Television
With No Borders / GIVE
P
We
Preserve The Moment /
KASLC
•
114 - In
Memory:
Johnny
Carson, Dies at 79 -
b: October 23rd 1925 - d: January 23,
2005.
•
• Johnny Carson and the
"Tonight Show" were synonymous. The TV host who
served America a smooth nightcap of celebrity
banter, droll comedy and heartland charm for 30
years, has died. He was
79.
• • "Mr. Carson
passed away peacefully early this morning," his
nephew, Jeff Sotzing, told The Associated Press.
"He was surrounded by his family, whose loss will
be immeasurable. There will be no memorial
service."
The Johnny Carson Legacy
Will Live on, within SoulFind and on his
DVDs.
• •
After he retired in 1992, Johnny Carson
abruptly turned his back on show business, politely
but firmly turning down numerous requests for
personal appearances and tributes - - including
those from close friends.
• • But the longtime host of NBC's
"The Tonight Show," who died Sunday at 79, remained
a shrewd if conservative businessman, friends say,
and even in retirement stayed active in one pet
project. Between trips around the world, Carson
supervised video and DVD compilations of his most
memorable bits, designed to keep his legacy
alive.
• • On Monday, one of
those anthologies - - "The Ultimate Johnny Carson
Collection - - His Favorite Moments From The
Tonight Show (Vols. 1-3) (1962-1992)," originally
released in 2000 - - zoomed to No. 1 on the
Amazon.com DVD sales ranking. And four other Carson
compilations, representing a fraction of the more
than 5,000 hours of existing "Tonight Show" tapes,
spiked to top 10 positions on the
chart.
• • The star's company, Carson
Productions, controls the rights to all the
material. In 1980, Carson won the rights to all
future shows in a contract renewal with NBC. And
after he retired, he acquired the pre-1980 tapes as
well, according to Carson's nephew Jeff Sotzing, a
former "Tonight Show" producer who helped run
Carson Productions with his
uncle.
• • Many of the episodes between
1962 and 1972 were erased years ago because
networks at that time frequently taped over old
broadcasts to save money.
• • Once he gained ownership of
what was left, Carson placed the remaining tapes
and all subsequent footage in an underground
storage vault in Kansas. The collection of more
than 4,000 tapes is believed to be one of the
largest single television libraries in the world.
• • Studios are typically loath to
give up any rights to shows they produce, but
Carson's clout was such that he became the first
major host of a live TV broadcast to own the rights
to his show, according to NBC Universal Chairman
and CEO Bob Wright, who became a close friend of
Carson's.
• • Handing over the tapes was "a
big concession that I think [then-network
president] Fred Silverman was forced into when
NBC was going through a difficult time," Wright
said in an interview Monday. "It's nothing I would
criticize; you have to do what you think is best
for the business."
• • Wright pointed out that the
vast library of Carson episodes could fill up
programming time on cable networks such as E! or
Comedy Central. And Sotzing pointed out that a clip
show, "Carson's Comedy Classics," ran in
syndication a few years
back.
• • But it's clear that Carson
Productions is staking the TV host's posterity not
on syndication but on the DVDs - - which, it seems,
was how Carson wanted it.
• • "The DVD is really a wonderful
example of the work that he did, because it
contains an example of all the things he did on the
show," Sotzing said. "He was never comfortable
merchandising the show, and that's why there's not
that much of that out there…. There are no
[Johnny Carson] coffee mugs, no
T-shirts."
• • Yet in today's media blizzard,
it may be hard for a legacy like Carson's to
thrive.
• • Unlike sitcom stars, who tend
to live on forever in syndication, talk show hosts
- - such as Fred Allen, Arthur Godfrey and Carson's
"Tonight" predecessor, Jack Paar - - tend to be
forgotten rather quickly, according to Robert J.
Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of
Popular Television at Syracuse University.
• • "The bitter pill to swallow is
that the stars of 'Saved by the Bell' may be
remembered longer than Johnny Carson" because their
shows are more accessible on cable networks,
Thompson said. "If you want immortality [in
television], you've got to star in something
that can rerun on Nick at Nite."
