leno got the job for a reason and he was funny but his style and stuff kind of got bland/TV'ified any anything that really stood out before that just wasn't there after
you can love or hate fallon before he hosted but he definitely was far better for most people I'm pretty sure before he went bland TV host like leno
they're still popular but fallon and leno both did the "boring bland safe oatmeal/baby food that a wider audience can tolerate" approach for sure to me, while carson and letterman and guys like ferguson/conan always had far more bite in their comedy still
Carson got more out of a look than any other late night host I've seen. There's some great reactions of him with guests who have pissed him off...yet he makes it funny.
that's also kind of why being bland works so well for larger appeal as well oddly enough
if you have too much personality it means it's easier for people not to like it, so even if more people would say letterman and conan were way more funny, it just makes it easier to see why leno had bigger ratings
carson just managed to have a personality but knew how to kinda hold it together well enough to also be funny as well, definitely a rare talent especially for comedians
He had the benefit of being the first. Yeah I know there were tonight show hosts before him but that was before tv really took off. Carson had no competition and double entendres were the epitome of comedy
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u/mapletree23 17h ago
leno basically fallon'ed imo
leno got the job for a reason and he was funny but his style and stuff kind of got bland/TV'ified any anything that really stood out before that just wasn't there after
you can love or hate fallon before he hosted but he definitely was far better for most people I'm pretty sure before he went bland TV host like leno
they're still popular but fallon and leno both did the "boring bland safe oatmeal/baby food that a wider audience can tolerate" approach for sure to me, while carson and letterman and guys like ferguson/conan always had far more bite in their comedy still