Really excellent. This brings back so many memories over three decades. Well done.

An outstanding job and congratulations to all involved. He is a challenging subject and it really seemed that everyone hit the mark. There was a degree of elegance in how all the topics were handled and that seems to be emblematic of Johnny Carson’s core. Though he probably would have had difficulties with seeing this himself, I would guess that overall he would think it is fair and we be proud of it. Thanks for all the hard work.

Someone reported a while back that the tape of Miss Vicky and Tiny Tim getting married was lost – I guess they somehow found it cuz it was shown last nite. One of those moments where you can remember where you were when you saw it happen – some bar on the Jersey shore. The Top Hat???

Gosh, but that man can make me laugh.

Not able to play this episode – first mesage “this video is currently not available”, then “we are experiencing technical difficulties …”

I get this message on many of these episodes – very frustrating.

The times were right for a man like Johnny. The time is right for someone now, and no one is standing up. I guess they don’t make them like that anymore. God Bless…

Is it available outside the US? Can’t see anything right now…

When will “Johnny Carson: King of Late Night” documentary be available to watch on line?… it says that currently, your site is experiencing ‘technical difficulties’… this notice has appeared ever since the documentary should have been available to on-line viewing.

Thank You.

This was a phenomenal 2 hour piece. Very well done.

If you’ve ever been a fan of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, this is a must see. Simply awesome, and long overdue. If only for 2 hours, it was great to turn back the hands of time. What a guy, and what a show!! To this day, I still miss watching Johnny late at night.

A wonderful 2 hour tribute to Mr. Carson. Has any network given thought to re-airing the entire Carson archive of broadcasts?

Johnny was the best.

Wow! Just watched “Johnny Carson: King of Late Night” on WTVI and soooooo enjoyed it! Thank you so much for producing this show. I’ve always admired Carson, he was a class act and no one can touch the gift that he had. He had his faults, failures, etc., but his realness, and his true humor touched me and the world in such an incredible way. I learned things about him that I never knew before…like his lack of feeling accepted by his mother, that made me admire him even more. Thank you for the work you put into doing this documentary. It was wonderful to spend some time with Johnny once again!

it says technical difficulties – currently not available – as of west coast US 5/16 10 pm

Wow, I wish I’d known about this ahead of time … I would have put it on my calendar so I wouldn’t miss it … dang! I sure hope they air this again, and I sure hope I find out in advance … I LOVED watching Johnny and Ed and Doc every night. Television just hasn’t been the same without them!!!

As a guy who hasn’t had a TV in almost three years, I sure wish this thing was still streaming!

Please fix. It says currently not available.

Outstanding documentary! Brought back lots of fun memories, watching Johnny, Ed, and Doc. Thank you!

I find it odd that Jay Leno wears an American Flag lapel pin.

same here – tech difficulties – We are experiencing technical difficulties that are preventing us from playing the video at this time. Please check back again soon – as of 10pm CST US 5/17/12

Outstanding! Very well-done, produced with class & elegance as a lasting legacy to this American Master. That Johnny could develop such intimate moments for the public to see from such a broad range of public figures was also demonstrated in a tribute from those interviewed for this program, as well. Bravo!

Will the Johnny carson documentary be shown again and if so when?
Thank you

Does not stream right. Can’t skip forward. Please fix!

“WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY” should be the mantra of PBS ON-LINE. :(:(:(:(:(

I have tried for days to load the Carson documentary. Numerous times.
Why do you bother to promote the documentary on your web site if it cannot be accessed?

Watched Carson growing up in the late 70’s and 80’s. Was a whole different world back then with just three stations. Fond memories of watching him with the family and all the way into my early 20’s.

Enjoyed this documentary immensely. Very well done.

What a great 2 hours of television about one its greatest and most enduring stars! Thanks for this terrific treat. I used to sneak downstairs and watch Johnny as a 10 yr kid in the early 60s. And kept on watching thru college and on to his final show in 1992.

He could be eloquent or inane at any moment….which is what kept us coming back for more. Not to mention all the great talent he brought out each night….all the biggest names in Hollywood and beyond. But also those lesser known guests were a hoot. The kids with the bird calls each year…. Joan Embery and her animals….Nothing greater than those spontaneous moments that he knocked out of the park for laughs.

How he was able to keep up the pace for 30 years under that kind of pressure..not to mention his failed marriages is hard to fathom. Perhaps the show was therapy for him…it certainly was for the millions who watched every night. The last show was 20 years ago and that’s hard to believe he’s been gone from television that long.

