Johnny Carson Crowned the Number One TV Icon in TV Land and Entertainment Weekly's The 50 Greatest TV Icons
Two-Hour Special Premieres on TV Land on Friday, November 16 at 8 P.M. (ET/PT) and List Prominently Featured in Entertainment Weekly on Newsstands the Same Day
NEW YORK, Nov. 13 -- Legendary Johnny Carson -- the "King of Late Night TV" -- is ranked the number one TV icon in Entertainment Weekly and TV Land Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons, premiering on Friday, November 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The two-hour TV Land special looks at individuals like Carson in addition to the great Lucille Ball and the hilarious Jerry Seinfeld, who have all made their indelible mark in TV history. The complete list will be revealed in the TV Land Original special and in Entertainment Weekly's annual DVD issue on stands that day. The magazine feature celebrates each icon's contribution to television along with DVD recommendations from each of the icons' work. The TV special is produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions.
The 50 Greatest TV Icons features original talent interviews and archival clips of the entertainers who made the list as well as those who have been deeply influenced by them. From Oprah Winfrey to Simon Cowell and Susan Lucci to Homer Simpson, this countdown special showcases the stars who made a huge impact on television and continue to stand the test of time.
Viewers will be invited to text their choices for who they believe should be the #1 icon during the special's premiere. Viewers' top picks will be featured throughout the show with the final tabulated #1 viewers' choice revealed at the end of the special.
The 50 Greatest TV Icons by the numbers:
-- 12 Icons from the classic era (1950s-1960s); 21 Icons from the 1970s-1980s and 17 Icons from the modern era (1990s-2000s).
-- There are 22 Comedy Icons; 10 Drama Icons; 8 Variety Icons; 5 Talk Show Icons; 2 News Icons; 1 Soap Icon; 1 Game Show Icon and 1 Sports Icon.
-- There are 29 Men; 17 Women; 2 Non-human; 1 Animated and 1 Ensemble Cast.
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The list of The 50 Greatest TV Icons in numerical order:
50. Larry Hagman
49. Calista Flockhart
48. Jimmy Smits
47. Simon Cowell
46. Lassie
45. Sarah Michelle Gellar
44. Susan Lucci
43. Flip Wilson
42. James Gandolfini
41. Jon Stewart
40. Sally Field
39. Jennifer Aniston
38. Bea Arthur
37. George Clooney
36. Diahann Carroll
35. Michael J. Fox
34. Bob Barker
33. Ellen DeGeneres
32. Henry Winkler
31. Sarah Jessica Parker
30. Alan Alda
29. John Ritter
28. Howard Cosell
27. Regis Philbin
26. Farrah Fawcett
25. Heather Locklear
24. Michael Landon
23. Barbara Walters
22. Milton Berle
21. Kermit
20. Carroll O'Connor
19. Andy Griffith
18. William Shatner
17. Bob Newhart
16. David Letterman
15. "Not Ready for Primetime Players"
14. Ed Sullivan
13. Jackie Gleason
12. Dick Van Dyke
11. Roseanne
10. Dick Clark
9. Homer Simpson
8. Jerry Seinfeld
7. Mary Tyler Moore
6. Carol Burnett
5. Walter Cronkite
4. Bill Cosby
3. Oprah Winfrey
2. Lucille Ball
1. Johnny Carson
The 50 Greatest TV Icons is a Gay Rosenthal Production produced exclusively for TV Land. Executive Producers are Gay Rosenthal and Paul Barrosse from Gay Rosenthal Productions and Sal Maniaci, Senior Vice President, TV Land, Development and Original Programming. Nicholas Caprio of Gay Rosenthal Productions is Co-Executive Producer.
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