When Dolly Parton died, my Youtube feed was flooded with clips of her, and one of them was from the Tonight Show channel, presumably run by Johnny Carson’s estate.
Clicking on one begat many more, and for a time I waxed nostalgic as I soaked up the vibes of the 1970s and 1980s.
But then I became sad, even to the point of being depressed as I thought about all of the things our culture has lost.
Let there be no mistake, Carson as a person was a nasty piece of work, unable to relate to women and downright vindictive to those who he felt slighted him. He spotted and promoted a lot of talent, but he also tried to destroy it.
All that being said, he was a great interviewer and few could match him in building rapport with his guests.
His interviews are usually funny, but also insightful. He was very socially active and knew many of the celebrities from parties or common acquaintances, and so there was this shared experience of celebrity to draw on. He was particularly invested in stand-up comedy, and knew many of the venues, which humanized him. On camera, he was very relatable and not the kind of person who resorted to cheap applause lines.
Indeed, he would regularly mock his writers, burning the script if necessary, engaging the audience and those are some of the funniest (and authentic) moments.
More importantly, he was non-partisan, shied away from divisive subjects and focused on what the broad majority of viewers wanted to see and hear. This was why he dominated late night television.
In addition to Carson being a superior host, there is also the quality of the guests. Today’s celebrities are famous for being famous. They are vacuous, ignorant and completely without accomplishment outside of appearing on a screen. They are obsessed with politics (just like their hosts) which is why their audiences are so small.
Back in the day, however, Hollywood was different. Oh, it was still corrupt, but the first generation were built of stronger stuff and many of them resisted the march of decadence. A common practice was simply to retire and leave Hollywood altogether, perhaps returning for a nostalgic visit.
This was also a time when “the war” was still a topic of conversation. Remember that in 1975, World War II was only 30 years ago, not far off from 9/11. Many people active in Hollywood had served, and just about any male guest of a certain age would compare notes about “service.” Carson had a brief stint in the Navy and sidekick Ed McMahon was a Marine aviator, reaching the rank of colonel. Pretty impressive for two talk show hosts.
On one episode Maureen O’Hara showed up, having left Hollywood 20 years earlier. She was brought back to do a film with John Candy, who was with her and clearly in awe of her. What did she do with her time? Well, she married an Air Force officer and famous aviator, and together they flew around the world in his flying boat, twice. She learned to fly, and basically got on with life. She was persuaded to make a comeback because the part looked great for her, but it took some effort in the pre-internet days to track her down.
The Tonight Show was full of these little stories. On any given night a legend (or two!) might stop in. Another clips I watched was Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire promoting That’s Entertainment! 2, a compilation of dance scenes from MGM’s extensive film archive. In addition to talking about the movie, they talked about dancing of course, and Astaire actually did some singing.
I think what gets me down most of all is the realization of how much better society as a whole was. The country was more unified, more prosperous, faith was stronger and entertainment was so much better. I believe we have turned the corner, but it is going to take a long time before we come anywhere close to those heights, and I sometimes despair of seeing it as it once was..
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