Carson was an evil man in his private life, but he had a positive, happy face that he put on for the camera. He was clever enough to hide his politics. Letterman dropped the mask and let people see his evil side.
A lot of comedians have seemed to have a dark or depressive side. I don’t think Leno did.
True. Carson was fun. Letterman was too until he no longer was. Comedians generally have a dark side to them. One would think not. It seems counterintuitive. The comedy compensates or balances out their dark side maybe.
I only remember Carson from my childhood; my dad had him on. He seemed to me to be proudly uncomfortable. All those tics and what not.