 The Tonight Show Featuring the Finest Moments of Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson’s tenure as host of The Tonight Show for 30 years was both noteworthy and significant. It served as the backdrop for countless iconic TV moments that viewers across generations will always remember. Carson was not someone who shied away from contentious subjects when it was something that he sincerely believed in, despite the fact that many people remember him for his amusing characters and skits. Many of his most memorable moments have been preserved on numerous classic TV DVDs, allowing fans of Carson to repeatedly watch their favorite moments.
Two years after starting his tenure on The Tonight Show, one of Johnny Carson’s most well-known moments occurred, showing the world exactly how fast his wit was. Ed Ames from the Daniel Boone television series visited Carson on April 29, 1965. When Ames threw the tomahawk, it landed directly in the crotch of the wooden silhouette of a man he was using to demonstrate how to throw a tomahawk. Carson joked, “I didn’t even know you were Jewish,” as the audience chuckled. This enduring comedy from television was so well-liked that it was frequently rerun on the anniversary of the program.
Some of the regular personas that Johnny Carson played on The Tonight Show, frequently with the assistance of Ed McMahon, were the subject of other iconic moments. Carnac the Magnificent, a mentalist played by Carson, who claimed to be able to respond to questions sealed in envelopes without ever having seen the question, is arguably the most well-known of these vintage television characters. Of course, the responses would never be straightforward; they would always be puns. He would answer with equally bizarre curses, such as “May a diseased yak befriend your sister,” when the crowd didn’t enjoy one of the gags. Along with these well-known characters, Carson also created Floyd R. Turbo, Ralph Willie, and Aunt Blabby.
Not all of Carson’s comedic skits featured these recurring characters. The iconic television program featured a number of one-off sketches, including one in which Carson played Hamlet and delivered the well-known To Be or Not to Be soliloquy. However, the Johnny Carson rendition included a number of product adverts that directly referenced the well-known Shakespearean lines, resulting in one of the play’s funniest interpretations to date.
In addition to producing laughter and surprising punchlines, Carson occasionally used his show to expose frauds and imposters who preyed on the general audience. The presentation featured Uri Gellar, a well-known medium, in 1973. In order to prevent Gellar or his management from seeing the props before filming, Carson personally set them up for Gellar’s performance. Despite Gellar’s assertions that he possesses real mental abilities, he was unable to perform his typical tricks using the props that Carson had given him. James Randi, a professional stage magician (like Carson himself) who later made an appearance on the program in 1987 to expose the purported faith healer Peter Popoff, had suggested this strategy for exposing Gellar as a hoax. Despite Popoff’s assertion that he learned about the issues of the audience through divine visions, Randi showed Carson and his audience a video of Popoff’s wife telling the people he should heal using a microphone that broadcast to a speaker concealed in his hearing aid.
The Tonight Show also included appearances by zoologists Joan Embery and Jim Fowler, among other iconic TV moments. They brought pets that Carson would frequently interact with; in numerous incidents, Carson was crawled on by smaller pets. One notable occurrence, frequently depicted as a clip, involved Carson getting too close to a panther’s cage, which led to the cat pawing at him. For hilarious effect, Carson sprinted across the stage and leaped into Ed McMahon’s arms.
The final episodes of Johnny Carson’s show were seen as significant events when he left the program. The almost final episode of his had the most touching scene. He had Robin Williams and Bette Midler as guests. Midler started singing after Carson mentioned some of his favorite songs in discussion. She and Carson soon started singing the song together. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) was the last song she sang before leaving the stage. Carson started crying in front of the camera. Using a long camera angle unheard of in Carson’s 30 years of running, this historic and moving occasion was captured on tape. One of his most moving classic scenes went on to set a new standard for late-night television filming.