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 – 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.

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.

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.

I over the years may have watched from time to time "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" on a rare occasion when I would set up perhaps from not having school or being on school break, yet mostly my mom made me go to bed. Still thru classic footage and clips and old rerun shows on digital TV I've saw some episodes of Johhny Carson. And his show was a delight a treat the man was very funny and wise as the skits on his show were thoughtful and well done and his sidekick Ed MacMahon was always a good buddy what more can you say Carson ruled the late night airwaves for right at thirty years. Johnny helped pave the way for Jay Leno and David Letterman as they made appearances on his show many times doing stand up and even guest hosting when Johnny was out or away. And the guests of Carson were always A list from Hollywood's best, and he had sports and political figures on and many of today's well known comedian's got their first light of the TV camera on his show. So anytime you see an episode your looking at TV history and pop culture entertainment at it's best.