political figures owned stock in a radio station in Los Angeles and referred Carson to her brother, who was influential in the emerging television market in Southern California. Carson went to work at CBS-owned Los Angeles television station KNXT. He would later joke that he owed his success to the birds of Omaha.
In 1953, comic Red Skelton a fan of Carson’s sketch comedy show Carson’s Cellar, which appeared from 1951 to 1953 on KNXT asked Carson to join his show as a writer. Skelton once accidentally knocked himself unconscious an hour before his show went on the air live. Carson filled in for him.
Carson hosted several shows before The Tonight Show, including the game show Earn Your Vacation (1954), and the variety show The Johnny Carson Show (1955-1956). He was a regular panelist on the original To Tell the Truth until 1962, and hosted the game show Who Do You Trust? (1957-1962), where he met his future sidekick Ed McMahon.
In 1960, Carson was
