TONIGHT – AT 9:03 A.M. ET:   Last week I write a piece for Power Line about the 20th anniversary of Johnny Carson's last Tonight Show.  That anniversary is tonight.  Many of you were kind enough to read the Power Line post and write in, for which I thank you.

As some of you know, I was on the Tonight Show staff.  Of the show's principals, only Doc Severinsen remains with us.  Johnny is gone, so is Ed McMahon, so is Fred DeCordova, the producer, and Bobby Quinn, the director.  And so is Tommy Newsom, the poker-faced trombonist and arranger, who often subbed for Doc.

I've not really been surprised at the number of articles written about the 20th anniversary.  Johnny is well-remembered and his performances are genuinely missed.  He defined "professionalism."  His personal life was less successful, although we found out after his death about the vastness of his charitable giving, all done quietly. 

You can tell a great deal about a country by its popular culture, by what's valued and what's not.  As I look around today, I see a popular culture wallowing in immaturity.  Say what you wish about the "golden age" of film, of radio, of television, of recording, but one always had the sense that the adults, flawed as they may have been, were in charge.

Think of this:  Some 73 years ago, "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz" were in movie theaters.  Jack Benny ruled Sunday night on radio.  "Pal Joey" would soon open on Broadway.  And teenagers were dancing to the music of George Gershwin.  Yes, that George Gershwin.

Johnny Carson embodied that tradition of entertainment, and created an important part of it.

We have work to do. 

May 22, 2012