On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 10:28 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Try doing what I just did. Watch the most recent Dave/Conan interview, > then watch the first Dave/Conan interview, then (and this is key) > watch the final time Dave appeared on Johnny's Tonight Show. Seeing > how the dynamic unfolds almost as a perfect circle is a fun little > journey through late night TV. > > Anybody know the date when Dave first sat with Johnny, and if it is on > YouTube? It certainly predates my VHS archives. > Best I could find was: "In 1978 he made his first appearance as a stand-up comic on* The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson" ( http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=lettermanda) *The Carson American Masters was really pretty good, and Dave's bits, though too short, were among the best. The take on Carson they seemed to have (I think this was explicitly stated by Seinfeld, but could have been part of the thesis of the program) was that Johnny's special genius was being able to both play to the broad masses *and* be the hippest guy in the room. The unstated, but I think clear implication, is that his two symbolic sons each inherited one piece of the father's twin assets: Leno plays to the broad masses, Dave is the hippest guy in the room. There may be something to that, but what that documentary also seemed to make clear is that Carson saw himself in the line that started with Paar, and he clearly saw that line extending from him to Letterman. By choosing Leno as his successor I think Carson felt NBC had not exactly sullied, but confused his legacy, associating him more with a broad, pandering type of comedy rather than trying to make more sophisticated comedy accessible to a broad audience. * * -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
