January 23, 2005

Johnny Carson, 1925 - 2005.

Johnny Carson
In his monologue and in his time, Mr. Carson impaled the foibles of seven presidents and their aides... as well as the doings of assorted nabobs and stuffed shirts from the private sector: corporate footpads and secret polluters, tax evaders, preening lawyers, idiosyncratic doctors, oily accountants, defendants who got off too easy and celebrities who talked too much.

Richard Severo, in an obituary for the New York Times that emphasizes on television specifically and pop culture in general.

Carson hit his professional peak during the indulgent late 60s and early 70s.... [The Tonight Show] was America's late-night cocktail lounge, the televised nephews of the original Rat Pack. Guests smoked and drank on camera without guile. Marriage was just a punchline, as gleaming medallions nestled in thatches of chest hair, braless breasts spilled out of dresses. Guests never chuckled - laughter was accompanied by a thrown-back head, a fit of cigarette coughing, a spill of the bourbon.

Jack Boulware, Salon, February 2001.

The official site and the Wikipedia entry.



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Posted by dwhudson at January 23, 2005 1:33 PM

Comments

Johnny Carson

Nearly five thousand times
He came out upon that stage
And in entertainment’s history
He wrote a very unique page.

He also "made" many a star
And launched some great careers
And everyone who was someone
Was his guest throughout those years.

Some twenty thousand people
Sat across him in the "chair"
He made them all feel welcome
And he really seemed to care.

He had his own brand of humor
Making funny, what was not
An honest, too good Entertainer
And what you saw is what you got.

Millions of us stayed up late
To see what he had up his sleeve
And now, that show is "really" over
And we are all left here to grieve.

And those who didn’t "know" him
Before he left that stage in Ninety-two
Will never know how much they missed
Now that his time on Earth is through.

But there will be a "Tonight Show"
Forever, somewhere up on high
As Johnny welcomes all those Stars
Who have passed this World by.

Del "Abe" Jones
White Bluff, TN
January 23, 2005

Posted by: Charles D. Jones at January 25, 2005 2:16 PM