# Johnny Carson comes to...the fork in the road. 1925-2005

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-comes-to-the-fork-in-the-road-1925-2005/286278>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 23, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-comes-to-the-fork-in-the-road-1925-2005/286278 "2005-01-23T18:50:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-comes-to-the-fork-in-the-road-1925-2005/286278/1 "2005-01-23T18:50:02Z")

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It was announced over MSNBC cale about 1:50pm ET that Johnny Carson has died. Cause: complications from emphysema.

Thanks for showing that a whitebread guy from the midwest could be funny, paving the way for Dave Letterman et al. Thanks for maintaining the big band, schticky Vegas comics, etc. in a bubble of sublime cultural irrelevancy. Thanks for Carnac, Art Fern, Floyd R. Turbot and asking Zsa Zsa to move the damn cat.

_Requiescat in Pacoima_.

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**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnny-carson-comes-to-the-fork-in-the-road-1925-2005/286278/2 "2005-01-23T19:16:17Z")

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Our resident “Angel Of Celebrity Death” **Eve** beat you to it by a few minutes (no doubt her’s got in while you were typing, with such a short time difference, so I’m not accusing you of not noticing it or not searching.)

> **[The Goodnight Show: Johnny Carson dead at 79](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298475)**
>
> Just clicked on CNN and heard a bulletin; don’t think there’s anything on the news sites yet. Well, he had a good, long, happy life, and a nice retirement.

And not to kick a man when he’s down or anything, but the cat quip probably never happened. [http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/zsazsa.htm](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/zsazsa.htm)