From Richard Rostron:
Late-Night hosts Stewart, Colbert and Kimmel, and a Trump victory, prove we need another Johnny Carson
The Response
A Website called Ranker allows people to vote on the best or greatest movies, actors, musical artists, songs and more.
I happened to come across the page listing The Greatest Late Night Talk Show Hosts. I found the results disturbing, though not surprising.
The good news is that Johnny Carson is listed as No. 1.
It’s difficult to imagine anyone else even approaching the King of Late Night, even though he left us nearly 20 years ago and did his last The Tonight Show in 1994.
But what I found disturbing is where some of the current late-night hosts are ranked.
Jay Leno, who took over for Carson when he retired, would rank No. 2, or close to it, in my book. I can understand how David Letterman is ranked No. 3, though I was never a big fan myself. I also have nothing in particular against Conan O’Brien, who is the actual No. 2 ranked late-night host.
What I can’t see at all is John Stewart at No. 5, Stephen Colbert at No. 8 or Jimmy Kimmel at No. 16.
There isn’t a bottom low enough to suit where I would rank them.
These are the three current late-night hosts infecting television these days. They represent a total abandonment of what late-night television used to represent. I say this while admitting that I rarely watch them.
How then do I dare to judge them?
Turns out they say enough things that break on through to the news and social media.
And it’s never good – never something I agree with or respect.
In other words, I’ve seen enough of them that I know I don’t respect their politics. And that’s the problem – they wear their politics on their sleeves. In fact, they proudly promote their Leftist agenda.
Johnny Carson talked about politics all the time.
And he knocked politicians all the time.
But he was an equal-opportunity lampooner.
He mocked politicians on both sides of the aisle.
And this is a big part of why he was the greatest.
Even Letterman, even back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, was politically vocal.
Not just that he made jokes about politicians but that there was a distinct political bias to his approach.
Of course, that was nothing compared to what we’re seeing now with Steward, Colbert and Kimmel.
They seem to see their programs as platforms for their politics.
It’s their right.
They can say whatever they want to say, bash whomever they want to bash, and promote whatever political agenda they choose.
But they make a conscious decision when they choose to provide partisan programming.
They choose that they don’t really care if I’m part of their audience.
I assume they’re good at telling jokes.
They must have some interviewing skills.
But why would they choose to abandon half of their potential audience?
I say “half their potential audience” because I don’t see myself as so unique that I would be the only one who is turned off by their Leftist humor.
If you think about it, at a time when their party is constantly talking about unifying the American public, their programs are designed to do anything but unite Americans.
Their programming is explicitly designed to divide Americans.
I think their perspectives are wrong.
But it really doesn’t matter.
They show a lack of willingness to consider the other side’s perspective.
And that lack of willingness helps to explain how so many on the Left are shocked that Donald Trump won in November.
Trump’s victory was a repudiation of Leftist policies.
It was also a repudiation of late-night television that abandons and demonizes a substantial part of the American public.
What we need now is a program that embraces both sides of the political spectrum.
What we need now is another Johnny Carson.
