Tiny Tim’s first appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
An evening pause: Aired live April 4, 1968. This important moment in time not only illustrates the incredible tolerant and eccentric nature of 1960s culture, it shows us Johnny Carson at his best. He recognizes the eccentricity of his guest, uses it for humor, but then is also sincerely willing to interview Tim and let him express himself. As always, Carson is kind to his guest, which is one of the reasons his audience loved him so much.
Carson also recognized that Tiny Tim’s eccentricity was great entertainment (something Tim recognized himself quite clearly), which is why Carson allowed the appearance to go so long. It was good show business.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
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The transition of the ‘Me’ generation from tolerance to oppression.
Predicted by many; headed by few.
Something I liked about Johny Carson was that his interviews were all about the guest. I didn’t like the direction Letterman took which was the interviews were all about Letterman.
The first time I saw Tiny Tim was probably on Laugh In. I don’t know what I expected, but with a name like Tiny Tim it wasn’t that. His Tiptoe Through The Tulips still occasionally plays as an ear worm in my head.
I don’t know what I expected to see in Carson’s interview of Tiny Tim, but it wasn’t that.
Although I was in my teens when Tiny Tim (in his 40s?) married that 17-year-old girl on the tonight show, I remember it had been the most scandalous thing ever…
i hesitated to recommend this, because he was so unique it would be easy to ridicule him, and he really was a kind and gentle man.
The funniest parts of this are the multiple times Johnny is at a loss for words, which was rare for him. As Bob remarks, Johnny did treat Tiny Tim with respect and did a serious interview.
Interesting background on him.
From Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Tim_(musician) )
“At the age of five, his father gave him a vintage wind-up gramophone and a 78-RPM record of “Beautiful Ohio” by Henry Burr. He would sit for hours listening to the record. At the age of six, he began teaching himself guitar. By his pre-teen years, he developed a passion for records, specifically those from the 1900s through the 1930s. He began spending most of his free time at the New York Public Library, reading about the history of the phonograph industry and its first recording artists. He researched sheet music, often making photographic copies to take home to learn, a hobby he continued for his entire life…”
Apparently, his sheet music collection was much sought after when he passed.
Tim was edging Johnny towards what would be one of deapest conversations in the history of the Tonight Show. But you could tell Johnny wanted to avoid going over his audience. Tim was special, and I wonder if he could have have been gifted with some form of Williams Syndrome like state.
GeorgeC wrote, “You could tell Johnny wanted to avoid going over his audience.”
Carson understood that the Tonight Show was supposed to be light entertainment, with a hint of depth. Going too deep here would have been very inappropriate and a mistake. Carson took it to the right depth, for the time and place, and let the rest of the world take it farther.
As I have said, Carson was loved for his kindness, his sincerity, and his desire to entertain. I wish to God today’s show hosts could absorb even a tiny percentage of this.
Interesting Factoid(s)– the median-age of the US population in 1968 was something like 27 years of age.
With a total population approximately 200 million, and 78 million television sets in use.
I can’t resist…
“1968: The Year Everything Fell Apart.”
Newsmax TV, Historian Craig Shirley
(Jan, 2019)
https://youtu.be/bmv9mo1ZC1o
22:02