American Masters: He was seen by more people than anyone else in American history – a fixture of national life, a piece of the cultural furniture, a part of the Zeitgeist. In exploring the career, the complexities and contradictions of the biggest star television has ever produced, AMERICAN MASTERS had the estate’s first-time-ever cooperation and permission – unrestricted entrée into his personal archives and, perhaps, Carson’s greatest legacy – all episodes of The Tonight Show from 1970 – 1992. Clues about his life, stories about his childhood and early days in the business can be found there – as well as in the expansive family albums and memorabilia. Original interviews with friends, colleagues, his wives and the many performers who appeared, or began, on The Tonight Show, offer additional texture and context – Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, Jay Leno and David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Steve Martin

Starring:

Anne Jackson, Bobby Short, David Thomson, Don Hewitt, Eli Wallach, Harry Belafonte, Jack Lemmon, Joanne Woodward, Lee Grant, Mark Rydell, Martin Scorsese, Michael Feinstein, Mike Dann, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Bogdanovich, Quincy Jones, Richard Schickel, Tony Bennett, Yoko Ono

Genre:

Biography, Documentary, History, Music, Romance