Johnny Carson Died — Page 2

I just read about it at cnn.com. He was 79. I remember when he came on The Tonight Show in 1962. Graucho Marx had it briefly that summer. I was 16. Johnny Carson was funny. He knew when to be funny and when to be serious. He was a fixture for 30 years. Jay Leno and David Letterman are good but they are second generation Johnny Carsons.
Jim Colyer

I know what you're saying PC, but the thing that bothers me the most about Leno is something you NEVER saw Johnny do. He never made a joke about anything that was at the expense of somebody else. Making others look stupid or foolish was just not in his repertoire. I have never watched Leno that he hasn't done exactly that. Johnny would make joke after joke at his own expense - but never at anybody else's. He was a gentleman of the first magnitude - always hysterically funny and always warm and gracious to others.

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This is one of those iconic losses for baby boomers.

When I was in high school, I'd take a disco nap after school (before there was such thing as a disco nap) to stay up and watch Johnny. I especially treasure the first half of his Tonight stand--his New York years. He provided access to a sophisticated world a (Virginia) kid could only aspired to. For many of us, his show was our introduction to adult tastes, wit--a point of view otherwise lacking in our lives. He offered this 90 minutes per day, and you had to watch it as it happened. There was no video or TiVo. There's something about that in-the-moment experience that is lost forever. You had to listen, you had to watch, and if you were young, and green, you learned. There is no equivalent now, no matter what one feels about Leno and Letterman.

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(and, please, bso, not PC...thanks...::points you to my profile:: hah)

I'm sorry - I forgot!

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So sad. Carson was brilliant.

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We are sad here on earth, but I bet the angels are laughing - they have one of the best comedians with them now.

RIP Johnny!

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I JUST watched my Johnny Carson Collection last nite, too!

RIP Mr. Carson.

I love you dearly. You were a part of my growing up. You're late nite show was the best - and nothing since hasn't come close.

As I cry now, listening to Bette Midler singing to you "One More For The Road" on your last show in 1992, I watch you cry, and I recall the stunned faces of my friends as I told them today after rehearsal.

"So thanks for the cheer,
...for all of the years,
the laughs and the tears,
for the class that you showed.
Make it one for my baby,
and one more for the road.
That long, long road."

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I had the honor of meeting Johnny Carson while my Girl Scout troop was taking the NBC studio tour in NY somewhere around 1967. He let me sit at his desk. It seemed to me that I had marked a milestone in my life when I was allowed to stay up and watch the Tonight's Show. My favorite will always be the amimals with Jim Fowler and Joan Embery. He was a natural with them. His characters were great and my favorite will always be Carnak. He was a simple man who made us laugh at anything. And to think the careers that he launched for so many people. After watching the tributes to him on TV today , all I can say is what a wonderful way to remember this man.............WITH LAUGHTER!

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Updated On: 1/24/05 at 08:15 PM