Heeere's Johnny

Sad Clown - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
Today I had a TimeOn day off, but was snowed in. Dallas has had horrible winter weather all week. My house is extra drafty due to the fact that my kitchen is under construction. “This too shall pass”. ..We can only hope that is true.

On Netflix, I watched a biographical documentary on Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night. There is a lot to cover about this enigmatic man – “the most famous man in America”. I’ll cover some major points, keeping in mind a book would be needed to do justice. (And one was recently a best-seller).

Rocket Man

Johnny came from a wholesome Middle America home in Norfolk, Nebraska. He was a middle child and felt a little bit overlooked by his parents, especially his mom. He got his good looks and sense of humor from her, but she openly admitted that she favored the eldest daughter. (“Daughters are more fun”). Much of his early extroversion was partly to win back her love and approval.

Like many famous people, Johnny was on a “rocket to the moon” already by the time he was in junior high. He liked being a center of attention – he developed a magic act to be on stage. He also acted in school plays. By the time he was in college, an entrepreneurial bent was clear; he rented his car to frat brothers for 25 cents/hour. He quickly progressed to being a radio DJ and announcer, still as an undergraduate.

After Carson served a stint in the Navy, he came back and found his way back into radio. From there. He segued into television. In fact, he had one of the very first TV shows, Carson’s Cellar. He was chagrined when it was canceled after 39 episodes – this would be just about his only career stumble, ever. He became a writer for Red Skelton and was occasionally on TV himself. He guested on the Jack Benny Show and was already a household name at age 30. From ‘57-’62 he hosted Who Do You Trust with sidekick Ed McMahon. The two men would be a comedy duo for 35 years to come.

Jack Paar Replacement

In 1962, Jack Paar left The Tonight Show, fairly suddenly (in a bit of a huff). Johnny’s second wife, Joanne Copeland was connected in the TV industry and got NBC to offer him the gig. He initially said no, thinking he was no intellectual match to Paar. Paar had turned the show into a witty political salon in previous years. Even after succumbing to pressure and taking the job, industry pundits were skeptical about whether he would last. “He’s no Jack Paar” they intoned.

King of Late Night

It turns out that he was quite a bit more than Paar.. Johnny had the flexibility to be clown, straight man, ad man, student, actor or whatever a situation required. He was convivial, gracious and made his guests look good. He could touch on politics (a la Paar) but was also a very gifted stand-up comedian. He could cross over between topics and soon became late night solid gold. He had it “made in the shade” after about 1 season – his popularity was fairly instant and ubiquitous. The rest is legend – I’ll proceed to his personal life..

Sad King Midas

The bio I was watching was made in 2012. Many people close to Carson (2nd wife, Doc Severinsen, staff writers, etc) painted a picture different from the All-American success story. Easier to cover this in bulleted format:

o Carson was married 4 times. The first 3 wives all complained that he was married to his career and was at times unfaithful.
o His son Rick told Doc, “I wish my Dad liked me as much as you do”. Apparently his relationship was strained with all 3 sons.
o Doc said that Carson intimidated him in person and it was hard to get comfortable with him.
o Writer Al Jean said that no one really knew Carson. All you ever had was some aspect of his public veneer.
o Carson wasn’t even that close to sidekick McMahon. He had producers tell McMahon to dial it back at a point when Johnny felt Ed was stepping on punch lines and horning in. The implication was clear to Ed – cease or find a new job.
o Carson got cross-ways with his longtime business manager Bushkin. There was a pattern of Carson living in a virtual fortress – he eventually had trust issues with much of his inner circle.
o Jokes were made of Ed’s drinking, but Johnny actually had the drinking issue. He would become angry when he drank and have to be rescued from various situations.

Conclusion

Carson was a complex man, a complex picture. He was America’s “comedy Walter Cronkite” but he was also a man with intimacy, trust and probably Mother issues. Doc says that Carson never completely recovered from his adult son’s fatal car accident circa 1990. He carried a quiet sadness after that. Whenever we think someone is “living the dream” you never know what demons might have knocked at their door. Carson was the King of Late Night but he was also all too real in so many ways – really one of us.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

50 Shades of Silly

Forbidden Love - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor

This week we’re having typical Texas roller coaster weather. 78 degrees yesterday and 30 degrees tomorrow. It’s a nippy 53 right now, as we make that transition. My house is in complete disarray as my kitchen gets rebuilt. I must learn patience which has never been one of my shining qualities. Now, on to our topic.

50 Shades of Grey (spoiler alert)

To avoid getting in the way of workmen at my house, I went to see 50 Shades the first day it came out, 2/13/2015. This move has recently been done to death by critics and social media, so I’ll offer my entire movie-going experience – not just a review of the movie itself.

I thought that AMC 15 would be swarming with people, even on the matinee but it wasn’t. The theater was maybe 30% full – probably still a good headcount for a weekday matinee. I thought I’d be the only man and was surprised to see a lot of other guys. It was probably 60% women, 40% men. There were many couples and quite a few older people.

50 Shades is a romance movie, of sorts. A wealthy handsome business titan, Christian Grey, sets his sights on sweet demure Anastasia Steele. He wants her not as a wife or a girlfriend but as a sex slave. The premise is one of “forbidden love” – it alternately reminded me of Brokeback Mountain or Looking for Mr. Good Bar.

Having seen a few S&M videos before (by happenstance rest assured) I wasn’t sure what to expect. The S&M scenes in this movie were lame and tame by practically any measure. This was S&M sanitized and softened for the tastes of suburban women’s book clubs. Anastasia was in no real danger. I found myself laughing sometimes nervously and then later deliberately because of unintentional humor. The whole audience giggled inappropriately all throughout the movie. It seemed like a women’s soft-core porno building slowly to its peak -- pardon the orgasmic wording.

It’s interesting that feminist females and right-wing chauvinist men are oddly in full agreement – they feel that movies like this are the “downfall of civilization”. The women are exploited like chattel! But Madonna and Miley have informed us across the years – it’s not exploitation if the woman chooses it. She might just really be kinky and wild. One of a modern woman’s options is to be as chaste or as chased as she wants to be. The rule is really that there are no rules. So everybody chill and put your judgments away.

In this particular movie, Anastasia is a sweet, virginal lamb – falling for an emotionally blocked wolf. She ultimately decides she has no taste for whips and chains. In fact, as the movie draws to the end it seems that Anastasia is breaking Christian out of his S&M delusions and bringing him into the world of real feeling and emoting.

Was this a great movie? Absolutely not. Even the characters’ names sound cheesy and made up like something from a XXX grind house. Would I recommend this movie? Absolutely! It was unintentionally hilarious. If you have some fun friends who enjoy double entendres and silliness you will be able to laugh it up together. This movie entertains us with guilty pleasure and naughtiness. If you have a spare two hours – it’s worth the price of admission.

© 2015 Snillor Productions