Rolling sound. Quiet. From new york, the tonight show starring Johnny Carson. And now, heres the fabulous har Harry Belafonte. Here he comes. Strong gets more while the weak ones fade i found out about that week from Harry Belafonte. I went over to his home. And all of a sudden, effortlessly, he started talking about this week of television and the tonight show. Im thinking, wait a minute, Harry Belafonte hosted a week of the tonight show . What . What . How did i not know this . That was probably the most revolutionary move that Mainstream Television could have done, at the time. I write about tv. I write about politics. I should have known about it. Why dois this history lost to u . Harry belafonte takes an existing, White Institution in american culture, and he turns it into something that represents his world. That it should be multicultural. That it should be politically engaged. What Harry Belafonte did, he combined politics and entertainment. Like, a forerunner to the daily show and the Steven Colbert show. Is that a fancy way of saying i told you so . I mean, this is early 1968. The nation was really in crazy upheaval. There was increasing and very appropriate black anger. And harry would expose you as a white person, to this vibe rapt world where black people and white people met, as equals. This was a talented, intelligent, sophisticated, passionate, social activist of a black man in that chair that has, through the years, been the seat of white males. My parents allowed me to stay up late. They said you need to see this. I guarantee you, my grandmother had her three kids sitting in the living room watching, even though they shouldve been in bed. It was something that was really inspiring, especially to a lot of black people who were watching who had not seen themselves, necessarily, represented in that way in the American Institution that is the tonight show. Harry belafonte, at 11 00, late night, was saying were here. Were americans. Were part of this. Were not going anywhere. Yall brought us. Now, were here. So let me be the last thing you see before you go to sleep. Mr. Belafonte, would you like to look at your guest list from that week . Id love to see it. Oh, my god. I had all these people . When i was there, i was a bit overawed by the whole thing. It was so seldom, in the 60s, that people of color were invited into the homes of, you know, Television Viewers everywhere. First time on the tonight show. Im scared. Im sitting between Harry Belafonte and paul newman. That was a special night. I knew its was the biggies, that night. As they say, stepping in high cotton. You see how pivotal this week was because youre watching this man bring together all of his brothers and sisters, in the mo movement and say we deserve a space, and we deserve to be here. We deserve to talk about these things. From new york, the tonight show starring Johnny Carson. The tonight show was one of the most powerful platforms of communication, in the world. Theres anything you dont see, just ask for it. Okay. We have a fine gentleman. Johnny carson was the rage of the evening. If anybody was up after 10 00, they were up watching the tonight show. Mr. Woody allen. Carson would often mention this on the air. Hey, i know youre in bed when youre watching me. And its the most unique of frames to watch television between your feet. Youre taking not just in your home but actually into your bedroom. The birthrate in this country has dropped appreciably, and i like to feel that my show is partially responsible. Carson was this midwestern, very easy to take kind of host. He was as average an american as you could possibly get. It was part of his appeal. He was just the kid next door. Never seen a human cell. Johnny carson helped define what late night would be. Early on in the 1950s, 60s, as we really started to see these interview programs with people. We just keep talking with no script. I know. Its agony. You would get to see celebrities as youve never seen them before. Youd get to see them uncensored. Why did you go into politics . I think that, as an interested citizen of the United States, i cannot think of a greater privilege than serving in the house or the senate. When the tonight show first began, it was a comedy show. And steve alan became the first host. This is kind of a mild, little show. I dont expect you to say, boy, what a program. Carson takes over in october of 1962. And it really is a whole different approach to the show. He managed to weave in more contemporary news than anybody had tried, before. Senator and mrs. Kennedy are expecting their tenth child. I understand Ethel Kennedy is demanding a civilian review board. All of that would, first, be the subject of a monologue. And then, often, the guests would talk about it. Our bloodshed will be in our racial situation, not russia or any other country. You probably do, as most people do in the world today, have feelings on the vietnam situation. And the interesting thing about the tonight show was that the guests stayed on the couch. They didnt just make their appearance and leave. So, they sat together. I wish, now, id have been honest. So the tonight show now becomes kind of the National Gathering place at night. And whatevers going on in pop culture, whatevers going on in politics, obviously whats going on in the news. It was a place for all those things to come together, in an entertaining way. 11 30 at night, eastern, was the most segregated hour in america because white people were watching white