Johnny Carson Dead at 79

[Piel]

Such a great entertainer! He has been missed on late night, I don't think that Jay or Dave captured what Carson had.

 

[Tonichelle]

it was a sad news break... but did they really need to tribute him instead of showing Kimmie skate. They know darn well they're going to tribute him for the next year AT LEAST so why did they have to do it then? LOL

sorry I guess I'm still grouchy I just thought it was really lame that the tribute made "breaking news"

 

[Piel]

ITA Toni, I checked and our NBC affiliate did the same thing but not CBS. If ABC wants to increase viewership of figure skating they didn't make any friends today. Did we miss anything other than part of Kimmie's skate? Also, did Kimmie get hair extensions for landing the 3A in competition or something? While the Carson tribute seemed long I don't think it was long enough for her hair to grow THAT much.

 

[katherine2001]

ITA Toni, I checked and our NBC affiliate did the same thing but not CBS. If ABC wants to increase viewership of figure skating they didn't make any friends today. Did we miss anything other than part of Kimmie's skate? Also, did Kimmie get hair extensions for landing the 3A in competition or something? While the Carson tribute seemed long I don't think it was long enough for her hair to grow THAT much.

I'm glad they did do the tribute when they announced his death. I'm sure that those who were watching soap operas when Kennedy was assassinated were upset that their program was interrupted for this so that they missed their soap! Johnny Carson was a legend, and he deserved the tribute. We will have many more chances to watch Kimmie skate. I'm sure that more people would have been ticked with ABC if they hadn't done this, as I have a sneaking suspicion that there are more Johnny Carson fans than skating fans.

 

[Piel]

Comparing Kennedy's assasination to Carson's death at an old age of what I assume are natural causes is a stretch. Also a soap opera and a sporting event are a little different too, one is REAL and one is MAKE BELIEVE. Would they have interupted a football or basketball game?

 

[show 42]

Totally disagree Katherine. I posted my comments on Idle's VCR thread. The death of a comedian, no matter how popular he might be, is not the same as the death of a president or world leader or a national or world wide tragedy. Not even close. To inform the viewers briefly and to also let them know that there will be more following is totally appropriate. To interrupt viewing for ten minutes to do a recap of his life is not..........42

 

[sk8m8]

I come down somewhere in the middle of this. Couldn't they have waited to commercial time to announce this? I appreiciated knowing about Johhny Carson, by why a whole 5 minute tribute? A box or a crawl line underneath the screen would have been sufficient.

I respectufully disagree with those that downplay the importance of Mr. Carson, he was an American institution for 30 years on television and is far more loved and known than most world leaders. He influenced several generations of entertainers and he will be missed. All that being said, ABC could have certainly acknowledged the event without ruining its own programming and further alienating its skating audience.

 

[Grgranny]

I'm sorry but I have to go with the fact that the announcement was ok but the part of his history could have waited. My husband knew Johnny Carson at the University of NE where they both attended school although Johnny was a couple of years older. He didn't know him well but he knew who he was, etc. I'm sure for the next couple of days we will all be tired of hearing about it. As far as Kennedy's death, that was certainly more important and it didn't bother me a bit that it came on during my soaps. Actually, my youngest, Janet, was about 6 months older than his son. She remembers it.

 

[show 42]

Sk8m8..........I felt the same way about Bob Hope, but I don't recall programming being interrupted like that when he passed away..........I wonder who decides the importance an individual has in the scheme of things. One person's icon may not be everyone's. My point is, unless it's something that concerns human safety or lives, run a banner at the bottom of the screen to inform people and let them decide if they want to catch the rest at the next newscast.........common courtesy and common sense..............42

 

[Tonichelle]

Considering Carson was an NBC figurehead I think ABC should have let it be NBC's for the breaking news. For some reason they thought it would boost ratings (since it was only figure skating). I'm not saying Carson isn't important. He's part of this nation's history... but it wouldn't have killed them to announce it during commercials and leave it at that. That way they could then schedule a time for a bigger tribute later today.

And again, considering Carson worked for NBC not ABC, and since CBS didn't feel the need to preempt their programing for a tribute, I am really confused as why ABC did. *shrugs*

 

[Aloft04]

What's done is done. Rest in peace, Mr. Carson, you gave much joy.

 

[Dee4707]

I guess I don’t understand why they interrupted right at that specific time. It seems they could have at the end of the show and preempted whatever was starting. Would they have done that as someone else said to an important football, basketball or tennis game? They did that at the Grand Prix in 2003 or 2004 when Evgeni Plushensko was going to skate. That’s when they raised the caution level to chartreuse, I think. As said before, why not a banner across the screen.

Mr. Carson was important to Nebraska in many ways and since I live in Nebraska I think an announcement was appropriate but not in the manner they did it.

Dee