Entertainment

Who's Worthy of Playing Johnny Carson?

Finally, an NBC show to get excited about. According to Deadline, the network is prepping a miniseries based on the life of Johnny Carson, the iconic late-night talk show host who headlined The Tonight Show between 1962 and 1992 — a.k.a., back when it was actually good. The miniseries will be based on the upcoming biography, Carson The Magnificent: An Intimate Portrait, by Bill Zehme, and will mostly focus on his time hosting The Tonight Show, as well as some of his childhood as a young boy growing up in Nebraska.

As it's still relatively early in development, the role of Carson — as well as everyone else involved — has not yet been cast. So, of course, that begs the question: Who in Hollywood right now is actually worthy of portraying this guy?

It's a tough call, since there are only a few people who could even remotely pull off his charm and charisma, but I'm going to have to suggest Dana Carvey for this one. The dude's already shown he can portray Carton (and well) during his stint on Saturday Night Live, and it would be a good comeback vehicle for him since he hasn't worked in a couple of years. Just a suggestion NBC! If taken — well, you know where to mail the royalty checks.

Casting for the role of Carson is said to begin soon. It's not clear when we should expect to see the Carson miniseries on TV, but, likely, it'll be sometime next year.