Tag Archives: The Tonight show

Johnny Carson, The King of Comedy (Volume Six, Episode Five) Part One

The dark reality behind the persona of one of America’s most beloved public figures.

Johnny Carson, in the Navy.

Carson enlisted in the Navy fully intent on participating in action against either Japan or Germany.  Instead he wound up in officers training school, first in New York and then at tiny Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.  Finally in mid 1945, he shipped out on the battleship, the USS Pennsylvania, headed for the Pacific theater.  Despite atomic bombs being dropped in early August and the Japanese surrender, sporadic attacks continued, on August 12, the Pennsylvania was damaged by a torpedo.  The ship managed to make it to Okinawa, but twenty sailors were killed, the closest Carson got to mortality during the conflict.  After a short time in port, the Pennsylvania then turned around and headed to Seattle. There, Carson, an officer, was placed in charge of a troop train that not only carried veterans back to their homes in various stops across North America, but also carried the bodies of dead combatants, an odorously grim reminder that was unavoidable within the train compartments.

Carson, with his idol, Jack Benny

Writing his senior thesis on the topic of, “How to Write Comedy Jokes,” Carson listened to his own recorded tapes of the pre-eminent radio comedians of the day, Fred Allen, Milton Berle, Jack Benny and Bob Hope, endlessly studying their style intent on finding the formula that he could use for his own similar success.

Carson, hosting, “Who Do You Trust?”

“Who Do You Trust,” was both a different type of game show and a different form of television entertainment.  Groucho Marx appeared on the first breakout example of this format in, “You Bet Your Life,” a program spiced up by various hilarious Marx ad-libs.  “Who Do You Trust,” a kind of precursor to the Newlywed Game, featured couples interviewed about their lives and interests.  Johnny Carson ad-libbed hilariously and even re-enacted some of the hobbies and interests like scuba diving and race car driving in ways that were inventive.  Johnny dutifully got into an enclosed water tank on set and even crashed a small car into a stage wall during this portion of the show.  Never mind that the program was almost entirely pre-scripted, the ad-libs were contributed by writers and contestants were warned not to ad-lib themselves

Carson with his three sons, 1955

The network provided at least a foundation for success, allowing the hire of announcer Condon and Carson’s producer buddy Bill Brennan.  But once again the challenges of network television and sponsors stifled Carson’s various talents and attempted to fit him into the current variety show persona.  Although a great deal of publicity was generated, including an appearance on the cover of TV Guide, much of the focus was on Carson’s family life, with an emphasis on his wife and children.  This was ironic, because much of Carson’s free time was spent keeping late hours with broadcast cronies at various industry watering holes, his wife stuck in their home in the San Fernando Valley, raising a very demanding trio of young boys.  

Caron, publicity photo, 1957

Characteristically, Carson’s personal dysfunction did not affect either his onscreen performance or his ambition.  His management team was able to get him two weeks as a vacation replacement for Jack Paar, the current reigning host of NBC’s vaunted Tonight Show and Johnny’s marital difficulties were kept quiet, instead he cultivated a media image of a thoughtful, humble regular guy.  He made numerous guest appearances on such popular programs as I’ve got a Secret and the Perry Como Show, becoming what’s known in the industry as a “Personality.”  “Who do You Trust,” had served its purpose, Carson in a holding pattern, waiting to land bigger and better things.

Carson with Ed McMahon, shortly after their Tonight Show stint began.

This attitude also prevailed when Johnny dealt with the writers of his game show, essentially closeting himself away from them and communicating through the producer.  But one individual did manage to crack this seemingly impenetrable veneer.  When his initial announcer for the program got a job hosting another game show, this individual suggested Philadelphia television announcer and ex-Marine named Ed McMahon as his replacement.  Carson and McMahon had an immediate chemistry, Johnny literally setting the emcee’s script on fire on McMahon’s very first, “Who Do You Trust?” McMahon became more than a straight man, the butt of jokes but clearly an individual that Johnny cared deeply about. For once, this was not some manufactured TV construct.  McMahon assumed a critical role in Johnny’s life during this time period, that of his drinking buddy, usually immediately after, “Who do You Trust,” concluded.

Carson, early years of the Tonight Show.

But Paar’s fundamental angst remained and within two years, it was announced that he would leave the Tonight Show, on March 30, 1962.  He was considered such an irreplaceable fixture at the time that several major stars including Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, Bob Newhart, and Joey Bishop all declined an offer to replace him as the Tonight show host.  Carson himself also initially declined, believing he wasn’t ready for such a high profile, practically daily situation.  Because of the reluctance of the other potential candidates, and because the network and Carson’s manager Al Bruno were becoming more insistent once Paar had an official exit date, Johnny finally agreed.  NBC was very enthusiastic, most likely because they did not realize that, “Who Do You Trust,” was the most scripted game show on television, and they allowed Carson to fulfill the final six months of his ABC contract.  The network used various guest hosts to run out the clock until October 1, 1962, including Art Linkletter, Jerry Lewis and Merv Griffin, the latter host so good that he got his own NBC daytime show out of it.

Johnny Carson, The King Of Comedy (Volume Six, Episode Five) Part Two

The dark reality behind the persona of one of America’s most beloved public figures.

