Johnny Carson

**Roadhawg** · 05-15-2012, 07:53 AM

I watched a PBS show on the life of Johnny Carson last night. I remember both my parents and then myself watching him when he was on. There will never be another Johnny.

**ctchandler** · 05-15-2012, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by Roadhawg

I watched a PBS show on the life of Johnny Carson last night. I remember both my parents and then myself watching him when he was on. There will never be another Johnny.

Roadhawg,
I wanted to watch it but I'm in London right now so I missed it. I hope it is repeated or made available on dvd. I recorded his last two weeks on vhs tapes but the fact is, nothing is like the memories of watching him from 1966 till he retired.
C. T.

**SoonerDave** · 05-15-2012, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Roadhawg

I watched a PBS show on the life of Johnny Carson last night. I remember both my parents and then myself watching him when he was on. There will never be another Johnny.

AARRGGHH!!! I saw that on the program guide but FORGOT about it!!!! Hopefully it will be repeated.

Carson was absolutely one of a kind. He was kind of a recluse the last few years of his life. I remember him talking about some projects he was working on under the Carson Productions name once he retired from The Tonight Show, but it wasn't long when a magazine article came out that basically said all Carson Productions did was manage the licensing and rights to the videos and stuff. They did a couple of sitcom pilots during that time, but that was about it.

The great thing about Carson was that he always was focused on entertaining the audience. He wouldn't hesitate to skewer a politician, but he didn't get into the partisan stuff a lot of contemporary comics do. I remember him saying once that (paraphrased) "People aren't here to listen to my politics, they want to be entertained" (again, that's an approximate quote, but its in good faith).

The Carnac skits were some of the most outrageously funny stuff ever.

I actually got to see a live tonight show taping when I was about 17. Jimmy Stewart was a guest, and we had to wait literally all day in front of the NBC/Burbank studios in line to get in - and that was after you stood in line in the wee hours of the morning to get a ticket that did NOT guarantee you'd get in to see the taping. You took the studio tour, saw lots of half-assembled sets, which was kinda neat. The killer for my mom and me was that just about a half-hour before taping, in rolls about two or three *tour buses* of folks who roll in ahead of us and get first-cut at seating. I was afraid we wouldn't get in, and the day was going to be wasted. But we got in, and it was a great deal of fun. Remember being struck at how small the set was, and how short Carson was.....and how quickly the hour passed.

Good memories, fun time

**Sheetkeecker** · 05-15-2012, 04:07 PM

I think you can watch the whole program on PBS.org

**Larry OKC** · 05-16-2012, 09:12 AM

Read recently (think it was last Sunday's Parade) where Carson was known for being reclusive away from the show. It mentioned he was always craving his mother's approval and rarely getting it. When he got the Tonight Show, he asked her what she thought and the reply was something along the lines of "I liked Jack Parr, you aren't him"...Ouch!

**Roadhawg** · 05-17-2012, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Larry OKC

Read recently (think it was last Sunday's Parade) where Carson was known for being reclusive away from the show. It mentioned he was always craving his mother's approval and rarely getting it. When he got the Tonight Show, he asked her what she thought and the reply was something along the lines of "I liked Jack Parr, you aren't him"...Ouch!

Yeah the show I watched covered he and his mother... she was a hard person to please.