A couple years back, I devoted a pretty large chunk of copy to trying to explain what I thought was so cool about the late Johnny Carson.
Larry Aydlette sums it up in a single line:
There was something adult, sophisticated and boyishly wink-wink naughty all at the same time.
And he provides some video evidence of what he’s talking about, too:
An appropriate thing to post at this time of night, no?
I think what makes this funny is that Carson plays it like he’s embarrassed by the joke. His comic persona never went stale because it always seemed so uncomfortable for him. As opposed to Letterman, who plays it like he knows it’s naughty and he hopes mom and dad aren’t listening. Eventually, the viewer realizes that mom and dad either really aren’t listening or are and don’t care. It’s harder to characterize Leno’s comic persona. He still seems so darn tickled to be hosting the Tonight Show–it’s hard to tell whether that’s his schtick or he really is just so darn tickled to be hosting the Tonight Show.