# Johnny Carson August 25 1987 deleted name in joke **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [December 3, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105 "2020-12-03T12:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/21 "2020-12-03T21:48:26Z")
Jackson is mentioned in the line about how many democrats there are right before this, so it wouldn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/22 "2020-12-03T22:01:15Z")
Has anyone else considered the possibility that the name being deleted was part of the joke, thus always present? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/23 "2020-12-03T22:02:34Z")
To make the joke work, it has to be somebody perfect except for the fact that he’s running as a Democrat. Probably Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/24 "2020-12-03T22:09:05Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Has anyone else considered the possibility that the name being deleted was part of the joke, thus always present? It sounded like it was electronically garbled afterward. And not what the studio audience would have heard. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/25 "2020-12-03T22:11:14Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It sounded like it was electronically garbled afterward. Which does not discount the possibility that there is no footage of a non-garbled version for mass consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/26 "2020-12-03T22:18:31Z")
I think it was heard appropriately when originally broadcast. Back then, they “BEEEEEEEEP” material. later methods use the garbled technique. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/27 "2020-12-04T05:52:55Z")
They reversed the audio on the name. It’s Jesse Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/28 "2020-12-04T14:51:58Z")
Here is the entire quote including Jackson in the set up: > How many can remember the names of the 7 democratic candidates. I get lost. There’s Hart, Dukakis, Babbitt, _ **Jackson** _, Bashful, Dopey, Sneezy. > Yeah, well to give an idea of how much trouble the democrats are in the experts say that [deleted] is ahead, and he is unelectable. So it doesn’t make any sense at all to mention Jackson in the setup if Jackson is going to be the punchline. Plus there is no offensive reason to delete Jackson’s name. I respectfully disagree that it was Jesse Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/29 "2020-12-04T14:57:38Z")
It makes perfect sense if Carson is citing “the experts.” In other words, he’s giving _their_ opinion, not his. So it isn’t even really a joke. I can only speculate that powers sympathetic to Jackson lobbied to have his name altered; or, it was done to avoid a potential lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/30 "2020-12-04T15:10:42Z")
I will most definitely change my mind if someone can capture the clip, ‘unreverse’ it and play it correctly…if that is truly how it was garbled. I’d also gladly accept other hard evidence that it was Jackson. Carson was a master joke teller, any name not mentioned in the set up would be a better fit. “Jesus” sounds more plausible as something that would disturb a group of people ---
**Author:** ![emulsified](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emulsified/32/2915_2.png) [@emulsified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emulsified)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/31 "2020-12-04T15:18:38Z")
Here’s the clip, first as it is in the video, followed by the exact section unreversed using audio editing software. The garbled part is Jesse Jackson. > **[Gofile - Free Unlimited File Sharing and Storage](https://gofile.io/d/cLlTdn)** > > Gofile is a free, secure file sharing and storage platform. With unlimited bandwidth and storage, you can easily store and share files of any type without any limits. Our advanced features, such as CDN support and password protection, make Gofile the... ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/32 "2020-12-04T15:28:48Z")
If it is “Jesse Jackson” it wasn’t deleted for offense nor for not being funny, but rather for making absolutely no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/33 "2020-12-04T15:36:17Z")
Welllll…sunovagun!..I will absolutely accept this as the correct answer! Thanks for doing this and will concede that Jesse Jackson is the correct answer. No wonder it didn’t get a laugh. “Elvis” would have been funnier. weird that they decided to garble it. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/34 "2020-12-04T15:40:27Z")
Maybe it was something like “Jesus” but Johnny or the cue card writer screwed up the line and it was scrubbed out of mere embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Tracker13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tracker13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracker13)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/35 "2022-06-30T02:06:11Z")
Can you post or send me this file? It says the file does not exist when I click on the link. Just watched the episode, and trying to figure out who’s name was deleted, and came across this message board. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/36 "2022-06-30T03:44:40Z")
I don’t have the file but a year and half ago, I apparently captured the audio, played it backwards and it is definitely Jesse Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Tracker13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tracker13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracker13)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/37 "2022-06-30T11:29:53Z")
Okay cool thanks! Was thinking it might be Biden ---
**Author:** ![emulsified](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emulsified/32/2915_2.png) [@emulsified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emulsified)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/38 "2022-06-30T12:20:01Z")
I found the file I made two years ago (time flies). The scrambled name is Jesse Jackson. Here it is: > **[Gofile - Free Unlimited File Sharing and Storage](https://gofile.io/d/9J64mx)** > > Gofile is a free, secure file sharing and storage platform. With unlimited bandwidth and storage, you can easily store and share files of any type without any limits. Our advanced features, such as CDN support and password protection, make Gofile the... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105/39 "2022-06-30T14:32:56Z")
So, something that was fine to broadcast, on TV, 30 years ago, is now bleeped out? We’re regressing. (WeTV edits out the oddest things from L&O. And that show was prime time broadcast TV) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-august-25-1987-deleted-name-in-joke/927105.md?page=1)