When I started watching this the joy Johnny brought to my life came back and it was as if I was back to the nights I spent enjoying the Tonight Show. All the funny jokes and wit of Johnny came flooding back. It was hard to watch the end of this program because it was like having to say good bye all over again and I have to admit that it made me cry. Thank you American Masters and PBS. Thank you so much Johnny Carson for enriching my life I will never forget you and I miss you so much.

Great film.

I was disappointed that no discussion was made of his move from NYC to Burbank. I thought the show’s tone and humor changed (toward the geriatric) once he was one the West Coast , but having seen his Malibu digs in this film I see why he moved!

I watch the Johnny Carson all my life and enjoyed him. What a life sad that he left the air wave in 1992. There will never be another. Once Johnny said his last good bye I have not watch any tonight show since. I have no interest. His Mother made it hard for him and it did affect his relationship with women. I will enjoy watching his old shows. Wish they were re-runs on channel 50 or Antenna T.V. channel.

I think this special just goes to show you that the greatest of entertainers (especially comedians) carry around a lot of deeply hidden emotions. You never really know these celebrities yet somehow you understand them because those feelings of awkwardness are very universal.

Laughter is truly the greatest medicine for the sadness, emptiness and loneliness.

I have heard many good things about this documentary, but have not been able to stream it here despite trying to do so for the last three days. Help!

I miss Johnny.

I got to see the 2 hour Johnny Carson episode on America Masters tonight. It is as good a program as Carson was a brilliant talk show host. I love every minute, couldn’t take my eyes off the TV. I am a terrible channel surfer but didn’t pick up the remote to check anything else out even once.

Watching the show and realizing so many things: When they talked about the intimate relationship between Carson and his viewers, that really hit the spot. One of the comments made by someone – it might have been Leno or Seinfeld or Conan – was that the viewers considered Johnny Carson a friend.

I remember how important Johnny Carson was for me when I was living those first few months in Connecticut at 19 when our family left California. I missed California very much and I pretty much knew I had to go back. Carson was my link to Los Angeles. Every night, his show was like a letter from home. He was Los Angeles. He talked about the weather, the traffic, all kinds of things and I remember on the weekend I hated that there was no Carson show.

You also can’t help but notice that on their best nights, Leno and Letterman and O’Brien and Kimmel and Fallon and the rest of them have no idea how to do the job. Carson, as one commenter said, during interviews knew how to help the guest get back on track or just let them soar when things were going well. Leno has no idea how to do that. It’s not something that could be taught, because then everyone could do it.

I think I hear a little of Carson in the way I interview people on my show. I want the guest to be the source of information and the focus of attention. That was very important to Johnny Carson, and I’d be really surprised if, even unconsciously, I got a little of that from him.

I remember when Johnny died I was very sad and this show brought some of that sense of loss back. Once again, you can only feel that way if someone on TV makes you feel like they’re a friend – that intimacy between Johnny and the viewers. What an amazing, magical thing that is.

Obviously – highly recommended. You can watch the whole show online, right here at this link. But fair warning: Don’t start if you don’t have time because you will not want to stop it.

In two days it’ll be 20 years on the nose since his last Tonight Show aired. I remember welling up with tears that night — and again, upon learning that he had passed — and now again, upon watching this. This was more beautifully done than I could have ever hoped.

Someone said in the piece that when he left, that was the end, that no one is doing a show like that anymore. Maybe this is technically true — but it informed what so many people did after that, and as Jay Leno himself alludes to, you can see how strong the influence was, and how it lasts to this day in the work of others who carry the torch.

Outstanding documentary about a great and funny man.

I so loved this two hour special. Johnny Carson was such a huge part of our lives growing up and I miss that dearly!! He could make my Dad laugh so hard and I think that was the best part of watching the show at night! And was was even more special was all the people that use to say that my Dad looked so much like Johnny Carson! Thanks for this documentary!

I started watching Carson in about 8th grade, and watched until he retired. It seems he set the bar too high because nobody comes close to his ability to make you laugh, and to make you feel like he was sitting in your living room with you.

IT IS TOO BAD THE STREAMING IS NOT WORKING. I am looking forward to watching this.

Will it ever be televised again? I only caught the last half hour?

I can’t remember enjoying a documentary more than ‘Johnny Carson: King of Late Night’. Thank you for such an outstanding offering.

Johnny was the best ever and will always be remembered, he set the standards for all TV talk shows and he will be missed by all.

Does anybody read these comments. I have been having the same problem, others have mentioned.
i have tried more than once to watch this and get a message that it’s not available. Could you please, at least, offer an explanation and let us know when it will be available?

