The King is Dead, Long Live the King

The king is dead long live the king.

Johnny Carson was, is and always will be the rightful king of late night television. Since his retirement on May 22, 1992 there have been many pretenders to the throne. There is no comparison you can throw out the name of every successor but not one a will ever enjoy the love affair with the American public that Johnny did.

I discovered Johnny Carson and the Tonight Show when I was eleven years old. I have never been a heavy sleeper and from a young age I suffered from chronic insomnia. It was sometime in 1970 that I began sneaking out of bed, I would wait until my parents were asleep before creeping out of my room. I would sit in the dark as close to the screen as possible. I would keep the sound low and would randomly flip through the seven channels we had at the time until something would catch my attention.

Until one night, when I happened to land on NBC just as the words “Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny” came across the airwaves. From that moment on my late night attention was captured by Johnny Carson’s presence. I was mesmerized not just by the host but also by the parade of stars that would come out to visit with him and with us the viewing audience.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in the Los Angeles area. When my best friend and I discovered a mutual appreciation for the king of late night we began making biannual pilgrimage’s to beautiful downtown Burbank to watch tapings of the show. Over the years we probably attended more than twenty tapings and we never left the studio disappointed.

If I had to choose one Tonight Show moment it from 1981 when Jimmy Stewart read Johnny a poem he had written about his dog Beau. It was not necessarily the best poem ever written but the sentiment was clear. When Mr. Stewart came to the end of the poem where he discussed Beau’s death and how much he missed that dog Johnny had tears streaming down his face.

When Johnny announced in 1992 that he was going to retire has the host of the Tonight Show we knew we had to be in the audience for the last public taping which was to take place on May 21, 1992. NBC kept their long-standing policy for that taping first come, first served. No reservations and no cost to the public.

We were fortunate enough to be the second and third people in line. Of course we were there early and we spent the night on the cold sidewalk but it was more than worth it. In the morning news agencies from around the world descended on the line to find out why we were there and what Johnny Carson meant to the world.

If anyone has tapes of any of the morning shows like Today or Good Morning America from that morning you can see my friend and I eating cold cereal and telling the world why we were there.

His final public taping lived up to all of the hype. His monologue and his timing were just as perfect as always. However, that final show for me will be defined by Bette Midler sitting on Johnny’s desk and singing “One For My Baby” directly to him. It was as if for a few moments the audience was not even there. The tears in his eyes spoke volumes about the man. When the taping finished and Johnny took his final public curtain call the ovation lasted for quite a while. Johnny appeared humbled and attempted to leave the stage but we were not able to let him go. With misty eyes he gave us one final wave and exited the stage.

Thank you Johnny for all the memories, the laughter, and the tears and for giving us thirty unbelievable years out of your life. You will be missed.