Johnny Carson

I’ve never been a huge fan of Johnny Carson. I grew up when he was at his most popular and watched him probably most nights – I’ve always tended toward late hours and his was the only show on - but I never worshiped him to the extent a lot of entertainers do. Carson is often praised for his comic timing and quick ad-libbing, and his ability to put guests at ease, knowing when to interject and when to let them go on. And these are all valid observations.

But what I always saw in Carson was insincerity. Not that he was nasty or unkind, just hidden and secretive. I had no problem believing he was shy off camera because I could see the tension as he strove to stay in character and suppress his real persona. I had no problem believing he wasn’t always pleasant and could be mean and vindictive. Carson was great at hiding in plain sight. You saw him every night but you never saw what he was really about. The person on camera was manufactured.

He wasn’t genuine, he wasn’t real, and that always bothered me. He was incredibly polished but he was artificial. Jack Parr was Carson’s immediate predecessor and I’ve only ever seen his Tonight Show in clips, but what I see is someone infinitely more “authentic” than Carson ever was. Of course this is an opinion, I never met Jack Parr to know what he was like, but he conveyed sincerity and authenticity. With Carson, I always knew there was a lot more lurking or cowering under the surface and it felt distancing to me. He might laugh at a guest but I’d wonder, what are you really thinking?

A recent American Masters on PBS takes a look at Carson’s life and career. Watching clips from the Tonight Show underlines my initial impression of Carson, stylistically perfect but disingenuous. On the other hand, I have a better respect for Carson’s insight into what works and what doesn’t work when interviewing guests. He DID make that look easy and it isn’t (remember how embarrassingly uncomfortable Chevy Chase was in his short-lived talk show?). I think Carson was a good listener and was good at making his guests feel they were the center of his attention, and he was effective at drawing them out. And he understood comedy and used it well. But I always felt he was like a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment.


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