This program was on the schedule in the local newspaper for TONIGHT (and it was the featured program on this weeks cover of the tv guide for the Pittsburgh area. Where is the show? I am getting so discouraged trying to find shows. More than half the time, all we are told is that stuff will be chosen by viewers or is special but unnamed programming. Why isn’t more effort spent on telling us what is available and WHEN THE BLEEP it will be aired. I don;t want to watch these shows from my desk chair on the tiny screen of my laptop. I want to watch from the couch on my big screen. Is that asking too much as a member that we are told what is on and when?

Your “technical difficulties preventing the showing of this video at this time” have persisted for the last two weeks. Why not just take it off the site. Why tease us by saying we can watch the full episode. The “Clips” in the sidebar do play by the way so it’s not a technical difficulty on our end.

Fantastic documentary, as always with PBS. The playback with flash is quite frustrating. The video stopped at the 1 hour mark, and no matter which device I try, or which browser, I cannot get the video to do anything but play again from the beginning. Guess I’ll have to watch the first hour again.

‎”Johnny Carson King of Late Night” is one of the very best documentaries about celebrity/host in the age of television that I have ever seen. Historical, respectful and informative…celebrity documentary in its highest form! Not to be missed and so truthful. 23 years around professional media and I can vouch for how well it captures not just Johnny Carson – the man but how well it captures the psyche of TV! Every type of media seemingly oozes it’s way into our lives over time (i.e.radio, internet & FB), but this documentary reminds us of just how much it invades our hearts & minds and could once become a singularly unifying part of all our lives.

The video keeps dying. Checking my networking and your server spits out so many bytes and then drops the stream. Very frustrating. What give?

Wow, what a great documentary on a American Icon.

Johnny worked hard to get to the top, he was smart to take a lot of off days and vacations. We were simply blessed by his presence.

I think it’s ironic that now we finally might now, for once, know who Johnny Carson really was. Johnny was a nice, decent man who enjoyed most of the trappings of fame while at the same time trying to keep his personal life personal. He was deeply hurt by his mother’s rejection, so much so that he never could never shake her looming shadow over his life. He had four marriages, they all failed. He had very few close friends, if any. In the end, even after his retirement, he did what he had always done: perform magic tricks and write monologues.

I miss Johnny, we all do. It’s so strange to see his vast library 400 feet underground, thousands of hours of classic television. Just sitting there in the dark.

Simply….. Thank You.

Johnny Carson was an absolute legend, no argument. It still bothers me though that after all these years Joan Rivers is still painted as “ungrateful” for leaving for her Fox show. She was loyal to him for over 20 years and thanked him publicly all the time for giving her the big break. Let’s face it, they made her permanent guest host because she got the highest ratings of any other guest host. NBC & the Tonight Show certainly made more $$ with her. They never seem to include in the story how her contract was up…Johnny renewed for 2 years and NBC offered Joan only 1 year. NBC never ever would have let her succeed Johnny as host of the Tonight Show. Her issue was always with NBC, not Johnny. It’s so easy to say that Johnny would have been so magnanimous if she had come and asked him prior…I guess we’ll never know. Of course he was absolutely blindsided and upset but the fact that he never reached out to her after her husband – who he knew and was friends with before Joan married him – committed suicide, that’s just kinda inhuman to me.

Try this. For the record, it wasn’t hard to find.
http://video.pbs.org/video/2230341415

Please run this again, but please don’t chop it all up by running it next on a begathon. Unfortunately the begathons while evidently needed since politics got involved in the arts, they destroy programs such as this with the endless 15 to 30 minute breaks.

I would like to know when the Johnny Carson show will be repeated on tv.

As a filmmaker, I thought “great access, well done”! As an editor, I thought “what moron didn’t check the title safe”! The lower thirds on the left side of the screen were cut off! And as a producer, I couldn’t believe you got so much funding from PBS and neither caught the title safe error before the program aired.

Fortsy, I tried your link but it did not work either. I do not understand why the really good shows such as this one get played only once and then shows which are not that good keep getting repeated over and over and over again. It would be nice if PBS would at least repeat these great shows once or twice a week for a week or two so that us viewers have a better chance of watching it. I found out about this show one hour into the show….so I know the ending…but not the beginning…

Wondering why I’m unable to see this… I’ve tried on two different days and you have a “technical difficulties” notice on the screen. Are you not going to make this available?

Would LOVE to have seen Kenneth Tynan and Edie Sedgwick when they appeared on Johnny Carson. What a time capsule his show is. Very grateful I’m able to catch this. Thank you American Masters for all your outstanding programs.

