Let's go to the mail. I'm not sure who sent me this…
Read your comments [over at TVBarn] about Jay and Dave both being in a rut and I agree completely. Enough already with how stupid people in the street are when you stick them in front of a camera. But the thing I miss are the new stand-up comics. Johnny introduced dozens (including Jay and Dave) and launched careers. Who have Jay and Dave introduced?
Not many…but here, I'll defend the guys. First off, Carson got his rep as a presenter of new stand-ups before 1980 when he cut the show from 90 to 60 minutes. The trim meant room for 1 or 2 fewer guests per night and therefore, less room for new comics. Secondly, when Johnny was showcasing stand-up comedians, he had one of the very few franchises in all of television that did that. His bookers were notorious for scouting the clubs, spotting promising comedians and telling them, "Keep working at it. If you continue to improve, we may book you with Johnny in a year or so." Both Letterman and Leno were told that at the Comedy Store, once upon a time. Today, a promising stand-up at the Store is pounced upon by many. By the time he or she could be "ready" for The Tonight Show, they've already done a half-hour Comedy Central Presents, spots on B.E.T., perhaps a Showtime special, etc. Comics today don't need the late night venues as they once did. They have too many other avenues.
Johnny's last few years, not many comedians got their Big Break on his program and, with the ones who did like Stephen Wright, there was a slight reversal of the process. Instead of waiting obediently for The Tonight Show to pronounce a comedian ready, the comedian would already have an agent and probably a manager who would negotiate with The Tonight Show: "Okay, he'll hold off doing any other shows until he does Johnny's if you guarantee him a proper showcase." A fellow named Jim McCawley — a nice but intense gent who worked for Carson — was the scout and negotiator in such situations. I knew him casually and watched him, over the years, lose a bit of his kingmaking status. Around '78, he'd walk into the Comedy Store and comedians would lick his loafers clean. If he said — and he did — "I think you may be ready for Johnny in six months…that is, if you don't do any other shows in the meantime," the comic swore to fend off Merv Griffin's bookers with a meat-ax.
But things changed. Once, all the comics wanted to debut with Johnny because all the recent success stories in comedy involved making your debut there. Before long though, you had guys like Andy Kaufman, Dennis Miller, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison and others who were doing quite well without a Carson christening. Around 1987, I saw McCawley in action at the Improv and, while he still wielded great power, the balance of it was not quite so lopsided. He had to convince comics (and their reps) that it was still their best option to allow The Tonight Show to introduce them to America. Some decided otherwise while others opted for Johnny simply because he was Johnny.
Lastly — and this may be Dave's and Jay's fault to some extent — I don't think their shows are as conducive to new stand-ups as Johnny's was, even in his hour-long days. Carson had a certain stature as Elder Statesman of comedy and, when he said, "Here's a bright new comic," the studio audience paid attention and tried to help out the newbie. When Dave or Jay book a stand-up…first of all, the spot is rushed. Secondly, the folks out front seem to think, "Huh? We have to listen to someone other than Dave [or Jay] for four minutes?" A comic I know who did Letterman once said that his spot got about a third the laughs it should have because the studio audience was so full of Dave fans who were all watching Dave, not him, while he was performing. His next time on, instead of working "in one," he sat in the guest's chair and did his material, chatting with Letterman. That worked better, he felt, because Dave was involved and the audience wasn't resenting him from taking the spotlight off their boy.
I'd like to see the late night shows bring us more great new comedians. But I'm afraid all the worthy ones now have sitcom development deals, long before Dave or Jay can get to them.