Watch the full documentary Johnny Carson: King of Late Night here on the American Masters web site.
Quite possibly the biggest star that television has ever produced, Carson commanded, at his peak, a nightly audience of 15 million viewers – double the current audience of Leno and Letterman – combined. Rarely giving interviews, Carson chose to remain a very private man whose public persona made him an American superstar. He once revealed, “I can get in front of an audience and be in control. I suppose it’s manipulation. Offstage, I’m aloof because I’m not very comfortable.” American Masters Johnny Carson: King of Late Night explores this dichotomy and enigma, unearthing clues about Carson’s childhood, early days in the business, and personal and professional life.
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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