Anyone know what the title of the music is at the 1hr 35min mark of the documentary? (Jazz trumpet during the Arsenio Hall part). It sounds familiar but I can’t put my finger on it.

I would like to know when Johnny Carson: King of Late Night show will be repeated on tv.

I sent a “reply” on May 16 saying the American Master’s Johnny Carson video gave me a “technical difficulties” message. Since then I have tried almost every day to watch the show and still receive the same message. And note that others have also “replied” since and before then with the same problem. The message says “Please check back again soon.” I would like the PBS video technical difficulties people to know I have been following their instructions as precisely as I am able to do. And ask if they have any other suggestions?

This was a great show. i agree with the letter writer about Joan Rivers. No one is perfect but it seems Carson could hold a grudge. One could say Carson made her as he made plenty of comedians. I think eventually people like Seinfeld, Drew Carey would have eventually made it. Being crowned by Carson just made that leap faster.

What is really a shame is that so many of of his New York shows were destroyed. I was bit too young to watch when he took over the tonight show. If there was a Johnny Carson network, I would watch them all again.

After repeated failed attempts to watch this over the past week because of broken links, I am giving up. Boo PBS.

Still waiting for the video to play or for the program to be repeated

what do we need to do to be able to play this video??? Please address this issue so we, the viewers know what is going on OR that something indeed is going on to solve the technical issues.

Thanks for your attention to this issue.

are we just supposed to keep trying to “Watch the Full Documentary”? are we just supposed to keep pushing play until it works????????????????

someone, please respond.

Apologies that many of you are having difficulty watching the full episode. We are currently looking into the situation and hope to fix the video as soon as possible. We will continue to update you regarding video status. Thanks for your patience and sorry again for the technical difficulties.

Hi Kathleen,
You can check local listings to find out when Johnny Carson will re-air on your local public television station.

Missed this and it doesn’t appear to be airing anytime again soon. Is this online video going to be fixed? If not, could you please take down all the text that says “Watch Full Documentary”? It’s a big letdown when the video just gives an error.

Watching Johnny’s documentary brought back so many great memories and tears from his last show. I remember watching it and bawled the rest of the evening. I did not know that story about Joan Rivers and what she did to Johnny. I now have even more disrespect for her. Shame on her. What comes around goes around. I felt such heartfelt compassion for Johnny with how his own mother treated him. I learned a lot. To the people who put this together, pat yourselves on the back and give each other high fives! Terrific job. Great work. I could tell each person who contributed their sweat and tears were the perfect people for this awesome documentary. I’d love to see one on Bruce Springsteen! If there already is one, I’ll definitely be buying the DVD!!! Well done.

It works all of a sudden – hurray!

Thanks for posting this online. Not only was Johnny incredibly funny (with perfect timing) but I always believed he was genuinely interested in every conversation. Thanks for telling the whole story, the good, the bad and the surprisingly beautiful. He was a generous man.

I see that the PBS representative wrote on May 31 “We will continue to update you regarding video status.” May we please have an update? Thank you.

Was very happy to watch the stream of this show this afternoon. Best two hours I have spent in weeks if not months. To see the emotion in the eyes of Drew Carey and Ray Romano in parts of that show gets to the depth of how much these entertainers both loved Johnny and understood that his blessing was what put the stamp of approval on their talent that got them gig after gig after gig.

still unable to stream the program. has anybody been able to understand the problem? need update…

I remember being impressed that Carson could become more entertaining when the jokes weren’t working. Conan O’Brien occasionally shows that ability to build great laughs out of failing material, but it was more than that with Johnny. Comedy audiences are notorious for turning on performers the second the material isn’t working. But the audience was with Carson in a way I have never seen audiences ally with any other performer.

Carson was of an accomplished generation born to a way of life that disappeared in their lifetimes. Notable personal flaws notwithstanding, he was a model for so many men of his generation, and not just those in show business. Having rose from humble rural beginnings and grown up during the Depression and World War II, he became a suave, urbane icon of the jet age—sophisticated in every way that mattered. Yet, he never for one second turned his back on his origins, never pretended to be anything other than what he was, never gave an air of ever feeling like he was better than anyone else. His generation would have been well within their rights to become insufferably self-congratulating and smug. Carson was among those who provided a model of grace and class from which the world as a whole may have benefited in ways we will never know.

When will PBS air this again? I have a friend who would love to see it.

I loved him, nobody like him, before or after his show ended, never will be anyone with his appeal and wit.
If a station would re-run his old shows, I think I would watch them over again every night. I was going through a horrible time in my life, and I could only forget my problems for an hour, when I watched him in bed at night.

