Johnny Carson

Tonight show legend Johnny Carson died Sunday Jan 23, 2005 of emphysema. Born in 1925, Johnny was

drawn to perform and entertain. He started out in Theatre and as a Magician.

Johnny had taken over the Jack Parr Show in New York City, NBC studio 6B before later moving to

California. Before the takeover, Johnny was talking to Ed McMahon backstage and told him, "When we take

over the Tonight Show, I'm taking you with me.." said Ed McMahon in an interview with Larry King in

December 2003.

Johnny and Ed always clicked when together. One night on the Tonight Show, Ed was doing an Alpo

commercial and the dog could have cared less about the Alpo. Ed was just getting that awkward look when

Johnny came out and played the dog while mimicking actually eating the Alpo. On another occasion, during

the taping of the show, it became obvious that the material was not going well, Ed set fire the the paper

that Johnny was reading. Without flinching, Johnny placed a trash can from behind his desk on top and held

the paper above it, at the same time Doc in the band began playing 'Taps'. Just another example of the

great combination of players on the Tonight Show working as a masterful comic team.

The show was actually taped even though all the clocks you saw would indicate 11:00pm. Ed would start

the show by warming up the audience. Ed needed a catch phrase so as not to become like woodwork on the

show. He thought all weekend before coming up with "Here's Johnny". This caught on like wildfire, everyone

was saying for about 6 months.

One of my favorite scenes from the show was when an elderly woman had brought her rather unusual

chip collection. Johnny had hidden a bowl of chips behind his desk and when she was looking away and

talking to Ed, Johnny went CRUNCH!. The look on the woman's face was priceless!

Johnny met Ed McMahon shortly after Ed came home from Korea. Ed had moved into an apartment building which

only happened to house Dick Clark as well. Dick had invited Ed to a party and asked him to tell some jokes and

generally entertain. Impressed with McMahon, NBC executives asked him to an interview. McMahon said he thought

he had blown the interview, but the executives were pleased with his talents. After taking work on the Jack Parr Tonight

Show, Ed met and clicked with Johnny.

Many entertainers made their careers on Carson's Tonight Show. Steve Martin, previously a writer, did a famous bit

where he asked if he could use Johnny's phone and just check his messages. The first message is from a woman who

tells Steve "don't worry about last night, it can happen to anyone, you're still a man to me..", then a second message,

"don't worry about last night, it can happen to anyone, you're still a man to me..", finally the third message sends Johnny

almost out of his chair laughing. A man leaves this message, "don't worry about last night, it can happen to anyone,

you're still a man to me..".

Politicians also made their mark on the world with an appearance on Johnny Carson. Bill Clinton was the butt of a

long joke when Carson spend over three minutes introducing him, flipping pages like it would never end. Clinton got

the joke, he had just given a speech at the Democratic convention that lasted 45 minutes. When Clinton said,

"in closing.." the applause was almost overwhelming.

We will miss Johnny, he will never be outdone.