The estate of the late king of latenight, Johnny Carson, has approved the telling of his story on a major TV outlet, reports the well-respected Brian Lowry in  Variety [NOTE: Variety is behind a firewall and may ask you to pay to see this story.]

Peter Jones will be the director of the project, which will be a two-hour documentary, and KCET Los Angeles will be the presenting station. The documentary will likely air in 2012.

Jones’ previous TV projects include the Turner Classic Movies tribute to Bette Davis, "Stardust: The Bette Davis Story."

Jones said he started writing letters to Carson about the idea soon after the latenight host left NBC. According to the article, "Carson called him in 2003, Jones recalled in an interview, saying that while he admired the letters the producer had sent, ‘I’m not going to do anything, because I just don’t give a shit.’ "

For this project Jones will work with Carson’s nephew, Jeff Solzing, and, says the article, "Jones will have full access to the program, including rarely seen clips he’ll be able to cross-reference online, such as Carson discussing his childhood in Nebraska. He also plans to conduct original interviews."