Johnny Carson hosted the tonight show for 30 years. And this was back when television was a really big deal. in that era, people didn't have the internet, there weren't 505,000 channels and video options to choose from. He basically had three channels. And if you wanted to watch something, after the evening news after 11 o'clock, you really didn't have much choice. So there were times that it appeared as if the entire nation watched Johnny Carson.
And he stayed in front of people and spoke virtually every night for 30 years. He had nearly 50 year career in show business. But 30 years is a tremendous track record. And I don't think anyone is ever going to do that again as far as being in that higher percentage of homes. Certainly there are TV stars now who make more money, who perhaps have more shows or on more hours of the Day. But as far as being in front of basically a third of the country, I don't think anyone The United States will face that.
And I doubt that I know most of you are in different countries around the world. I doubt any of you have any one performer who was that dominant, it's simply not possible in the current world where there's so many distribution options for video programming. What Carson did that was special is he revealed just the right amount of himself, his personality. His foibles, he made fun of his own divorces. But without talking too much, you didn't get sick of him. And that was never a huge fan, but I certainly did watch him.
Everyone watched him at some point. He was just such a dominant cultural force. He opened every show with a monologue where he went through the top stories. He didn't really know where he was politically, he made fun of people all across the spectrum was seen as being fair minded and a gentleman. And he kept a certain demeanor about him. He was from Nebraska.
He had this all American accent, the all American look. And he just seemed true to himself. He didn't seem like a Hollywood phony. He didn't seem like he was trying to be extra cool. He didn't seem like he was trying to be extra folksy. He just came across as authentic.
He was quick witted. He was so comfortable in his skin that he could just really listen to people and talk to them listen and react to them. That's what made him a good host. He could pull more interesting things out of his guests. He wasn't afraid to give them the spotlight. Take a look.
He's been off the air now for a long time since 1992. But a lot of his style has been persona his presentation skills still hold up. Take a look. Leave your comments