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Monday, January 24, 2005A few thoughts on Johnny Carson:Carson was the last king of late night. He may also have been our last truly solid culture unifier. Americans come from a lot of backgrounds, culturally, politically, ethnically and religiously. But they split into two camps: Those who care about the news and those who don't. Carson's variety show had a way of bringing the two together: News geeks tuned in to see the latest jokes about the president, the congress, etc. And especially to see if he'd be obvious about taking someone's side. Carson had his finger on the public pulse, and if a pol or entertainer went from getting a gentle ribbing to truly being smacked, you knew they were on their way out. Not because Johnny was that popular, but because he had a big audience and kept it that way by not truly taking sides unless there was strong public consensus. While Johnny entertained the (should I say "us"?) news geeks, we usually stayed around for the interviews and saw a bit of pop culture. Meanwhile, a fair share of the non-news-geek population got its news from Johnny's monologue, which was funnier and better written than the evening news, and didn't require looking at Rather or Jennings (who was doing NBC news in the '80s? was Brokaw already there?) The result was that a whole lot of people were informed, entertained and had something to talk about at work, even if there was really nothing to talk about. The coolest thing about Johnny is that he wasn't cool the way comics are today. He was sharp and witty, but fairly self-effacing at the same time. The monologue was about the news, the bits were about stock figures like psychics, pols and used car salesmen - an American commedia del arte - and the interviews were about the interviewees. And what held it all together was a man smart enough to know just what to say to keep things light and fun without getting in the way. Other comics have their merits, but Carson will reign supreme, one of the few hosts to run a truly funny show not by being outrageous or funny but by bringing out the funniness in what was already there. Another comedian gave us "Thanks for the memories," but for Johnny, it's better to offer thanks for the laughter and good fun. 
posted by gbarto at 1:44 AM |
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