# Wish Johnny Carson was still around **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247 "2006-10-20T17:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/1 "2006-10-20T17:20:32Z")
I’d love to tune in at 11:30 and hear his take on world events. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/2 "2006-10-20T17:25:41Z")
I’ll second that. Instead, we get Leno’s flat out vulgar riff on whatever child molestation case is in the news. Nothing funnier than joking about that stuff, right? Oh for the days when Carson made double entendres about boobies. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/3 "2006-10-20T18:55:48Z")
May a diseased yak befriend your sister ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/4 "2006-10-20T20:37:44Z")
Agreed. Carson got laughs. If you agree or disagree with Leno’s political position it’s measured in the level of applause. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/5 "2006-10-20T20:40:57Z")
Carnack: Sisss-Boom-Baa!! Funniest line EVER, not just the Carson show! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/6 "2006-10-20T20:56:26Z")
The sound an exploding sheep makes, right? ---
**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:** [October 20, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/7 "2006-10-20T21:26:54Z")
Nonsense. Carson stopped being funny sometime in the 1970s. Unfortunately he stayed on the air until 1992. He did not have a single funny joke about Reagan in eight years of Reagan’s presidency. If you remember his monologues as being funny, especially about politics, you’ve put one or two lines into memory and forgotten the ten thousand that surrounded them in real life. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/8 "2006-10-20T23:24:03Z")
I loved Carson when he was on the air, but he left at the right time. If you watch any of his older shows, you will see how his schtick was really always the same; the standard double-take, the fake coffee spits, the tip-toe around any real political news. Carson was really good for his generation and when he was fresh, but towards the end, he was just phoning it in. I personally like Leno, and Craig Ferguson… Say what you will about Leno, the guy travels all over the US, still doing stand-up and Ferguson is pretty fearless in topical humor. Both are far more up-to-date with current affairs and are not afraid to take some risks. Granted, not every joke is a home run, but they sure don’t pussyfoot around the hot-button subjects like Carson pretty much did all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/9 "2006-10-20T23:42:07Z")
I sometimes miss Carson, too. But I’m a slightly older generation than most of Leno’s audience (okay, a _lot_ older!) I think the difference is that Carson was more sophisticated, while Leno still sounds as if he’s working Dangerfield’s. I still like Leno better than Letterman, though. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/10 "2006-10-20T23:52:18Z")
Bob Newhart is making the rounds peddling his new book, and I must say, the guy is still sharp as a tack and funny to boot. I miss Darryl and his other brother Darryl. Oh, and I liked Leno AND Carson AND Letterman. I try to like Conan but I can’t get into his humor. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/11 "2006-10-21T01:32:36Z")
How old is Leno’s audience? Does he really appeal to young people? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/12 "2006-10-21T03:06:50Z")
I like Leno as a car guy. His monologues aren’t too bad. Letterman is great, give me a wacky bitter honest cynic any day. Conan, I don’t know, seems like I would like him but something just doesn’t click. Yeah Johnny was just phoning it in for the last 5 years or so at least, but still, even when he sucked he was good. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/13 "2006-10-21T16:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Yeah Johnny was just phoning it in for the last 5 years or so at least, but still, even when he sucked he was good. [/QUOTE] Actually, when his jokes bombed was when Johnny was funniest. I was thinking about this the other day. I’m a Letterman watcher and notice that Dave almost always gets a huge laugh for every single monologue joke, regardless of funniness. Sometimes people are laughing at the set-up lines which aren’t meant to be funny. One night the crowd reacted to a throw-away comment about ‘sleeping on Mitzi Shore’s sofa’. You really have to be up on Dave’s past to know why that’s funny, but they laughed like it was the most topical joke of the day. Of course I know laughter can be added later, but since Dave is reacting to the audience, I believe it’s real. It seems like the warm-up guy has done one heck of a job. Or people have been trained to laugh at things that they know are suppose to be funny whether it is or not. Either that or the cold theater really does keep the comedy fresh. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/14 "2006-10-21T16:26:08Z")
[QUOTE=Yookeroo] How old is Leno’s audience? Does he really appeal to young people? [/QUOTE] I don’t think so, but I may be wrong. The Tonight Show humor is kinda old-timey for me, and I’m 31. Conan by far is my favorite, and the only late night talkshow I bother tuning in for. I used to be a big Letterman fan, but even his humor has toned down quite a bit and I don’t bother watching him anymore. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/15 "2006-10-21T16:30:35Z")
I’d like to see what Steve Allen would do with the Tonight Show nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/16 "2006-10-22T15:38:18Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] Of course I know laughter can be added later, but since Dave is reacting to the audience, I believe it’s real. It seems like the warm-up guy has done one heck of a job. Or people have been trained to laugh at things that they know are suppose to be funny whether it is or not. Either that or the cold theater really does keep the comedy fresh. [/QUOTE] I think Dave’s appearance and delivery are the secret, I think he could spout off any random phrase and get a laugh. And come to think of it, he does! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wish-johnny-carson-was-still-around/377247/17 "2006-10-23T04:38:14Z")
You can see the Carnac “Siss Boom Bah” clip [here](http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/carnac_main.jsp#) , and others.