Who did you like better: Johnny Carson or Jay Leno?

[Bertha Venation]

Poll question: Who did you like better: Johnny Carson or Jay Leno?

I had to draw the line somewhere.

After voting, tell us: What's your age, and who did you like better?

[Bertha Venation]

1. I'm 46 (turned 18 after 1980) and Jay Leno can't hold a candle to Johnny.

[SoCalDem]

2. Leno? NEVER

I have only watched that show since he took over..maybe 5 times..and cringed every time..

Dave's my guy:)

[MrCoffee]

3. I turned 18 in 1994, and Leno sucks.

[AlCzervik]

4. Leno is not funny.

and has never been.

[Common Sense Party]

5. Jay occasionally gets lucky and actually delivers a funny joke

But only if it's so amazingly well-written that even he can't screw it up.

He is so bad at interviewing, it's painful to watch.

I really, really miss Johnny. Even as a kid I knew he was talented.

[bigwillq]

6. Carson

turned 18 after 1980.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

7. Johnny Carson was the King

of late night. No one will ever replace him. I still miss him.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. Carson is the late night "legend", though I can't really call myself a fan

because I never really watched his show that often. Certainly respect what he did, and the name "Tonight Show" will probably be associated with Johnny in the minds of far more people than Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Jay Leno, or anyone else.

But as far as Johnny's sucessor goes, I thought Letterman got shafted in that deal. Though CBS definitely got the last laugh. Dave over Leno anytime.

[tigereye]

9. they were both good in their time - I think Carson was classier, though

I prefer Letterman and Conan, though, if the truth be told.



We watched Leno at first when he had Branford Marsalis in this band, and when he left, so did we.

[Goblinmonger]

10. I turned 18 in 1984

and I stopped watching the Tonight Show when Jay came on. He sucks.

[mitchum]

11. Johnny Carson dead is still better than Leno alive...

however, I wouldn't mine comparing them in identical states.
I hope that I don't have to wait long.

[no name no slogan]

12. I'm 39. And Leno has never been funny to me.

And he'd be sunk without Monica Lewinsky jokes.

[barb162]

26. I hardly ever watch Leno after having been a Carson fan for years.

[KitchenWitch]

13. Carson...no question.

Turned 18 after 1980.

[Lady Effingbroke]

14. Johnny.

Leno at his best can't hold a candle to Carson at his worst.

I'm 39, and I grew up watching Johnny, Ed, and Doc.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

15. I watched Leno in college, but mainly as a time killer until Conan came on.

Occasionally he'd give a funny joke or two, and I like his "Headlines" skit, but mainly he's just "meh".

I never watched Carson so I can't say how they compare.

[Ptah]

16. Jay Leno could never pull this off ----->

Johnny Carson and Jack Webb

:hi:

[pokerfan]

17. Carson was the best

As evidence, the Ed Ames tomahawk incident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD0DV2vPNEQ

[Left Is Write]

18. I turned 18 in 1984, and I have not watched an episode of the Tonight Show since 1992.

[sarge43]

19. Carson was the late night king. Leno is a smarmy jerk.

Dirt and God think I'm old.

[Pool Hall Ace]

20. Johnny Carson - I turned 18 in 1980.

I'm 47 years old, and I remember if I couldn't sleep, Mom would let me watch Johnny Carson with her. I loved Art Fern and his Matinee Lady, especially when it was Carol Wayne. I also loved Carnac the Magnificent.

The only Carson character I wasn't wild about was Floyd R. Turbo.

Leno is just bland to me.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

42. Carol Wayne - the smartest "dumb blonde" ever.

I adored her. And not just because she had the most bodacious body of any woman that ever lived. She was so sweet and incredibly, acutely, funny. Carol once described Miami Beach as "God's little waiting room" and made the hard-assed Don Rickles almost laugh himself into a coronary, not to mention Carson's complete dissolve. That was one of the longest laughs that didn't involve Ed Ames and his tomahawk.

Carol Wayne, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and Nancy Sinatra were, ahem, formative experiences in my growing up. And yes, Carnac was hysterical, as were Aunt Blabby and Floyd R. Turbo, American - the original Freeper.

[Pool Hall Ace]

49. Of course! Floyd R. Turbo was the original freeper

No wonder I didn't care for him. :-)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. Is this thread a joke?

Carson really started losing his touch in his last few years.