SERIOUSLY PBS when are you going to FIX the TECHNICAL ISSUES so this doco can be VIEWED online?

As a journalist and author, I want to say that the documentary on Carson was one of the best, most professionally done programs I’ve seen on televisions. Major kudos.

I just watched this on the website. Excellent program. It gives more insight into the personality of Johnny Carson than I’ve ever seen, but the man remains a mystery in many ways.

I think the most poignant moment in the film is when it is revealed that Johnny’s mother, from whom he always sought approval and never got it, kept a secret stash of newspaper clippings and memorabilia about Johnny’s career, from the very early days. So it seems she was proud of her son after all – though she was determined not to express it to him in her lifetime. So sad.

What a great program. I recently lost my grandmother, so I had been thinking quite a bit about the past and growing up. I remember one constant at my grandparents house was Johnny Carson. I remember creeping down the hallway when I was to be in bed and listening to my grandparents laughing about jokes that I didn’t yet understand. Years later my grandfather told me they both knew I was there all along.

Again, very well done and thank you for helping take a walk back in time.

Hi – have been trying to watch this online since inital TV screening but continously receive “not available due to technical difficulties” message. Is the program available online?
Thx

yes, i just watched full in the video box above.

Wonderful tribute!!!

There was an interesting story about Fred De Cordova recently in Vanity Fair. (I hope I recall it correctly.) During the clip shown on your show, when Johnny spoke about his son’s death, in which he was laying his heart bare to viewers, Freddie was giving him the signal to wrap it up. After that, he was never allowed back on the set during taping. Their friendship was over. Johnny ‘made’ many people, and only expected undivided loyality in return. (Pay attention, Joan Rivers and others) After Fred passed away, the De Cordovas had spent all their money and so Johnny sent his widow a note explaining why he could not attend Fred’s funeral and included a check for $100,000.

Johnny got to interview some of the greatest in show business, and was always respectful to those who deserved it. Those people could do it all (I think of the likes of Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Lucile Ball, etc.) Johnny learned his craft by imitating these people. This sort of talent is gone forever.

As an awkward teenager, I loved his show in the 70s. My family was kind of dysfunctional and I’ve always said that I learned the art of conversation from watching Johnny Carson talk with his guests. What wonderful memories this brought back. And not only that, it taught me a lot of things about him when I thought I already knew a lot about him. The relationship with his mother is heartbreaking.

I enjoyed this so much–really well done, thank you!

O…M…G !!! This is possibly THEE WORST PBS documentary and possibly show in general that I have ever seen! The clips of Johnny and and him with guests are the only thing this travesty offers. The rest sounds like the beginning of a Charlie Brown special stretched out for 2 hours. There is absolutely nothing to tie the elements of the show together except the bare-bones narration. Those silent shots of random celebrities, with only a title to identify them, talking and gesturing with no mention of how they fit into the history of Johnny’s life… I thought that one of the audio channels of my antenna or VCR was not working or one of my audio channel cords had come loose. I kept waiting for the show to get started, but it never did. It just dragged on and on and on with nothing approaching character… It’s as though they had given the job to a film student in high school thinking it would be down home and earthy. But what they got was something which should rightly have been just buried in a hole in the ground.

I just found out about this documentary while searching through the news about a possible movie about Johnny. What a surprise and a tremendous gift. I watched it at my first opportunity and was surprised that I actually learned a few new things about him and the show.

I’ve always had trouble going to sleep at night and Johnny was my nightlight since I had a TV in my bedroom (about 20 years). The summer of 1992 we all lost Johnny and shortly after I lost my mother at a relatively young age. I certainly don’t want to diminish the memory of my mother, but loosing Johnny and her at nearly the same time was so difficult to deal with every night. He was not there to add normalcy to my nighttime routine.

The show did skim or skip over a few details, events and people, but all in all, very enjoyable. I think some titles/dates for some of the celebrities would be useful for younger viewers not familiar with those from the 60’s and 70’s.

It’s too bad our kids will never have someone like Johnny to entertain them night after night.

Thank you PBS for this absolutely fantastic film on the life & career of Johnny Carson. I think it was so well said that “Johnny was the electronic version of Mark Twain or Will Rodgers” and Conan’s comment on how he & his father could both watch and laugh together. My youngest used to cuddle with me in the evenings when she was a toddler and watch Johnny’s show. She would tell me she loved “Johnny Carseat”. He will always play in our memories…such class, humor and grace in this all so human American. We miss him dearly. Thanks for letting him touch our lifes again.

I read that over 40 people were interviewed for this, and only a fraction of that footage is in the documentary.

Any chance the rest of those interviews will be made available to watch?

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