On November 4 at 4 p.m., I returned to The Paley Center for Media for an afternoon celebrating Johnny Carson with curator Ron Simon and comedian, podcaster, and author Mark Malkoff. Their conversation explored Malkoff’s book, Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend, written with David Ritz. Malkoff devoted eight years to hosting The Carson Podcast, and his fascination with Carson makes him a fitting guide to the entertainer whose influence still runs through late-night television. They even had the desk Carson used to sit at as pictured in the photos attached.
(paleycenter.org, penguinrandomhouse.com, penguinrandomhouseretail.com
Simon, who interviewed Carson in 1991, brought his own connection to that history. Together, they helped frame the famous clips we watched, including the unforgettable potato chip lady and Dolly Parton’s historic appearances. Watching those moments with an audience reminded me how much comedy depends on listening, timing, and the unexpected. Decades later, the laughter still comes. Carson could share a stage with an enormous personality or an ordinary person with an unusual collection and find something memorable in either encounter.
My relationship with this institution stretches back to 1999, when I was a writing intern for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. I received a pass that got me into NBC, but it also opened another door: admission to what was then the Museum of Television & Radio, now The Paley Center for Media. When my internship ended, I held onto that card and returned to the museum most days. I watched Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Eddie Murphy, and anyone else whose work might teach me something about being funny. Those visits became an education I could help design myself, following one performer, sketch, or curiosity into another. Last month, I returned with a different purpose: watching Ferris Butler’s material from Saturday Night Live and Waste Meat News. Having hosted and executive produced Saving Ferris Butler, I was looking at those archives through the eyes of someone now helping preserve a comedy story himself. The young intern studying other people’s work and the producer researching his own film suddenly felt very close together.
That is why this latest visit meant so much. Sitting there, laughing at Carson and listening to Simon and Malkoff, I felt connected to a community I have participated in as a writer, performer, producer, and lifelong student. Paley makes those connections possible by preserving the work and giving people opportunities to experience it together. Its upcoming New York events include Breaking the Huddle: The Remarkable Story of Panther Pat, with Eli Manning in person, on November 9; Southern Rounds on November 11; a Rod Serling and Twilight Zone discussion with biographer Alan Sepinwall on November 13; The Hunting Wives on November 19; and Iconic Thanksgiving Moments on Television on November 20. (paleycenter.org) There is tremendous value in an institution that helps us understand what entertained us, who created it, and why it mattered. The Paley Center does important work, and I am grateful that, all these years later, I can keep walking through its doors with something new to discover.