Johnny Carson, the “King of Late Night TV,” ranked as number one TV icon in TV Land Presents: The 50 Greatest TV Icons, created by Entertainment Weekly and TV Land.

The two-hour TV Land special, premiering November 16 at 8 p.m., will look at individuals who have made their indelible mark in TV history. The complete list will be 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 their work.

Viewers will also be invited to text their choices for who they believe should be the number one icon during the special’s premiere. The top picks will be featured throughout the show with the final tabulated number one viewers choice revealed at the end of the show.

The winners include 12 Icons from the classic television era of the 1950s to 1960s; 21 Icons from the 1970s to 1980s and 17 Icons from the modern era of 1990s to 2000s. There are 22 comedy icons; 10 drama icons; 8 variety show icons; 5 talk show icons; 2 news icons; 1 soap opera icon; 1 game show icon and 1 sports show icon.

For more show details visit www.tvland.com.

The 50 Greatest TV Icons:
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

About The Author

Bessie King is a Blast contributing editor. She can be reached at [email protected]

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