Johnny Carson in their white homes. Black people were doing it separately. I had shingles. Horrible. A young thing like me . [camera man] actually anyone 50 or over is at increased risk for shingles. The pain, the burning my husband had to do everything for weeks. And the thing is, theres nothing you can do about it [camera man] well, shingles can be prevented. Shingles can be whaaat . [camera man] prevented. You can get vaccinated. Frank they have shingles vaccines whaaat . Thats what i said. Were taking you to the doctor. Not going through that again. [camera man] you can also get it from your pharmacist talk to your doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. Look at that. Rakutens app is super helpful, i open the app, find the store i want to use, start buying and it gets me tons of cash back. Im an on the go kind of rakuten user for sure. I love the rakuten app, it has all my Favorite Stores at the top. I use rakuten for almost everything i buy. I Just Got Paid to shop. My favorite thing about rakuten is just getting money back in the mail. I mean, who wouldnt want cash back. You should sign up using my referral code because then we both get money. Shop. Get cash back. Repeat. Sign up today and get cash back with rakuten. Shop. Get cash back. Repeat. Unlike ordinary memory wansupplements. Ter . Neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. Memory. Focus. Accuracy. Learning and concentration. Try it today with our moneyback guarantee little mr. 1968. Lets welcome him. Tell me, 1968, what can we expect from you . Well, theres riots, poverty, sitins, overpopulation, famine. I see. You want to hear the bad news, now . Hi. This is Johnny Carson. As you know, this is usual starting time for the tonight show. But because of the critical war situation in vietnam, nbc, for the next 15 minutes, is going to bring you a special news program, via satellite. On the morning of january 31st, both sides claimed victory. But 1,100 american soldiers lie dead. Reporter seven young and earnest protestors burned draft cards. In 1968, there were many americas. There was black america and white america. His running mate, nixon. There was establishment america, antiestablishment of america. And the culture was complicated. The culture was divisive. The tension in the air of 1968 couldnt be ignored, no matter how many blinders that you chose to put in front of your eyes. All kinds of changes were pushed through. Its the time when women said, listen. Were not just this. We want to run these companies. Were not playing with you, anymore. Its the year of the afro. Boom. Natural hair. Change. Things were no longer going to be the status quo. I never see no road other than the one it was the time of protest. Black community had risen up with righteous indignation. Could no longer tolerate racial indiscretions being heaved upon us. We felt a need to do more than just sing. We had to have a point of view, and began to speak out. When you look at the late 60s, the exposure that white americans were getting on the news was the covering of the civil rights marchs and the Civil Rights Movement that was happening. But we were still watching shows like bonanza, beverly hillbillies, i dream of genie. Very, very White Television shows. We were seeing depictions of the old west. Depictions of suburban families. Television shows had, always, very difficult relationship with reality. And there were a lot of, well say, fantasy sitcoms that, really, sort of avoided race. And what was going on in the country. My personal experience has been that theres an enormous reluctance, on the part of the media, to expose black life as it really is. How it reflects the mood of the nation . It reflects our politics. It reflects our culture. It reflects our hopes and aspirations. And it lies a lot about who we are. None of us thought we were going to be in the future. If you are a scifi person, which i am, you never saw us represented in the future times of america. We were never there. We were never at the beach blanket bingo. Hello . We hear that the girls are all over at your house. We were never where the boys were. We just werent there. We werent represented. Television was a medium that was still figuring out its relationship to power, in a lot of ways. Tv wasnt a crossover medium. There are few black stars in television, at that time, who have been able to kind of rise to the top. Harry belafonte was one of those. Harry belafonte was a huge celebrity, at the time. Who produced recordsetting album after album. The first performer to sell over a million copies of a single album. What mr. Belafonte wound up doing was taking the art form of calypso music. And making it mainstream for americas taste. In the west indies, there are many languages that have invaded those islands. French, english, the spanish. It comes out in a strange tongue. Just say it with me. I wonder why nobody dont like me. All right, george. I think hes got it. I wonder why nobody dont like me or is it a fact that im ugly i wonder why nobody dont like me or is it the fact that im ugly harry was also a movie star. He was a household name, black and white. In your heart, deep down inside. Dont you still think of us as slaves . We saw him in iconic films like carmen jones. Bright road. Odds against tomorrow. Island in the sun. Today, we take it for granted. But in the 1950s, that was a radical idea to have a black artist have a white fan base, at a time in which there was still legal segregation. Legal segregation. Look limu someone out there needs help customizing their Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so they only pay for what they need. False alarm. