Johnny Carson Warned Us About Jimmy Kimmel
'Tonight Show' legend shared secret to his apolitical succes decades ago
Where would we be without Jimmy Kimmel?
We’d never know when the walls are closing in, our democracy was hanging by a thread or an East Wing renovation threatened world peace.
Thankfully, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is there when we need it most. Or, so Kimmel thinks.
Jimmy Kimmel tells his critics to shove it and to stop telling him his job is to be funny.
Clearly, he’s doing a good job at that. pic.twitter.com/UkqbMOA4uc
— MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) April 17, 2026
The far-Left comic defended his comedy-free shtick during an appearance on “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” podcast. His explanation? These are challenging times, and President Donald Trump’s second term is no laughing matter.
Thus, the show’s dramatic transition from laughter to “clapter.”
It would be “embarrassing” not to discuss such threats to the American experiment, in his estimation. Anyone who suggests he simply tell jokes has it all wrong.
“These are things that I take very seriously,” he said. “And, of course, I like to, I love telling jokes, I love being funny, I love when the audience laughs. There’s nothing that’s more exciting to me than that. But well-rounded human beings don’t behave that way.”
In fact, it’s how late-night legend Johnny Carson would handle current events, in Kimmel’s estimation. Except the “Tonight Show” legend would do no such thing.
How do we know? He said it himself.
RELATED:
ALL JIMMY KIMMEL DOES IS LIE (AND CRY)
LATE NIGHT WON’T TOUCH SOMALI SCANDAL, SO…
KIMMEL JUST CROSSED A BIG RED LINE
Denver’s “Ryan Schuiling Live,” heard on 630 KHOW weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., played a critical clip from Carson’s past. The snippet finds “60 Minutes” star Mike Wallace quizzing Carson about the political gags heard on his legendary “Tonight Show” showcase.
Over the years, audiences never knew whether Carson was on the Left, Right or Middle. He hit both sides, and he did so with equal glee. No malice, just smiles.
That approach made him an icon.
Editor’s Note: It’s a brutal time to be an independent journalist, but it’s never been more necessary given the sorry state of the corporate press. If you’re enjoying Hollywood in Toto, I hope you’ll consider leaving a coin (or two) in our Tip Jar.
Carson’s successor, Jay Leno, kept that bipartisan, upbeat spirit alive. Now, it’s a relic of the past trashed by the likes of Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kimmel and the soon-to-be-unemployed Stephen Colbert.
Wallace pressed Carson on that decision, and the talker had a ready, emphatic answer. It’s not my job, he insisted.
“Tell me the last time a Jack Benny, a Red Skelton or any comedian used his show to do serious issues. That’s not what I’m there for. Can’t they see that?” Carson asked at the time. “Just because you have a ‘Tonight Show’ you must deal in serious issues. That’s a danger. It’s a real danger. Once you start that, you start to get that self-important feeling that what you say has great import, and you know, strangely enough, you can use that show as a forum. You could sway people, and I don’t think you should as an entertainer.”
Why, you might repeatedly cry on the air and treat your showcase like a one-sided political screed.
Jimmy Failla on his syndicated “FOX Across America” radio show has played that Carson clip repeatedly. He’s no fan of the Kimmel brand of late-night TV, dubbing it “purposeful” content.
Failla does the opposite, hosting the freewheeling “Fox News Saturday Night,” a show which recently enjoyed its highest ratings to date.
Going LIVE at 10pm and we’re hitting ALL sides because I’m a comedian not a Jimmy Kimmel: pic.twitter.com/9GyfA6OABZ
— Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) April 18, 2026
Failla noted earlier this week that Carson manned his late-night desk for decades. And, during that time, he watched as America splintered over the Vietnam War, suffered a presidential scandal that chased a world leader out of the Oval Office and endured other consequential events.
Carson never went near the Kimmel model to discuss them.
That’s why one is a TV legend, and the other had to be suspended for a week after lying about a major U.S. assassination.
Jimmy needs to bring back girls jumping on trampolines!
Comparing Carson to Kibble is comparing Shakespeare to bathroom stall authors. Carson made me want to be home to watch: Kibble makes you turn the channel to QVC .
The only time I ever saw Kimmel’s show was when I fell asleep watching the late local news and awoke to hear Tom Petty playing a song from his newly released album “Hypnotic Eye.” After the song, I turned off the TV and went to bed.
He repeatedly violates the “public interest” clause and the show itself loses 20mil a year (although they recoup it elsewhere). His shtick wouldn’t last a week on a subscription. FCC Carr is spineless; Kimmel and the other cloned radical democrat activists should be booted from the airwaves.
They all want to be Lenny Bruce.
Jimmy Kimmel sounds completely out of touch. If he’s taking things seriously, he’s acting more like a propagandist.
Tell me again, Kimmel is which one?