• • But ever since Carson's death
was announced Sunday, it has been hard to avoid
tributes to the former television host, who reigned
in late night for 30 years. On Monday, his
successor on "Tonight," Jay Leno, paid homage to
Carson's "American
voice."
• • "Johnny never went out of
style," Leno told viewers. "As a performer, I don't
think I ever wanted to impress anyone more than
Johnny Carson. He had that effect on comedians."
• • CBS' "Late Show with David
Letterman" has a long-scheduled break this week,
although Letterman - - considered by many the
closest heir to Carson in late-night TV - - is
expected to pay tribute on Monday's show.
Associated
Press Honors Johnny Carson, with the following
-
"Tonight Show" TV host who served
America a smooth nightcap of celebrity banter,
droll comedy and heartland charm for 30 years, has
died. He was 79.
• • "Mr. Carson passed away
peacefully early this morning," his nephew, Jeff
Sotzing, told The Associated Press. "He was
surrounded by his family, whose loss will be
immeasurable. There will be no memorial
service."
•• • Sotzing would not
give further details, including the time of death,
the location or the cause of
death.
• • The boyish-looking Nebraska
native with the disarming grin, who survived every
attempt to topple him from his late-night talk show
throne, was a star who managed never to distance
himself from his
audience.
• • His wealth, the adoration of
his guests -- particularly the many young comics
whose careers he launched -- the wry tales of
multiple divorces: Carson's air of modesty made it
all serve to enhance his bedtime intimacy with
viewers.
• • "Heeeeere's Johnny ..." was
the booming announcement from sidekick Ed McMahon
that ushered Carson out to the stage. Then the
formula: the topical monologue, the guests, the
broadly played skits such as "Carnac the
Magnificent."
• • But audiences never tired of
him; Carson went out on top when he retired in May
1992.
• • His personal life could not
match the perfection of his career. Carson was
married four times, divorced three. In 1991, one of
his three sons, 39-year-old Ricky, was killed in a
car accident.
• • Nearly all of Carson's
professional life was spent in television, from his
postwar start at Nebraska stations in the late
1940s to his three decades with NBC's "The Tonight
Show Starring Johnny
Carson."
• • Carson choose to let "Tonight"
stand as his career zenith and his finale,
withdrawing into a quiet retirement that suited his
private nature and refusing involvement in other
show business projects.
• • In 1993, he explained his
absence from the
limelight.
• • "I have an ego like anybody
else," Carson told The Washington Post, "but I
don't need to be stoked by going before the public
all the time."
• • He was open to finding the
right follow-up to "Tonight," he told friends. But
his longtime producer, Fred de Cordova, said Carson
didn't feel pressured -- he could look back on his
TV success and say "I did
it."
• • "And that makes sense. He is
one of a kind, was one of a kind," de Cordova said
in 1995. "I don't think there's any reason for him
to try something
different."
• • Carson was born in Corning,
Iowa, and raised in nearby Norfolk. He started his
show business career at age 14 as the magician "The
Great Carsoni."
• • After World War II service in
the Navy, he took a series of jobs in local radio
and TV in Nebraska before starting at KNXT-TV in
Los Angeles in 1950.
• • There he started a sketch
comedy show, "Carson's Cellar," which ran from
1951-53 and attracted attention from Hollywood. A
staff writing job for "The Red Skelton Show"
followed.
• • The program provided Carson
with a lucky break: when Skelton was injured
backstage, Carson took the comedian's place in
front of the cameras.
• • The appearance probably was
Carson's first monologue in front of a national
audience, according to "The Complete Directory to
Primetime TV Stars."
• • Producers tried to find the
right program for the up-and-coming comic, trying
him out as host of the quiz show "Earn Your
Vacation" (1954) and in the variety show "The
Johnny Carson Show"
(1955-56).
• • From 1957-62 he hosted the
daytime game show "Who Do You Trust?" and, in 1958,
was joined for the first time by McMahon, his
durable "Tonight" buddy.
• • A few acting roles came
Carson's way, including one on "Playhouse 90" in
1957, and he did a pilot in 1960 for a prime-time
series, "Johnny Come Lately," that never made it
onto a network schedule.
• • In 1958, Carson sat in for
"Tonight Show" host Jack Paar. When Paar left the
show four years later, Carson was NBC's choice as
his replacement and took over on Oct. 2,
1962.