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. Shes confident, protected, her strength respected. Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. Which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. Ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr her2 metastatic Breast Cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Be in your moment. Ask your doctor about ibrance. If you look at some of his early television, musical sort of variety shows. I mean, there was just a fascination and an appeal that you couldnt find it anywhere else on television. So beautiful, not one so beautiful i know when those women, whatever nationality they were, when they saw harry, it was all about because sexys sexy, no matter what. One of the most important trailblazing crossmedia superstars of the century. There are many sides to the legend of Harry Belafonte. Singer, actor, activist. As artists, we revoice joicee knowledge that Human Experience has no color, and we believe that artists have invaluable function, in any society, since it is the artists who reveal the society to itself. My father was a political person, before he became an artist. His mother was a political person. His environment that he grew up in, was exposed to, was political. He wanted to take every opportunity that he could to bring forth a Civil Rights Movement. He always used whatever platform he had as an opportunity to educate and motivate and activate audiences. Our cause in america is an honorable cause. And oft times, we feel it is more than we can bear. Rosa parks and one day i got a phone call. Said, mr. Belafonte . Yes. You may not know me. No reason for you to, except i need to talk to you. I said fine. My name is Martin Luther king jr. He said the things youve said and done, i really believe you could be an important component to this adventure that im embarking on. And listening to what he had to say, i knew that, forever, id be in his service. Ladies and gentlemen, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the reverend dr. Martin luther king. Once i took up with him, my life never went anywhere else but there. But not only is harry a great artist, he is a great humanitarian. No performing artist in the United States or in the world has raised as much money for the Civil Rights Movement as Harry Belafonte. I respond as often as possible to dr. King because i believe the salvation of america and our potential is in our capacity to deal humanistically and nonviolently with our difficulties. People who worked with johnny, at the time, would say he was conversant with the Civil Rights Movement. I cant sit here and say i understand because we cant. He understood many of the issues. But he was not comfortable enough to say im going to do a week of shows about whats going on in the country. When i was out in las vegas, i did the thing with the audience and there were a lot of questions. And id get questions, political, you know, what do you think of so and so . And i found, no matter when sic side you go, youre going to end up, if you are a straight entertainer, losing half your audience. He, as an entertainer, did not feel like getting up on the soapbox. But he certainly supported the other entertainers who who were doing that. I also admire Marlon Brando for his conscious as an american and his moral commitment when he believes in something. So i think he thought im going to have a guest host come on. And the guest hosts can address what i think are serious issues. I do think carson was trying to make a statement. How can you not talk about all the things that are going on in the craziest year in American History . Even my midwestern, middle of the country audience, they need to see this. This is only six years into Johnny Carsons tenure, that he did that. So he wasnt doing it from the safe harbor of im the king of late night. He was still fairly new in the job. But it was in his head that Harry Belafonte was the right guy. I said no, at first, because i couldnt do what johnny did. I cant tell jokes and whatnot. We know Harry Belafonte had been burned by television, before. In 1959, he had this special called tonight with belafonte. It was fantastic. It won an emmy. And the sponsor, which was r revlon, actually offered him an ongoing series, after that. He called it new york 19. I dont want to be a monkey, my brother say that he will combat a hug the First Episode ran in 1960 to rave reviews. But when he started to plan the next episode, the sponsor called him in and had a problem with the fact that harry used multiracial cast. And the sponsor told him pick a black cast but none of this mixing. And harry walked away. Thank you for being with us. See you around. My father didnt always trust what the outcomes of a certain opportunity might bring. And so, he turned a lot of things down. Tonight, we take a look at negro humor in america. We call it a time for laughter. If it wasnt going to be in an inclusive way, that he envisioned, both racially but i think, most importantly, artistically, let alone politically, didnt want that to be part of his legacy. That sounds like a rabid dog oh thats an old civil rights chaser being on television, reaching a lot of people, and having this amazing opportunity that might only come once in your entire lifetime. And Harry Belafonte had to be convinced. It was joh