American Masters : Johnny Carson

I should say that this review will be in no way objective. It would be impossible for me to do so because I revere Johnny Carson. I am sure that the fact that I grew up at a time when Johnny was the King of Late Night would make that a likely scenario but for me Johnny was more than a late night host.

I always had trouble sleeping as a kid. As a teenager I did what most teenagers did in the summer. I stayed up late. Remembering that I grew up in a rural town there was no cable television. The choices for late night programming were minimal. Even if there had been choices once you watched Johnny it was just Johnny you wanted to watch.

For me being the last child of parents who were Senior Citizens, as much as they were good to me, could sometimes be a lonely experience. They were tired. So being up late at night was a solitary affair. When I think of the times that my son comes down late at night from doing homework and watches a bit of Letterman with me I wish I could have had those moments with my Dad.

Being a solitary affair however made Johnny Carson my late night guest. Johnny was funny but more importantly he was just dependable. He was there. Johnny made the kind of wry humor that I enjoy. A play on words or a double meaning made a teenager feel more mature than he really was. The most important thing about Carson was the steadiness. It was so hot today, That lady is so fat and other dependable ask and answer parts of the monologue.

If I told you that I can still remember certain jokes such as when the Air Traffic Controllers struck Johnny said " They were so desperate for help that Ronald McDonald was in the tower helping land planes." It does not seem that funny now but at the time it was. That was the joy of Carson. Watching Johnny be amused made something funny. His laughter was sometimes as funny as whatever made him laugh.

For me Karnac the Magnificent was perhaps the ultimate segment I enjoyed. Again watching Johnny smirk as he loaded up a good one always increased the anticipation. Is it odd that 30 years later I remember this joke. Answer : Cis Boom Bah. Question : The Sound It Makes When a Sheep Explodes. And you have to remember that after this Johnny was in tears, he could not pull himself together.

The monologues were perfected by Carson. The precursor to Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, David Letterman, all comic who review the news and headlines for comedy Carson was the best, his mannerisms, from the Jack Benny school will never be bettered.

A few weeks ago a reference was made to Johnny on Letterman, and I love Letterman, and Paul and the band kicked into the Carson theme song. It brings back so many memories, even the multicolored curtains that Johnny would come through are solidified in my brain as if it were yesterday. Hi Ho and the Golf Swing. Johnny's impact on popular culture may not be understood by people who have come of age in the last twenty years but for all of us who grew up in that thirty year window of Johnny we know that he was was a gigantic figure.

So for PBS to do a tribute to Carson as part of it's Masterpiece Series was a great choice. The retrospective was very good. Comments from today's comedians, tributes from friends. We learned that Johnny lived his whole life feeling like he was never good enough for his Mother. After his Mom died he found a box of clippings that she had kept of his publicity and he kept that box in his closet in his bedroom for the rest of his life. It seemed he had made his Mom proud.

Carson had marital troubles, three divorces and evidently he might have been estranged from wife number four when he died. Truthfully I did not need to know these items. For me Johnny was not the person he was off the air, he was my friend late at night.

Watching Drew Carey choke up talking about his first time on the Carson show, watch Ellen talk about being asked over to the desk on her first visit to the show and Garry Shandling break into tears talking about when he heard the news that Carson had died you get a sense of the love and admiration he had from these people.

From me as well. I remember when he died,against all reason it was as if a friend or a treasured uncle had died.

We will never have a barometer of popular culture like we had in Johnny. We are too splintered. Johnny held us together.

He was and always will be The King of Late Night




S

Could Bill Maher Turn it Down Just a Little

I watch the Bill Maher show each Friday night. I am a fan. I often agree with his libertarian bent of politics and find much of what he says funny. I am quite sure Maher is not going for a mainstream audience. He does need one. A wish I would have though is I wish that at times he would turn down the vulgarity. I am not a prude. I know that cursing and swearing is part of the shtick of comedy.

At times Maher though goes so far off the reservation in his humor to be well....to me..just gross. I find his take on politics and current events to be interesting and funny. I must admit that sometimes however it seems to me he gets off into the weeds and is extremely vulgar for no reason other than he can.

Sex and Gay Rights issues seem to bring this on the most. Perhaps it is part of his in your face approach. I am sure I am in the minority. I still will watch, I just think that as intelligent as he is, to be taken as more than just another comedian he might break away from some of the vulgarity for his show.

Just because it is HBO it does mean you have to be over the line.

Politcally Incorrect

Bill Maher has returned for another season of his HBO show. Maher is well known for his pro pot, anti religion, can you believe these guys on the right, sense of humor.

At times I find him quite funny but at other times I think that he, like most current comedians, lean on crudity and lewdness in exchange of well worded humor.

Still Maher does have good guests, usually a wide range of entertainers, politicians and others. Most of his guests are from the left side of the spectrum but not all and those from the right who go on deserve extra credit for being willing to suffer Maher's gaze.

This is a worthy show. One I enjoy. Still anyone who thinks what he is doing is harder than what comedians who have to work inside boundaries and still be funny would be wrong. The more lines are around you the harder it is to be funny. Bill Maher's success at what he does should make us appreciate the Jon Stewart's and David Letterman's even more.