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Red Skelton's Headache Was Carson's Big 'Break' “We expected to be compared to Gobel,” he admits. (Carson invariably —and refreshingly—uses the editorial “we” when referring to his show, an apparently unconscious compliment to his staff.) “We’re both low-pressure; we both underplay. Gobel is the hot¬ test thing in the field right now, so naturally anyone coming along with even an approximation of his style is going to be compared to him. “But frankly, we don’t think view¬ ers look at it that way at all. If you entertain them, they’ll stay with you. If you don’t, they’ll tune you out. We think it’s as simple as that.” Carsoii is a tall, lanky lad with a boyish appearance that makes him look even younger than he is, a fact which may drive somewhat more ven¬ erable funnymen like Jack Benny to hold their heads in their hands and groan softly. The same Mr. Benny, however, is on record as having stated publicly— not once, but several times—that Johnny Carson is CBS’ hottest young comedy prospect in years. When Red Skelton bopped his head against a non-breakaway breakaway wall during rehearsal one day last winter, Carson received a hurry call to fill the breach. “All the way into the studio,” he says, “I kept trying to remember sure-fire gags. It was all so fast, I really didn’t have time to get into a nervous tizzy.” It was Benny who led the raving afterward. “Great,” he kept insisting, buttonholing everyone in sight, “just great. The kid is great.” Support like this never hurts. CBS, which had been toying with Carson, suddenly got serious about finding a format for him. Egged on by Benny (“No wonder they can’t sell him—he’s too good, too intelligent—they’re all Studio audience sees Carson, technician looking for pie throwers”), the net¬ work put him on the air June 30, complete with two sponsors, and the fate of young Mr. Carson was thence¬ forth squarely up to the viewers. Aside from a natural flair for the quieter kind of comedy, Carson is both a listener and a worker. Be-^ sides shouldering the burden of being a young comedian tossed into the net¬ work whirlpool, he plays an impor¬ tant part in the writing and casting of the show, chores which are gen¬ erally full-time jobs in themselves. Right off, Carson and his writers decided to concoct the show strictly on a week-to-week basis. “We’ve got to avoid the trap of doing the same sort of sketch or routine on every show,” he explains, with the busi¬ ness-like air of a brush salesman out¬ lining the year’s product. “We par- 14