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Bill R's avatar

I've seen snippets of old Tonight Shows and was struck by how long the conversations went on and that they were actually about something.

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Vince Keenan's avatar

They're definitely more in depth than the plugfests on talk shows now. The conversations were even more substantial on Dick Cavett's show. There's a reason you see those clips turn up as DVD extras.

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Timber Fox's avatar

What stunned me about Carson was that supposedly his mother never acknowledged his success and he was never able to please her.

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Vince Keenan's avatar

Absolutely true. Zehme and Thomas dig into it in the book. It's Midwestern restraint supercharged and weaponized. Mother Carson was practically at the point of wondering, "What are you going to do when all of this goes away?" Remarkable.

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