Good! I Don't Watch Him Anyway!

Let me explain. I've been a student of broadcasting (radio and television) my entire life, and still am. When Carson hosted "The Tonight Show" from 1962 to 1992, it was a much different TV landscape. He was the only significant nighttime host for most of those years. "The Tonight Show" had a head start of anywhere from 5 to 8 years on any network's late-night programming. Most stations aired late movies or syndicated off-network reruns, and each did well.

The challenge for Steve Allen, "Tonight's" first host, was to entertain and make people laugh, and he was great at it. Jack Paar was a more cerebral host in his approach and featured thought-provoking guests, including Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Nixon.

When Carson took over in 1962, most viewers at that time of night were only receiving three or four channels, if they were lucky. The producers of the "Tonight Show" initially played it down the middle, trying to be "all things to all people." It would have been disrespectful and inappropriate to have a series of jokes about President Eisenhower, after all, he was a war hero, and there were many World War II veterans watching.

The public attitudes changed with Carson, as well as on other comedy variety shows. Vietnam may have changed that. We saw shows that made fun of LBJ and his daughters. Then along came Nixon and Spiro Agnew. The former VP Agnew (before he was shamed out of office) especially took offense and became a bulldog against the press, constantly criticizing the media for not supporting President Nixon. Nixon even appeared in some short segments on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," in which he would look directly at the camera and say, "Sock it to Me?" That aired on "Laugh-In" during the time, when he was frequently being "socked to" by the media. Do I even have to mention "The Smothers Brothers Show?"

Nixon, Agnew, and Watergate were frequently satirized and parodied by Carson, and were often touched on in his monologue during the era. "Then came Saturday Night Live" in the mid-70s. Back to Carson, though, you might not remember the impersonations Johnny did of President Reagan, as being bumbling and absent-minded. Let's also not forget the many jokes about former VP Dan Quale.

The TV landscape for late-night is much different today. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of channels on cable, satellite, and streaming services that all battle for audience. Sure, Kimmel's audience doesn't come close to the audience share that Carson had. Nobody does. Even in prime time, shows that used to have rating numbers exceeding the levels seen today by network shows were canceled for having "low ratings." To be successful today in that genre, you can't be "all things to all people." Producers must select an audience and shape their content to meet their needs. The networks and producers of shows use research to find where they're going to get the most return (audience numbers) possible for their customers (the advertisers).

If you don't watch "Jimmy Kimmel! Live," then you obviously fall outside their target audience. Think of this example: I don't watch sports. I couldn't care less about sports (really), but I'm not going to jump up and down and insist that it be taken off TV, saying, with no evidence, that "nobody watches it" and it should be taken off the air. I know that's not true. I lose patience with those who say that any show they don't like should be taken off the air, simply because they don't like it or disagree with it.

I would be embarrassed to post on social media that "Good, I'm glad he's gone, I never watched anyway." That's just plain stupid. Just turn the damn channel if you don't like it!