The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

As great as Steve Allen and Jack Paar were, Carson took the ball, reshaped it, and sent it in for a shot heard round the world. There is a reason he hosted the show for 30 years, 4 times longer than his 2 predacessors behind him. He was brilliant at making anyone seem interesting. Steve could do it, and so could Jack (though not as well from what I've seen), but Johnny really had a grasp of finding the way to question people to fit their response style. He really was the first true King of Late Night. If others say it's Paar or Allen, then I say Carson became Emporer!

The skits were done cheaply, but they were so much fun, you laughed with them, not at them.

Originally, the Carson's show was 90 minutes, and it was trimmed to 60 in the early 80's since he felt he could not keep the level up like he had in the past, which made the way for David Letterman. Thank You Johnny!

Here's Johnny!!! - What did the Pearly Gatekeeper say when...Johnny arrived there? There will never be another Johnny Carson. The entertainment he provided with the help of thousands of guests over 30 years will never be equaled by anyone. I don't even know that anyone can ever do justice to comment on one of the rare things that rates more than a 10 on a scale of 10 in our lifetimes.

Even before Johnny Carson died, a greater loss was when NBC lost most of his Tonight Shows from the 1960's. If only somebody could find these shows because these are the shows which made him number 1. They were 90 minutes each of Carson arriving at the top of his career. It has been forgotten how hard nosed an interviewer he was during that decade. Also lost are some of the most famous guests in show business during that era & the fact that he would have controversial guests on & face them on any subject during that era.

The greatest thing was Carson arrived at his peak in the 1960's & then amazingly stayed there for three decades. Thank goodness NBC didn't lose any of those other shows. How they got lost makes me wonder if they didn't want the tough hard-nosed Carson who was not afraid to face any guest remembered or if they wanted to lose some of the early images of Johnny smoking on air. I mean, NBC managed to archive all the Original LET'S MAKE A DEAL programs in the same era. Why not the Johnny Carson's?

I have the set of clips of his & every so often I turn them on. I taped his last show, & keep it in my archives. I wish somewhere, somehow, someplace those 1960's shows would show up. At least now that I've seen the best, I can only wish to see it again. We were all blessed to have had Johnny Carson.

Johnny Carson was a trailblazer on late night TV. There were other talk show hosts before and during his tenure. Carson, though, had true charisma, a dry sarcastic wit, and perfect timing. You would be cheered up just by him walking on stage. When a joke bombed, he could find a way to make it the funniest part of the monologue. There has never been a late night host since Johnny Carson who would ask a guest an open ended question, and then just sit back and let the celebrity be brilliant on their own. Every other late show host interrupts guests with their own "funny story" or "punchline" and it is unfortunate. Carson could always do a great set up and then just let the celebrity go with it. I think the recurring guest I enjoyed the most was Joan Embery from the San Diego zoo, bringing animals both creepy and cuddly to crawl all over Carson. Carson always rose to the occasion.

It's probably good Johnny retired when he did. He would have been uncomfortable among most of the talk show hosts who were on the air by the end of the 1990s. Everything became cruder, more political. more of a coliseum. There will never be another Carson.

As an interesting aside, Saturday Night Live came into existence because Carson wanted an extra night off. NBC was already running "The Best of Carson" one day a week, but doubted they could get away with doing that two nights a week. And Carson was going to get his way because he was NBC's only hit TV show in the mid 1970s. Thus Saturday Night Live was born.

Carson is still around on DVD, maybe on Netflix, most definitely on youtube. If you've never seen him at work I suggest you study him for awhile. When he was on we were truly living in a golden age of charm and wit and grace.

Carson – the best at what he did. Enigmatic off camera, from what I understand, but absolutely brilliant on camera. His easy interview style and ability to let his guests be the focus stands in contrast to so many pretenders to his late night throne. His jokes and skits, even the ones that flopped, made you feel like you were "in" on the jokes. I don't remember all of his tenure, but I remember over half of it and can still quote from long ago evenings. Example – Doc Severinson wearing a loud jacket with flowers on it. Johnny: "That's some jacket Doc. Put some fertilizer on it and it might bloom". Doc: "We could dip it in your monologue". Johnny: "I'll suggest that to the new band leader". Spontaneous? Probably not. Hilarious? Absolutely! As fun and nostalgic as it is to see current superstars early in their careers as Johnny gave them their first big break, it is even more of a treat to see so many legendary stars, many still in their heyday. Bob Hope, Lucy, Dean Martin, etc. Like Johnny, they are gone now. And like Johnny, they don't make'm that way any more. Sad, but thank God for DVD and video.

We all received the sad news today that Johnny Carson, in his 80th year of life, died today. Carson had long been retired from his Tonight Show, a show taken over capably by Jay Leno. But there never was anyone like Johnny Carson, and there may never be.

What I most liked about Johnny was his humble approach to his show. He opened with a monologue, he told his jokes plainly and simply, and waited for the laughter. It usually came. Some times it didn't. When the laughs did not come, he took on that familiar sad look of his, and that became the joke.

I was a working person during the run of his show, but Johnny Carson's tonight show was one that I often stayed up late for, it was that good. When the show was still in New York, he of course told New York jokes. One I remember vividly was during one particular cold winter, Johnny simply said, "It was really cold today." Ed McMahon, his trusty sidekick, asked, "How cold was it?" Johnny answered, "It was so cold today, a cab driver was saying something to a pedestrian and his middle finger froze." Another I remember was, when doing his 'Carnac' routine, the answer was "Four on the floor." The question was, "Describe two 80-year old topless go-go dancers."

Johnny of course went to Los Angeles, and there the show took on another dimension. Johnny was quite a prankster, and played a good one on Ed McMahon, not as part of the Tonight Show, but funny anyway. Ed was "set up" by placing some studio property in the trunk of his car. Leaving the studio, guards made a random trunk check, and "discovered" the stolen property. Johnny Carson actually dressed up as one of the guards, Ed McMahon was so flustered, declaring his innocence, it didn't even register to him that he was face to face with his boss!!

But the best thing I liked about Johnny Carson was his interview style. He was the best ever. He would ask a question then shut up and let the guest talk. He didn't have a big ego, like many current TV personalities, and try to show how much he knew. He simply let the other person talk.

Farewell and Godspeed, Johnny Carson.