Posted on 07/20/2025 7:27:42 AM PDT by Morgana
Hubby and I saw Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme in Vegas years ago. The theme of their show was “We’re still here”.
They opened with a number by that name, and showed a video montage of many other stars, who were not still here, but had gone to their reward.
When the montage showed Carson, the audience all went Awwwwww!
We didn’t do that for any of the others.
Even if Johnny were a democrat, he would be nothing like the leftards of today. Ed McMahon was a Marine in WW2 and Korea, so likely pretty conservative.
Carson never touched on his personal or political beliefs.......a sign of conservatism?
“...a useful idiot...”
I think you see it. In the real world people terminated, or even laid off normally don’t get a year to complete their affairs with the company. They get two weeks. He is not there to entertain. He is there to display a number of political stances the network or their sponsors want. And his script is very much scrutinized by the people with the desire to sell their stance.
If he was that much of a problem headlining a show that loses money, even that small amount in today’s standards, they are saying he’s worth losing money for a year. Ridiculous. A 30-second ad on the Late Show could cost around $29,400 depending on the package and who it is. This average cost for a 30-second commercial TV spot depends on factors like audience size and where the ad runs. So the number above is an average, not a cost. Thus the money generated from advertising and sponsorship deals can be substantial, with network earnings for average late-night shows reaching up to $261 million annually. $40M is chump change.
wy69
Actually that would make a great headline.
“Carson replaces Colbert at the Late Show!”
Such excellent insight by Johnny. The “self-importance” he warns about fits Kimmel especially. At various points, the man really has acted as if it’s his *personal* duty to talk the nation out of supporting Trump
Beginning with Bill Clinton's appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show when he wore shades and played the saxophone.
And then Clinton's "boxers or briefs" question on MTV.
-PJ
Their Jobs dictated by their owners has become a hour and a half version of 1984’s two minutes of hate.
Before Paar was Steve Allen who was all about fun.
He was ALWAYS Left of Center.
However, he did focus on his guests, and it was a time period when we still had real movie and TV stars.
.
I’m kinda getting a little sick of these rosey-spectacled remembrances of Johnny Carson. He was more polite, but it was a fake, NPR politeness that only gave him a broader (and therefore more dangerous) audience reach. But to the Johnny Carsons and David Lettermans, every Republican was a craven, bumbling idiot and every Democrat had endearing foibles that just made them more human. Reagan wanted to push your grandmother in front of a subway car, and Clinton wanted to cheat on his diet by having a hamburger!
Reruns of Hee Haw would do good too.
Carson was pretty good , but he couldn’t help revealing himself when he had a fellow lib like Carl Reiner, Jack Lemon or Kirk Douglas.
He was losing $40M/year, or something like it, for decades.
As I have posted before...
Corporations are prohibited from donating to political campaigns (since approximately 1974).
Individuals are limited in what they can contribute to political campaigns (approx $2700/candidate/year, the last time I looked).
Corporations that run programs that lose tens of millions of dollars a year and act as de facto in-kind contributions to opposing candidates are not regulated, limited, or measured.
Shareholders should take note and consider suing the Board of Directors for deliberately allowing tens of millions of dollars to be lost per year for more than a decade, thereby putting Colbert in this position.
That would be my guess.
Sources indicate that Carson made fun of politicians like Dan Quayle, the Kennedy family, Richard Nixon, and Gary Hart, suggesting he didn’t lean heavily towards one side. While a blog entry on LSE suggests that “He has captivated the American bourgeoisie without ever offending the highbrows, and he has never said anything that wasn’t liberal or progressive”, according to Wikipedia it’s important to note this is an interpretation of his style, not a definitive statement on his personal politics.
Carson himself, according to a research paper on his political influence, avoided discussing his personal political views on The Tonight Show, to avoid alienating his audience. However, his comedy might have subtly influenced public opinion, according to research examining his jokes during the Watergate scandal.
Overall, it’s difficult to categorize Johnny Carson’s politics based on publicly available information. He appears to have prioritized humor and entertaining his audience over explicitly expressing his political beliefs.
Carson, often called “the king of late night”, was not known to have his own politics. He was known for his sharp wit and equal opportunity jokes.
What a great take off on “Who’s on First”. I am sure Reagan loved it. Try some like that when Biden was president and the media and Democrats would all be “triggered”.
I liked the time he had Jim Garrison on his show. I think Jim pissed him off.
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