# The Goodnight Show: Johnny Carson dead at 79 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277 "2005-01-23T18:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/41 "2005-01-23T22:21:39Z")
I loved watching how he interacted with baby animals-don’t remember the name of the zoo lady who visited, but it was always a great show with little critters crawling all over Johnny. Another performance great is gone. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/42 "2005-01-23T22:41:59Z")
I once saw a tape of Johnny being asked what he wanted on his gravestone. The question seemed to take him by surprise, but he quickly recovered and said, “I’ll be right back.” ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/43 "2005-01-23T22:56:48Z")
With tears in my eyes, all I can say is, if there is a Heaven, “Saint Peter, Heeeere’s Johnnnny!” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/44 "2005-01-23T23:20:59Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > It never even occured to me that he might die this young. 79 is young? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/45 "2005-01-23T23:23:39Z")
“Thanks for the mammaries.” I believe that was a Johnny line, if not, it surely could have been. 🙂 Goodnight Johnny. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/46 "2005-01-23T23:54:35Z")
God this sucks!☹ Honestly, some of my fondest memories from childhood were friday nights (and other non “school nights”) when I could stay up late and watch the tonight show. The void he left when he retired is now eternal, for there shall never, ever be another like Johnny! Who was it that said “A man deserves paradise who can make his friends laugh”? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/47 "2005-01-24T00:00:26Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > “Thanks for the mammaries.” > > I believe that was a Johnny line, if not, it surely could have been. 🙂 > > Goodnight Johnny. There was a show where Dolly Parton was a guest. When she sat down on the panel for the interview, Johnny stared longingly into her ample bosom and said, “I’d give a year’s salary to have a look in there.” Dolly laughed, the audience rolled. At that time his salary was about $5 million/yr. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/48 "2005-01-24T00:10:53Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > I loved watching how he interacted with baby animals-don’t remember the name of the zoo lady who visited, but it was always a great show with little critters crawling all over Johnny. > > Another performance great is gone. ☹ That was Joan Embry. Special Dateline NBC on right now dedicated to Johnny. Another hour at 8. Ed Mcmahon interview tomorrow on Today. NBC News said he died from emphysema. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/49 "2005-01-24T00:17:05Z")
Growing up with Carson’s Tonight show, I didn’t realize for a long time what a comic and improv genius he was. He was great in his monologues, and was the best comic on earth when a joke fell flat, but that seemed fairly static. His last week, he had Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters on, two for the world’s most hyper comic lunatics. And they were riffing on each other, winding each other up in an incredibly fast back and forth. Suddenly I realized that it wasn’t just Williams and Winters, but Carson was there in the middle of them, playing along and fully keeping up. He was amazing, particular since he kept himself toned to the situation so well. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/50 "2005-01-24T00:43:07Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I think Letterman was a lot closer to Johnny. And it’s telling that Carson was sending his jokes to Letterman instead of his ‘heir’ Leno. > > But I wonder if Letterman will even be able to show clips or anything, given that all that stuff is NBC’s property. Actually, not all of it is NBC’s property. Johnny was able tr wrest control of the show from NBC, and he owned the rights to at least the last decade of the show, if not longer. (He was sorely pissed after he found out that NBC had taped over some of the early seasons.) I imagine though, that Letterman will do for Johnny what he did for Rodney Dangerfield, and spend large portions of the show reading gags Johnny did. Some comics said that they fely Johhny _liked it_ when gags in his monologues fell flat, since that gave him the challenge of recovering from the flop. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/51 "2005-01-24T00:52:01Z")
Letterman has been doing “Stump the Band” for several months now. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/52 "2005-01-24T01:01:54Z")
I had CNN on mute for about an hour while I was talking to a friend and saw the same _Tonight Show_ clips over and over and over and over . . . Not a single one of Matinee Girl Carol Wayne–am I the only one who remembers her? Please tell me Larry King is not going to interview Mickey Rooney about this . . . If I accidentally saw thse two evil gnomes on the same screen I’d have to shoot myself . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/53 "2005-01-24T01:10:07Z")
