The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

For thirty years Johnny Carson's tonight show defined main stream late night television. For thirty years main stream was a very good thing. I think that the fact that his show hasn't been on since 1992 makes us realize what we have truly missed. Fortunately a lot of his shows have been saved. In the beginning his guests included Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, George Burns, Buddy Hackett and many others too numerous to list. In the end he was discovering the talents of Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr, and Drew Carey. Bob Hope of course was pretty much on his show through out. Thirty years with thousands of quality guests and thousands of quality laughs, that is his legacy. An unmatched legacy indeed.

Carson and company helped lay the foundation for contemporary topical humor in the US. From '62 to '92, the most significant pitches for movies, books and live appearances on the part of actors, authors, politicians and every other kind of luminary came before America and the world at Carson's desk. This show probably experienced an unrepeatable level of success.

This show is downright hilarious! Johnny Carson is the funniest comedian ever! Period. You have to love Johnny. The moments on his show can't be beat. Ed Ames' tomahawk toss, Don Rickles breaks Johnny's cigarette box, Bob Hope's stand-up act about Johnny, the spoofs of Mr. Rogers, Walter Cronkite, and Tarzan, and many, many more. However, I wasn't even a year old when Johnny retired, so I didn't get to see him on NBC. But I have DVDs featuring highlights of his show which are hilarious. They ought to show reruns on E or TV Land or somewhere. I mean this is the King of Late Night, the Silver Fox,America's King of Comedy for 30 years. As my title of this review says, "Funny+Awesome+Classic=Johnny Carson." No matter what anyone says no one will be better than Johnny. No one! Not at all!

For this now geezer, I hardly missed a Carson show from opening in '62 to close in '92. It was always an amusing way to top off a sometimes somber day. Sure, not every episode was top-notch, but still I could count on a few laughs, whether from guests, The Mighty Carson Art Players, or, of course, from Carson himself in his many hosting roles. Then too, I shouldn't exclude the reliable Ed McMahon, flashy Doc Severinson, or dead-pan Tommy Newsome -- all of whom contributed to that 30-year late-night reign. Carson's special ability, I think, was in salvaging a laugh from even the worst material or even the dullest guest, a saving grace that takes real talent. Anyway, mucho thanks Johnny and friends for 30-years of that off-to-bed good feeling.

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.