So he picked a guy to fill in for him that was so unfunny people would look forward to Carson getting back.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

31. ~

[Bryan]

22. Carson; I turned 18 after 1980

Carson's not really my bag, exactly; I'm much more a Dave and Conan "We know the talk show as a format is inherently bizarre and stilted, so let's have some fun with it" sort of guy, but Carson was so much more talented than Leno, it's surreal. Better interviewer, better comic, better at recovering when something went wrong, more interesting guy-Leno is like a joke-delivering robot.

[av8rdave]

23. There will never be another Johnny Carson

A host who could keep the focus on the guest, rescue a guest that was bombing, throw his audience into fits of laughter with just an expression, and keep America's attention late into the night for decades.

Leno has his moments, but he's a lightweight by comparison.

[barb162]

25. Without a doubt.

He was the absolute best. He was great on his feet and was never without a funny response...even if it was just a look to the audience. He had a close or even intimate relationship with the audience.

[CatholicEdHead]

24. Other, Conan

need to get in pre-emptive. ;)

[bluesbassman]

27. Carson defined latenight.

He didn't invent it, but he definitely honed it to a razor edge.:thumbsup:

[whistler162]

28. GEEZ..... Steve Allen of course

The first is always the best!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

29. What? No Love for Jack Parr?

The neglected middle child...

[edbermac]

30. Carson and Letterman way better than Leno.

It's not that Leno isn't funny, it's just that he's not FUNNY.

[Danger Mouse]

32. Leno's a shit-eating hack.

[csziggy]

33. Jack Paar

RFK discussing Hopes and Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC8pj1L1ilw

[Iggo]

34. Carson.

I'm 47.

[MilesColtrane]

35. Leno's not worthy to polish the soles of Carson's golf shoes with his tongue.

He's got nothing.

[Lil Missy]

36. Carson, hands down. I boycotted the Tonight Show when they passed over Letterman.

[Robeson]

37. Christ, why is this even close.

[pokerfan]

38. Leno only has 4%

I guess I could wonder how Leno got even three votes...

[Robeson]

39. Exactly. Are those people insane!

[stklurker]

40. Carson

This isn't even close... Leno isnt even in Carson's league. Besides being able to make even lame material funny, Johnny could make someone's career and they knew it, even the veteran actors respected him... Jay is well.. there. I am 42.

[omega minimo]

41. Jay Leno is an idiot and he's mean and NOT FUNNY

plus he's an idiot

The last time he was funny was 1980

[Amerigo Vespucci]

43. My earliest "Tonight Show" memory...

...I could see the TV in my parents' living room from my room. Long after I was "supposed to be asleep" I'd be transfixed to the screen, watching Steve Allen.

I vividly remember one show in which Allen had a "bee expert." The guy brought on a plastic bee replica that was a foot tall. I clearly remember watching the giant plastic bee, the bee expert, and Allen.

Leno was always a "company man," a "career comedian"....

...but the "Tonight Show" name should have been retired with Johnny.

:toast:

[enigmatic]

44. Carson, and it's not close

Though I have to put in a word about my boy Dick Cavett and his ABC late-night show, too:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

45. I loved watching Carson in jr. high when he was doing his last few years of show

I got made fun a lot by friends - 'he's old', 'why aren't you watching Arsenio?", etc

I liked Leno as a guest host, but Dave was my hero and I was pissed when he got screwed over by Jay and his manger, Helen Kushnick (who Leno later fired in order to maintain his 'nice guy' image, after reaping the benefits of the attacks she made on Dave and Johnny)
Loved Conan in the 90s, but he lost Andy and then got stuck in uninspired, boring Lewinsky jokes for about a year too long and I tuned out

Hated Kilborne.


Watch dave and Ferguson every night now. I'll be taping Conan, now that Andy's coming back.
And I can't wait to see that unfunny, smug shit Jimmy Fallon get canceled.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

46. Johnny was one of us, too

Here's some of his last interview, from Esquire, where he rips FAUX News:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x100617

and a thread about a Franken interview with one of Johnny's friends, revealing just how much he was on our side:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1525292

[ashling]

47. Leno has got to be the lamest ....

well, second to Conan O'Brien

[SeattleGirl]

48. Carson, hands down.

Leno is a bad clown compared to Johnny.

[Drunken Girlfriend]

50. Johnny Carson VS Jay Leno

Jay Leno is good,but Johnny Carson was such a unique personality.

Johnny Carson had a real ability to make his guests feel at
ease,and it was amazing what people would tell him.

Mind you,lot's of ppl were stoners back then,so maybe
they were a little more open to conversation.lol

Gotta say though,I much prefer Jay Leno over David Letterman.

David Letterman gets on my last nerve.