Johnny Carson Had Class, Jay Leno Can’t Compare

I found this article in todays newspaper penned by Raymond Siller, head writer for many years to Johnny Carson, to be tone perfect.

(Johnny Carson) was also charitable toward his other late-night rivals. One night, a guest made a disparaging on-air comment about Dick Cavett, then opposite Johnny on ABC. After his Burbank taping, Johnny phoned Mr. Cavett in New York, hours before the remark would air on the East Coast. He gave Dick a heads-up apology for what someone else had said. I never heard him utter publicly or privately an unkind word about his many competitors.

Today’s late-night landscape is more mean-spirited. Jay Leno did give a faint-praise shout-out to Conan O’Brien. But Jay’s story that NBC was the sole player behind all the machinations from the get-go didn’t ring true. It was reminiscent of the time he blamed his former executive producer for undermining Mr. Carson and David Letterman. Like the night when he took over “The Tonight Show” in 1992 and failed to mention the man who preceded him, Johnny Carson.

It’s unseemly to watch multimillionaires airing their mistreatment by NBC as monologue fodder, sniping at each other, especially given the coverage from Haiti. Since the on-air feuds have surfaced, the principals’ ratings have increased and spilled over to widely viewed clips on YouTube. Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves from peeking at their in-fighting. But ultimately it becomes tedious and we go back to our lives.

Once Mr. Leno Jay-walks back to 11:35, he may be able to recover his fan base, but he’s tarnished. He has suffered body blows from Jimmy Kimmel. David Letterman has savaged his longtime nemesis, too. Jay had become an irresistible target. He misplaced his blue-collar, Springsteen persona when he pulled “The Tonight Show” desk and chair out from under Conan. Jay could once again best Dave Letterman, but his reputation as the humble, regular guy has dimmed.