Johnny Carson: King of Late Night (2012)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Johnny Carson has always been an interesting figure in the pop culture lexicon. It seems that he is someone who is totally immune to any criticism whatsoever because what he represented was so powerful. This episode of 'American Masters' for the most part is interested in more of the myth than the man. The allegory of Citizen Kane and Rosebud is brought up frequently during the documentary as if finding Johnny's Rosebud will define him. I felt that the documentary was too flattering to Carson and too much in awe of his legend that it really ultimately failed to present a real dissection of Johnny and his faults and successes. One problem with this documentary is that it just reiterates everyone's love for Johnny. There isn't an interviewee on the show who doesn't love Carson. All of his faults are portrayed as gleams of polish that make up the legend. I for one would have loved to have seen more time spent on some of the darker instances of Carson's career. I have always thought he was in the wrong in his feud with Joan Rivers. Rivers is given some time to articulate her side of the story but I for one would have been far more satisfied if some other people who had dealings similar to this were represented. I guess what is conveyed here is the legend of Johnny Carson and the legend has weight. Dozens of interviewees are questioned about Johnny's need to entertain and there is a weight put around all their answers which become half answers. Surprisingly Carson himself answers the question in a 'Tonight Show' clip and the answer is simple, he liked the attention. It's a beautifully honest answer but it kind of defeats the mythic propositions of the documentary. In some ways I liked seeing these comedians being very conscious of this giant shadow they live in. If you like sentimentalism in your documentaries than you will love this. In Carson's case the legend is more interesting than the man, who by all accounts could be a pretty nasty bastard.

After a couple of months of sitting on my DVR, I finally watched "American Masters: Johnny Carson: King of Late Night. It seems to cover everything of his life and career choice-his discovery of magic tricks at 13 or 14, his first TV appearance on a station in Omaha, Nebraska, his initial Los Angeles local TV exposure, his big break on national TV as substitute on Red Skelton's show before his own same-named show on CBS, and then his pinnacle-30 years of "The Tonight Show". We also get glimpses of his four wives and his affairs in between. And then there's the way he wanted his private life really private. Along the way, there's plenty of interviews of people who he helped to either mentor or just expose to a mass audience-David Letterman, Jay Leno, Garry Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld, Joan Rivers. The last one is discussed further because of her abrupt departure as "The Tonight Show"s permanent guest host as well as treasured guest after Johnny discovered her Fox deal in 1986 that Ms. Rivers never told him about beforehand. Arsenio Hall also chimes in about Johnny and how his show managed to be real competition for Carson when he simply went with his own thing and went after the late night king's audience's kids. Many of the show's highlights are here: that tomahawk incident with Ed Ames with Johnny saying "I didn't know you were Jewish!", a caged tiger from Joan Embry scaring him to go to Ed McMahon's shoulders, etc. One surprising scene for me, however, was seeing Johnny singing "Here's That Rainy Day" from an early show so lovingly while playing guitar. It was a pleasantly unexpected scene to watch. I could probably say more, but I'll just now say if you were or still are a fan of his, I highly recommend this "Johnny Carson: King of Late Night" ep of "American Masters." Personal note: Mom often told me that when I first talked, it was during one of Johnny's shows when Ed said "Heeeere's Johnny!" and my first words were the toddler version of it.

This show nails the essential complex host/man/loner Johnny Carson was.It has all the major talkers Carson competed with, plus a lot of his classic clips and stories about a major television figure who tried to keep his private life private.What is interesting to me is that the special mentions the love affairs that Carson had that broke up his marriages. Other than scandal sheet articles, I have seen very little tell all books from women Carson had affairs with. I guess not all women kiss and tell.The special does bring up Angie Dickinson's claim that she wanted romance with Carson but things never worked out. There was always a lot of sexual innuendo used on Carson's Tonight show. This Carson special is available through a link on You Tube for anyone interested.It covers the Joan Rivers Feud, and many other topics. Most interesting thing - very little reference to Mclean Stevenson who was the guy who guest hosted Tonight the most while Carson was there.The Carson family issues which were never seen when Carson was on and alive are brought to the surface here in a very direct way. This show is "spot on."http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes

This episode of "American Masters" was well made--I have no complaints about this in any way. In fact, it was EXCEPTIONALLY well made and because of this it depressed me. This is because with a 'warts and all' biography, you get more than just effusive praise--you get the good AND the bad. So, while you learn about all of Johnny Carson's many on-screen successes and accolades, you also hear about what an absolutely screwed up guy he was as well. Because of this, instead of focusing on his triumphs (and this made up most of the show), I kept getting bogged down with his failings. He had a difficult mother--one who had a very hard time praising Johnny or connecting with him. In turn, he had a horrible time connecting with his own children--and seemed to be very distant. He also struggled with alcoholism (or at least a serious drinking problem) and his very public divorces. And, while there was lots of praise for him as a performer, it was sad that no one interviewed for the show ever felt close to him. It's an odd contradiction--with such a public figure having such an incredibly private life--and often, he was alone.If you want to feel happy, don't watch this. However, if you hate biographies that gloss over problems and only paint a rosy picture (a very common problem), then this is for you. You learn a lot about the man and I can really respect the job the "American Masters" folks did with this one. Very good and the definitive biography on the man.