Huh. I’m only 23 and Leno’s imprinted on my brain as the Tonight Show host, not Carson, but this is still surprising. I thought he and Dick Clark were going to live forever. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/54 "2005-01-24T01:20:12Z")
Best improv one-liner ever: Not long after Johnny’s retirement, Letterman gave him a call, on-air. (Paraphrasing David, quoting Johnny) **Dave** : Hi Johnny! How are things in California? **Johnny** : Well the mudslides are putting the fires out… The man will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/55 "2005-01-24T01:45:51Z")
I’ve merged **gobear** ’s **MPSIMS** thread with this one. **Cajun Man** for the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/56 "2005-01-24T01:46:02Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I had CNN on mute for about an hour while I was talking to a friend and saw the same _Tonight Show_ clips over and over and over and over . . . Not a single one of Matinee Girl Carol Wayne–am I the only one who remembers her? I was surprised too. I thought she lasted until the color years. I wonder if there ever any truth to the omnipresent rumor that she was his mistress? (Yes, Virginia, there were rumors before the Internet.) The problem with the old shows isn’t so much that NBC taped them over as that NBC dumped its entire New Jersey warehouse of old shows into the trash as a cost-cutting measure. A few here and there (not sure if any were Carson’s) were literally taken out of dumpsters by people who tried to preserve them, but the vast majority of black and white shows are simply gone. It’s true that they had no idea that that warehouse would someday be worth a billion dollars, but they could at least have had a nice tax writeoff by donating them to a museum or foundation for preservation. As for Carson’s career, any honest appraisal has to be mixed. Almost certainly his best work is now completely lost, so we only have the later days and older memories and memoirs to guide us. He created the modern talk show, a very different beast from the type of show that either Jack Paar or Steve Allen had done. This is both good and bad, as he also moved the show along with the times, changing from a talk format to the comedy format we’re stuck with today. Talk alone was a lot better, especially when he did interviews with people who had something to say beyond plugging their next project. He loved comedy and he could make or break careers, so fortunately most of the careers he made were the right ones. Yet for a good ten years before the end he was just phoning it in, appearing as little as three times a week, forty weeks a year. His jokes and bits had long since gotten stale and out of touch with the times. He was notoriously stingy about giving credit to those whose acts and bits he stole with both hands. He developed a nasty habit of jumping on everybody else’s punchlines, not allowing anyone other than his trusted comedian friends to get a laugh. He probably should have quit in 1982 instead of 1992; and maybe if so late night would look completely different today and not have hardened into a rigid boringness. Overall, he’s still a major figure in television and unlike many of those who get these teary post-death praisefests actually deserves most of the good words. He knew who and what he was, made the most of it that anyone could, and didn’t disgrace or tarnish his memory after he left the stage. Few in Hollywood ever get close to that mark. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/57 "2005-01-24T02:03:07Z")
Johnny Carson hosting Joan Embry had something to do with why I’m now “zoogirl”. I’ll never forget the peeing lemur… Damn ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/58 "2005-01-24T02:18:15Z")
I used to try to con my mom into letting me watch on school nights. As I got into my teens, my mom and I were regular viewers together. So I partly associate Johnny with fond memories of times spent with my mom at a time in my life when, other than “The Tonight Show,” we didn’t have much in common. My three kids are too young to “know” Johnny like I did, but they have been introduced to this incredible comedian through those “Best of…” tapes, and they are all sad. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/59 "2005-01-24T02:28:15Z")
He got me through a lot of sad nights. I wish I could think of somethign clever to post, but I am just glad he finally had a happy marriage and retirement. I can’t even think of a favorite skit, there were too many. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277/60 "2005-01-24T03:01:14Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I was surprised too. I thought she lasted until the color years. _The Tonight Show_ went to color in 1967, and Carol Wayne didn’t even start on the show until 1970\* (her last two appearances were in 1981 and 1984). The videotape archive is virtually complete after 1971. [_The Tonight Show_ guest database.](http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/search/index.jsp) - And it was the perfect _Tonight Show_ guest lineup that night: Buddy Greco, Carol Wayne, Shelley Winters, and Rodney Dangerfield. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goodnight-show-johnny-carson-dead-at-79/286277.md?page=4)