Johnny’s second wife, Joanne, 1960

On August 17, 1963, Carson, possibly feeling more secure professionally with more than a year under his belt at the new show, married his longtime girlfriend, Joanne Carson.  This despite years of fighting publicly, acrimonious vacations in which one of them left and went home early and numerous friends and acquaintances advising them not to tie the knot.  Even the ceremony and reception were odd.  Only a tiny number of participants witnessed the actual marriage, the couple’s parents not even invited.  The reception included only a few more individuals and was held at Johnny’s apartment, the guests mostly Tonight Show related staff like bandleader Skitch Henderson and producer Art Stark. 

Johnny’s third wife, Joanna

Joanna Carson was a former fashion model who had spent much of her life in the rarified company of extremely wealthy, sophisticated, older men.  Her companion before Johnny was the CEO and chairman of the Hertz Rent a Car corporation.  Johnny, still essentially a scotch drinking steak and potatoes Midwesterner, began to acquire a more diverse outlook courtesy of his latest wife.  Completely uninterested up to that point in travel, he began his annual pilgrimage to the Wimbledon tennis championships, featured prominently on the NBC broadcast back to the US.  He typically followed that up with several weeks on the Cap D’Antibes along the French Riviera, enjoying the fact that he went mostly unrecognized.  Instead of hard liquor he began to temper his alcohol intake with a fine Bordeaux or Montrachet.  But one constant, despite a well appointed Bel Air residence on St. Cloud Road, the Carsons never threw parties and were rarely seen socially, their house again a secluded refuge to escape from public exposure.

Johnny and frequent guest, Angie Dickinson

It was hard to feel sorry for Carson, whose womanizing was so blatant that when Joanna convened a meeting in her home of the women’s Beverly Hills charity that she participated in, Johnny would single out at least one of the participants and strongly come on to them.  Upon signing the divorce papers, Johnny turned to his now ex-wife and said, “What I’ll miss most is not being able to talk to you.”  Carson certainly made good on his word, never speaking with Joanna Carson again.

Henry Bushkin, 2014, discussing his memoir about his relationship with Carson

By then, the Bombastic Bushkin had also been reduced to non-person status.  In his tell all memoir, written in 2014, Henry Bushkin claimed that this was all due to a specific misunderstanding over the possible sale of Carson Productions without the involvement of Johnny Carson in the specific details.  Johnny was told by another business advisor that Bushkin was attempting to enrich himself at Johnny’s expense and in a very brief, intense exchange lasting only a few minutes Carson fired his advisor of eighteen years and negotiated his severance package.  This insured that the two men did not have to interact again, and they did not, with not so much as a phone call for the rest of Johnny’s life.  This, the man that Johnny Carson once described as his best friend. 

Joan Rivers got her big break on the Tonight Show, but ultimately was exiled.

Joan Rivers also was exiled when, in 1987, she accepted an offer from Fox Television to host a late night talk show that would compete with Johnny.  Rivers was already frustrated by NBC’s refusal to both offer her a contract as Johnny’s replacement host, and especially that she was not on an NBC list of stars to even be considered when and if Johnny retired.  Although other hosts and comedians attempted to compete with Johnny and still remained in Carson’s good graces, most notably Joey Bishop, Joan Rivers made the unforgivable sin of negotiating with Fox, putting together her show and never even telling Johnny about it in advance.  Her eleventh hour attempt to reach out to him on the eve of the program was rejected, assistants told that he would not take her call at any time in the future. 

NBC President Fred Silverman, 1979

If Silverman thought confronting Johnny publicly and even implying that his show was somehow deficient were effective negotiating tools, he was sorely mistaken.  Having never formally even met Carson as network president, Silverman did so on March 17, 1979.  Carson not only refused to work additional hours, he also told Silverman that he wanted off the show as soon as possible.  Although Silverman did remind him at this meeting that he had a contract through 1981, Carson publicly announced that he would be leaving the show on September 30, 1979, the seventeenth anniversary of the program.  Whether this was his actual intent, a negotiating ploy or merely a gesture designed to put an arrogant egotistical network executive in his place, the negotiations dragged on into May of 1980.  When they concluded, Johnny Carson had extracted the most favorable contract in the history of network television.  

Johnny and fourth wife, Alexis Maas

Following his retirement, Johnny Carson became even more reclusive, spending most of his time behind the gates of his massive Malibu mansion that overlooked Point Dume.  He spent a great deal of time on his private tennis court, especially built for him by NBC, one of the few of its kind in the vicinity.  His only companion, his fourth wife, who he married in 1987, Alexis Maas, a stunning blue eyed blonde he met while she was walking by his other Malibu beach house, which he eventually sold to John McEnroe. 

Johnny Carson, The King of Comedy (Volume Six, Episode Five) Book and Music Information

The books used to prepare this program included:

“King of the Night,” by Laurence Leamer

“Johnny Carson,” by Henry Bushkin

The music used during this podcast included:

Part One Intro: “Apolllo,” by Patrick Patrikios

Part One Outro: “Smokey’s Lounge,” by Track Tribe

Part Two Intro: “Namaster Trip,” by Ofshane

Part Two Outro: “A Kiss for Amanda,” by DJ Williams