Heeeeere's Johnny

Erik Bates | January 23, 2005
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Scott Hardie | January 23, 2005
I was just reading on Friday how he still sometimes called up David Letterman with a joke for the "Late Night" monologue. He was still sharp up to the end.

Amy Austin | January 24, 2005
Oh. How sad. This is the first I have read of it, and he was indeed quite sharp... something to aspire to.

Kris Weberg | January 24, 2005
The thing about Johnny Carson is, it was all in his delivery. Half the time, he was funnier with an impromptu remark after a failed sketch or the misfire of a prepared joke.

It didn't hurt that he had the best "beats" of any comedian since Jack Benny. (Now that I've namechecked Jack Benny, I just need to work in some W.C. Fields quotes somewhere and I'll get a vaudeville-to-film-comedy BINGO.)

Scott Hardie | January 25, 2005
Yes. Perfect timing and perfect delivery, which he used to control the audience like a master. Whenever he indicated with body language that he was about to speak, you could hear a pin drop in that studio. The opposite example is Carson's upcoming successor Conan O'Brien, who has said in interviews that he hates hearing "WHOOOOOOO!" from his youthful audience all the time, yet he seems unable to prevent it from happening. Conan wants for the audience to finish speaking instead of the other way around.

Jackie Mason | January 25, 2005
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Scott Hardie | January 28, 2005
Conan is indeed replacing Jay Leno, in 2009. It may have seemed as if I don't enjoy Conan's show; I do. The recent video that Dave Stoppenhagen posted is very good. It just seemed appropriate to contrast Conan's biggest weakness against Johnny Carson's biggest strength. I think when Conan graduates to the ten-th... uh, eleven-thirty time slot, his show will get a lot sharper and smarter, because he'll have better writers.

Jackie Mason | January 31, 2005
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Kris Weberg | January 31, 2005
Hell probably bring some of his more popular bits over with him, yeah, but I imagine the Tonight Show's higher profile may change his interview style somewhat.

Scott Hardie | January 31, 2005
It will probably be Conan's show with all the benefits of Jay Leno's show: Bigger studio, bigger budget, better guests, better writing. Imagine the way that David Letterman's talk show improved from being second-rate at 12:30 on NBC to being first-rate at 11:30 on CBS, but still retained the same personality.