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Audio Journal: I Miss Johnny Carson · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: When I was a kid, one of the biggest stars in the world was a guy named Johnny Carson.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Johnny Carson was the host of NBC's Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: So for 30 years, he ruled the airwaves on late night television.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And Johnny Carson was called the king of late night because he truly was.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: There was nobody else who ever even came close to his status and his importance and his influence when it came to late night TV.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so many comedians from Drew Carey to Jerry Seinfeld, even Roseanne Barr, you know, even though she kind of went off the rails a long time ago, I guess.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Lots and lots of comedians got their start on the Tonight Show.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when you had Johnny Carson's blessing as a comedian, you were set.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: He was really that influential.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now people today might wonder why was Johnny Carson so important?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: What is it about him that everybody loves so much?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And depending on who you ask, you might get some different answers, but I know one thing for sure.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that anybody would say when it came to why Johnny Carson was so amazing and why he was so popular was because he was an absolutely amazing interviewer.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever he sat down with a guest, Johnny never made it about himself.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And what I thought was so amazing when I watched Johnny Carson as a kid was that he could sit down with the biggest stars in the world, or he could sit down with, let's say, a Midwestern farmer, you know, somebody who set some kind of a record.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Another example would be the lady who one time came on his show and she brought this collection of potato chips that looked like celebrities.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he he would have odd people on like that all the time.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: But what was so fascinating is that Johnny could sit down with those people and he treated everybody the same.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he gave everybody their full attention and he made sure that the guest was the absolute focus.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Johnny was very self-deprecating.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: He would he would make himself look silly just to provide the entertainment.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he always made the guest the focus.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I've always really admired that quality.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And as I look around today at not just celebrities in our culture, but as I look at ourselves sometimes, I wonder, could we bring some of that back?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I miss that quality in our culture today.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I miss that quality in talk show hosts and celebrities and political figures and in the culture in general, that ability to sit down with people and really focus on them and put the emphasis on them and and talk to them with a sense of empathy and kindness and equality.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I would encourage you, and as I always say, this is a reminder to myself, whenever we're we're on Zoom calls with people, whenever we're talking to people in everyday conversation, whenever we're just conversing with people and being with people, can we have that sense of kindness, that sense of empathy?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: That sense of making them feel like the most important person in the room.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can be the most talented writer in the world or the greatest artist or the best entrepreneur or whatever.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: But if people don't feel like you care, if they don't feel like you really want the best for them, if they don't feel like you're putting your focus and attention on them, then it doesn't really make that much difference.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to put people first.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And Johnny Carson was a guy who, at least on stage, put his guests first.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, hopefully none of us have the crazy shenanigans in our personal lives that Johnny Carson had in his.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's a topic for another podcast, probably.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: But at least on stage, Johnny was absolutely the best.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I really, really miss him.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: I loved him as a kid.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, one day we'll have a talk show host just like Johnny, who was so classy and so self deprecating, and just really put the focus on guests.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my encouragement uh for you today, and I will see you in the next episode.