Johnny Carson dead at 79.
Quick, which "Tonight Show" got the biggest-ever rating, (apart from the farewell show)? Hint - it was in 1969.
This one.
The most influential figure in television history? Possibly. That debate is the stuff of a course in popular culture (hmmmm, there's an idea...) But was he truly as God-like as this gushing obit maintains?
He was certainly "of his time" and the end of his show in 1992 marked the end of an era, in an era when that cliche was overused.
Without him there would be no Letterman, and subsequently, no Jon Stewart. But for the sake of argument, here's the difference. Look at "Tonight Show" episodes from twenty-five years ago - or more obviously from the mid-to-late '80s after Letterman's emergence - and leaving aside the contemporaneous joke references, how much of Carson's schtick really stands up today?
As "Laugh-In", in its own way, was hugely innovative, it made a virtue of its limited shelf-life. You couldn't imagine that show, with that format, happening in such a fresh or unexpected way at any time other than the late '60s/early '70s.
Even SNL knew that the longevity of format shows depends on freshness both in on-screen talent and writing, and regular infusions of both were needed to smooth out the inevitable peaks and troughs.
But hey. What do I know?
Anyway, for a perfect post-modern tieback, how about the SNL sketch when Dana Carvey as Johnny, and Phil Hartman as a brilliant Ed McMahon interview Chris Rock as Arsenio and try to get in touch with "the street"...
On an industry-related note, we have a story in tomorrow's paper that says Napster is "considering moving into films and video games", quoting their CEO saying the company is looking at applying its online music model to films, TV programming and other video content. Now a Napster/TiVo hookup - that'd be something...
So... the Katie Couric to CBS story ends up with, probably predictably, NBC falling over themselves to give her even more money so she won't leave. More interesting, though, is the throwaway line about Martha Stewart taking over from Donald Trump on The Apprentice.
And you're surprised by this why, exactly?
Finally.... how to know that you were born to write this story:
17.20 UPDATE 1-Blizzard wallops Northeast U.S., snarls travel
By Greg Frost
Stay safe, those of you on the east coast.
Comment?
Quick, which "Tonight Show" got the biggest-ever rating, (apart from the farewell show)? Hint - it was in 1969.
This one.
The most influential figure in television history? Possibly. That debate is the stuff of a course in popular culture (hmmmm, there's an idea...) But was he truly as God-like as this gushing obit maintains?
He was certainly "of his time" and the end of his show in 1992 marked the end of an era, in an era when that cliche was overused.
Without him there would be no Letterman, and subsequently, no Jon Stewart. But for the sake of argument, here's the difference. Look at "Tonight Show" episodes from twenty-five years ago - or more obviously from the mid-to-late '80s after Letterman's emergence - and leaving aside the contemporaneous joke references, how much of Carson's schtick really stands up today?
As "Laugh-In", in its own way, was hugely innovative, it made a virtue of its limited shelf-life. You couldn't imagine that show, with that format, happening in such a fresh or unexpected way at any time other than the late '60s/early '70s.
Even SNL knew that the longevity of format shows depends on freshness both in on-screen talent and writing, and regular infusions of both were needed to smooth out the inevitable peaks and troughs.
But hey. What do I know?
Anyway, for a perfect post-modern tieback, how about the SNL sketch when Dana Carvey as Johnny, and Phil Hartman as a brilliant Ed McMahon interview Chris Rock as Arsenio and try to get in touch with "the street"...
On an industry-related note, we have a story in tomorrow's paper that says Napster is "considering moving into films and video games", quoting their CEO saying the company is looking at applying its online music model to films, TV programming and other video content. Now a Napster/TiVo hookup - that'd be something...
So... the Katie Couric to CBS story ends up with, probably predictably, NBC falling over themselves to give her even more money so she won't leave. More interesting, though, is the throwaway line about Martha Stewart taking over from Donald Trump on The Apprentice.
And you're surprised by this why, exactly?
Finally.... how to know that you were born to write this story:
17.20 UPDATE 1-Blizzard wallops Northeast U.S., snarls travel
By Greg Frost
Stay safe, those of you on the east coast.
Comment?
posted by Steve at 4:05 PM
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