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Published Tuesday, January 25, 2005 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

JOHNNY TRUMPS TRUMP: Well, almost. At least until the Oscar nominations come out later this morning, most of the media's attention looked back on the career of Johnny Carson, who died Sunday at 79. Jay Leno devoted almost the entire show to Carson (as well he should) and benefited even more from the fact that Letterman already was on a scheduled vacation. Larry King had Ed and Doc on the CNN "interview" program, proving once again to anyone who tunes in that Larry King must be stopped. TV crews caught up with stand-up comedians -- many of whom owe their big breaks to Carson. That was good. What wasn't good? Interviewing Keanu Reeves and others at the Sundance Film Festival for their reactions, as if their opinions mattered. Most reports talked of how Carson could never be duplicated. That's true not just because of the man's talents as an entertainer, but also because of how much the medium has changed since his 30-year Tonight Show reign from 1962 to 1992.

Of note in the NYT, the nutgraf signifying just what Carson meant to TV:

Mr. Carson was often called "the king of late night," and he wielded an almost regal power. Beyond his enormous impact on popular culture, Mr. Carson more than any other individual shifted the nexus of power in television from New York to Los Angeles, with his decision in 1972 to move his show from its base in Rockefeller Center in New York to NBC's West Coast studios in Burbank, Calif. That same move was critical in the changeover of much of television from live to taped performances.