• • Audiences quickly grew fond of
Carson's boyish grin and easy wit. He even made
headlines with such clever ploys as the 1969
on-show marriage of singer Tiny Tim to Miss Vicki,
which won the show its biggest-ever
ratings.
• • The wedding and other
noteworthy moments from the show were collected
into a yearly "Tonight" anniversary
special.
• • In 1972, "Tonight" moved from
New York to Burbank. Growing respect for Carson's
consistency and staying power, along with four
consecutive Emmy Awards, came his way in the late
1970s.
• • His quickness and his ability
to handle an audience were impressive. When his
jokes missed their target, the smooth Carson won
over a groaning studio audience with a clever look
or sly, self-deprecating
remark.
• • Politics provided monologue
fodder for him as skewered lawmakers of every
stripe, mirroring the mood of voters. His Watergate
jabs at President Nixon were seen as cementing
Nixon's fall from office in
1976.
• • He dispatched would-be
late-night competitors with equal aplomb. Competing
networks tried a variety of formats and hosts but
never managed to best "Tonight" and
Carson.
• • There was the occasional
battle with NBC: in 1967, for instance, Carson
walked out for several weeks until the network
managed to lure him back with a contract that
reportedly gave him $1 million-plus
yearly.
• • In 1980, after more walkout
threats, the show was scaled back from 90 minutes
to an hour. Carson also eased his schedule by
cutting back on his work days; a number of
substitute hosts filled in, including Joan Rivers,
David Brenner, Jerry Lewis and Jay Leno, Carson's
eventual successor.
• • In the '80s, Carson was
reportedly the highest-paid performer in television
history with a $5 million "Tonight" show salary
alone.
• • His Carson Productions created
and sold pilots to NBC, including "TV's Bloopers
and Practical Jokes." Carson himself made
occasional cameo appearances on other TV
series.
• • He also performed in Las Vegas
and Atlantic City, N.J., and repeatedly hosted the
Academy Awards from 1979
on.
• • Carson's graceful exit from
"Tonight" did not avoid a messy, bitter battle to
fill his job.
• • Leno and fellow comedian David
Letterman's tug-of-war over the job inspired a
satirical 1996 HBO movie, "The Late Shift," based
on the Bill Carter book of the same
name.
• • Leno took over as "Tonight"
host on March 25, 1992, becoming the fourth man to
hold the job after founding host Steve Allen, Paar
and Carson (Letterman moved to a competitive
late-night job at CBS).
• • Carson stayed out of the fray
and, after leaving "Tonight," took on the role of
Malibu-based retiree with apparent ease. An avid
tennis fan, Carson was still playing a vigorous
game in his 70s. He was seen in the stands at
professional matches including the U.S. Open and
Wimbledon.
• • He and his wife, Alexis,
traveled and dined out frequently. The pair met on
the Malibu beach in the early 1980s; he was 61 when
they married in June 1987, she was in her
30s.
• • Carson's first wife was his
childhood sweetheart, Jody, the mother of his three
sons. They married in 1949 and split in
1963.
• • He married Joanne Copeland
Carson in 1963; divorce came in 1972. His third
marriage, to Joanna Holland Carson, took place in
1972. They separated in 1982 and reached a divorce
settlement in 1985.
• • On the occasion of Carson's
70th birthday in 1995, former "Tonight" bandleader
Doc Severinsen, who toured with musicians from the
show, said he was constantly reminded of Carson's
enduring popularity.
• • "Every place we go people ask
'How is he? Where is he? What is he doing? Tell him
how much we miss him.' It doesn't surprise me,"
Severinsen said.
• • The brisk sale of
videocassettes of the best of "The Tonight Show
Starring Johnny Carson," released in the early
'90s, offered further proof of his
appeal.
• • In 1993, he was celebrated by
the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors for career
achievement.
///
Respectfully
Troy
& Josie Cory
Publisher/Editor TVI Magazine
TVI Magazine,
tvinews.net, the Academy, Associated press,
Reuters, BBC, LA Times, NY Times and VRA's
D-Diaries were used in compiling and ascertaining
this news report.
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