The hidden facet of Johnny Carson

As host of “The Tonight Present” for 30 years, Johnny Carson was the king of late-night TV – the pre-eminent Hollywood expertise dealer, monologist, and nationwide taste-maker. However the public hardly ever noticed the personal facet of the person who helped tuck tens of hundreds of thousands of Individuals into mattress every evening. Correspondent Jim Axelrod talks with Mike Thomas (co-author, with Invoice Zehme, of “Carson the Magnificent”) concerning the late-night host’s enduring influence and personal difficulties; comedians Robert Klein and George Wallace, who describe a “Tonight Present” look as comedy’s Mt. Everest; and actress Dyan Cannon, who says of Carson, “There was no one as large a star.” (Initially aired March 2, 2025.)