Chuck4Ever After Why -- oh why -- did I watch this?I found it on Netflix, and the incredible Kevin Spacey was listed as the main actor. That's pretty tempting for a major Spacey fan.Yes, Spacey was the narrator, and he did an admirable job. But he didn't appear as himself at all.I was hoping he would at least appear as a guest on one of the shows or offer some commentary or something.Guess you need to be a true Carson fan to enjoy this. There's almost nothing in it for Spacey's other fans.Shoulda known better. Would have been way more fun to watch some other Spacey gig I had already seen.

DKosty123 This show nails the essential complex host/man/loner Johnny Carson was.It has all the major talkers Carson competed with, plus a lot of his classic clips and stories about a major television figure who tried to keep his private life private.What is interesting to me is that the special mentions the love affairs that Carson had that broke up his marriages. Other than scandal sheet articles, I have seen very little tell all books from women Carson had affairs with. I guess not all women kiss and tell.The special does bring up Angie Dickinson's claim that she wanted romance with Carson but things never worked out. There was always a lot of sexual innuendo used on Carson's Tonight show. This Carson special is available through a link on You Tube for anyone interested.It covers the Joan Rivers Feud, and many other topics. Most interesting thing - very little reference to Mclean Stevenson who was the guy who guest hosted Tonight the most while Carson was there.The Carson family issues which were never seen when Carson was on and alive are brought to the surface here in a very direct way. This show is "spot on."http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes

MartinHafer This episode of "American Masters" was well made--I have no complaints about this in any way. In fact, it was EXCEPTIONALLY well made and because of this it depressed me. This is because with a 'warts and all' biography, you get more than just effusive praise--you get the good AND the bad. So, while you learn about all of Johnny Carson's many on-screen successes and accolades, you also hear about what an absolutely screwed up guy he was as well. Because of this, instead of focusing on his triumphs (and this made up most of the show), I kept getting bogged down with his failings. He had a difficult mother--one who had a very hard time praising Johnny or connecting with him. In turn, he had a horrible time connecting with his own children--and seemed to be very distant. He also struggled with alcoholism (or at least a serious drinking problem) and his very public divorces. And, while there was lots of praise for him as a performer, it was sad that no one interviewed for the show ever felt close to him. It's an odd contradiction--with such a public figure having such an incredibly private life--and often, he was alone.If you want to feel happy, don't watch this. However, if you hate biographies that gloss over problems and only paint a rosy picture (a very common problem), then this is for you. You learn a lot about the man and I can really respect the job the "American Masters" folks did with this one. Very good and the definitive biography on the man.

Michael_Elliott American Masters: Johnny Carson: King of Late Night (2012) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Very good entry in the long-running series takes a look at the life and career of Johnny Carson. The two-hour documentary covers a wide range of topics including Caron's early work in magic, his Omaha, NE days, his moves to Los Angeles, a couple failed television shows, his game show and finally his thirty-year run as host of The Tonight Show. Through interviews and archival footage we're told the ups and downs of Carson's career. It's said that Carson was one of the most loved figures in television history and that certainly appears to be the case simply by how many people turned up to be interviewed for this. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Conan O'Brien, Drew Carey, Jerry Seinfield, Angie Dickinson, Joan Rivers, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Steve Martin and Dick Cavett are just a few of the familiar faces who show up to talk about what Carson meant to them. It's really amazing that it took so long for American Masters to do a documentary on the legend but they really haven't let you down as the film is certainly well produced and director Peter Jones did a fantastic job at putting it together. What I really enjoyed is how we'd get the biography of Carson's life and then while we're told the stories we'd get a cut to a Tonight Show clip where he's joking about it. As someone who didn't grow up with Carson I found the clips to be incredibly funny and I think the film really got across what made him so special with so many people.