HEEEEEEERE'S TO JOHNNYBoth King and Court Jester
by Wendel Potter
February 5, 2005
In May of 1992, Johnny Carson signed off the air. While he looked ahead the rest of us looked back on nearly 30 years of Johnny manning the desk of the Tonight Show.
Over those years, a multitude of guest hosts filled that chair behind the desk when Johnny was away. But none of them could fill his shoes.
Johnny's absence always loomed larger than his substitute's presence.
One of those guest hosts was Joan Rivers, who became Johnny's solo sub for several years in the 1980's. Those were the years I was writing comedy material for Joan and when she would step out on the Tonight Show stage and began firing off one-liners she had bought from me, I felt like I was somehow a tiny part of that show--that I, too, had marked a spot on Johnny's stage.
In reality, I drew much closer to that stage in 1986. I received a phone call from the assistant to Johnny Carson's head writer. She said that Johnny was possibly looking to add writers to the Tonight Show staff and he was interested in seeing my material. I was then assigned to write material for Johnny's Floyd R. Turbo character as well as an "Art Fern Tea Time Movie" skit.
I was told that Johnny acts very quickly and was advised to be in the L.A. area and ready to go to work if a decision to hire me was made. I Fed-Ex'd the fruits of my assignment and arrived in California shortly after. When I checked in with the Tonight Show offices, I was told my material was on Johnny's desk and I should hear something very soon.
One of the fine points of comedy is timing. If the timing is poor, the punchline goes flat. So it was ironic for this comedy writer that poor timing would seal his fate.
I had not been in L.A. a week when the news hit that Joan Rivers was leaving Johnny to start her own, competing talk show on the Fox Network. Anyone who followed the Johnny-Joan saga remembers that Carson did not take the news well and that he felt betrayed by the comedienne. It was also common knowledge that anyone associated with Joan would not have a home at the Tonight Show.
So where did I stand with Johnny? Obviously, my material made it to his desktop because of my link to Joan Rivers. So my ensuing calls to NBC were received coldly and I was left with the old "Don't call us, we'll call you" routine. Eventually, I returned to Nebraska which holds (again ironically) Johnny's roots.
That was my one shot at the Tonight Show. Yes, I felt a little bitter toward King Johnny and even moreso toward Queen Joan. There really was no reason to resent either one of them, I suppose. As they say, "That's show business!"
I never stopped watching Carson or marvelling at his genius. He continued to be welcome in my living room each week night.
Thirteen years ago, on that final "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", the man left us with the implication that one day he might return in some capacity. He left us with hope.
On January 23, 2005, all hope was vanquished. Johnny said his goodbyes in 1992. Now we're saying ours.
So what was so very special about this charming, genial gentleman from Nebraska who left an Omaha radio job for a shot at success on the West Coast?
Carson had the knack, always did, of immediately connecting with an audience. He didn't worry about demographics, never catered to a particular age group merely to garner that highly valued ratings share for the network. He just threw it out there and we all showed up. He held court. He was king.
Carson's skits were silly but not idiotic. And if a joke or a sketch wasn't working, Johnny knew it and proceeded to ad-lib and make fun of the situation, drawing even bigger laughs. The King worked not only by script, but by instinct.
Johnny did his share of risqué jokes. But his style, impeccably perfected with boyish charm, made the jokes naughty, but not dirty. That twinkle in his eye told us that he was merely toying with the censors and he was letting us in on his anti-establishment fun.
Johnny's line-up of guests, too, was something to behold. On any given night, he could assemble a Hollywood "A" Team-the true "A" team that brought with it grace and talent and wicked charm-to sink into the cushions of the guest sofa to the right of his desk.
Today we seem only to get cleavage-bearing starlets and cocky actors, all of whom are under the delusion that because they've scored a hit in one movie they've suddenly grown an intellect overnight. Worse yet, today's hosts cave in to these notions.
Not so with Johnny. If a guest was too full of him- or herself, it might be a long time, if ever, before that guest would be invited back.
And to be banished from Johnny's "Tonight Show" kingdom could be a kiss of death in the entertainment industry.
Thirty years of Johnny doesn't seem to have been enough. Like the exclamation point at the end of a sentence, Johnny was there for us at the end of a long day. What he did or said was the talk of the workplace the next morning.
It would have been an honor to work for him. But it remained a pleasure to watch him.
Johnny was the king and we were all subject to him. It made staying up late at night worth it.
Copyright 2005 Wendel Potter
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