s hyperventilating culture. His monologue jokes are OK, steadily mediocre if sometimes corny constructions with amusing word choices ('topless kazoo player riding a yak') but never as funny as the way he self-deprecatingly recovers from ones that bombed. He lingers on those, holding a pause or leaning forward ever so slightly, goosing the audience for more laughs at his expense. David Letterman admired this about Johnny Carson, and you can see the influence. But whereas Letterman brooded over his flops, Carson never seemed angry for more than a moment, or for that matter, particularly thrilled. The guests ran hot and cold, but he never budged from room temperature. There is something even eerily alien about his temperament as if he was observing humanity from a distance. The critic Kenneth Tynan once described Carson as 'an immaculate machine.'"

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True, but not just during the pandemic. It's simultaneously comforting and painful to watch the clips on YouTube. Comforting for the memories and painful for the realization we'll never see the likes of Carson and that show again.

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One couldn't have said it any better.

He was so superior to any of the subsequent late night hosts.

I was a little boy when he was at his peak (1970s)

In the 80s, I started watching the show. Always had a good laugh with my friends the next day.

We all took note when he stepped down in the early 90s.

I don't think anyone has been close to him since.

So yeah, agreed with Clementina - it's painful in a sense.

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But it does to show that quality entertaining late night television could and did exist.

There's always hope someone will appear that's better than what's on offer now - but the diffusion of media probably makes it very difficult for anyone to achieve his level of success.

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In the 80s, I started watching the show. Always had a good laugh with my friends the next day.

We all took note when he stepped down in the early 90s.


I have to laugh when I hear a politician say he/she will unite the country. Carson united the country. Take you and your friends talking about Carson the next day and multiply it millions of times over across the country. We are really missing that with the current state of late night shows.

I started watching in the 80s too on summer breaks. My dad wouldn't let me stay up during the school year to watch. I watched his final show in '92 and felt like I'd lost something for days after.

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That's a good point. In my day, it was him and Saturday Night Live. I guess you could say "united the country" cuz we'd be talking about both programs the next day - and laughing hysterically.

I have no idea what the youth of today is into. I can only say, if you are into Fallon, or the other guy, Kimmell I think is his name - hey great - good for you.

But I'm sorry to say you missed out. Johnny Carson was the best.

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