History of Late Night TV
Above: A youthful Carson poses with an owl and a typwriter.
A Carson Collage
Left: the king of late night in silhouette on the night of his final show on May 22, 1992. Over 50 million people watched this episode, a landmark moment in the history of television.
Here were his fnal words that night..
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And so it has come to this: I, uh... am one of the lucky people in the world; I found something I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I want to thank the people who've shared this stage with me for thirty years. Mr. Ed McMahon, Mr. Doc Severinsen, and you people watching. I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And I hope when I find something that I want to do and I think you would like and come back, that you'll be as gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night. |
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As a Navy man, Johnny was 10-0 as an amateur boxer.
Johnny's first guest on The Tonight Show in 1962 was Groucho Marx, on the left.
Left: Johnny's final guest before retiring in 1992 was Bette Midler, who sang "One for my Baby, and One More for the Road" --one of his favorite songs. Robin Williams was also on this program.
Above: Late night TV titans, Carson and Letterman.
Above: Doc (1967-1992 bandleader), Johnny, and Ed
Above: Before hosting The Tonight Show, Johnny hosted game shows for ABC, where he first teamed up with Ed McMahon. Prior to 1958, McMahon was working as an announcer/pitch man for several Philadelphia TV shows. Ed was a proud Marine fighter pilot who fought in World War II and Korea.
Above: Here's Johnny with his comic idol, Jack Benny. Carson admired Benny's comic timing and his deadpan delivery. Benny predicted that big things were ahead for Johnny. What an understatement!
Right: Johnny and Ed celebrate an early Tonight Show anniversary with their original bandleader (1962-1966), Skitch Henderson.
Right: Johnny with an up-and-coming comedienne, Joan Rivers, in the 1960s. Joan credited Johnny for giving her encouragement early in her career. They would be close until she betrayed him by hosting a competing late night show on Fox in the 1980s. After that, the two never spoke again.
On the left, Johnny with his home telescope. Did you know that Johnny was an amateur star-gazer and good friends with astronomer Carl Sagan? Also, he was a physics minor during his years at University of Nebraska. (His major was radio/speech).
