Your favorite JOHNNY CARSON memory?

When Dick Shawn systematically demolished Johnny's desk while substitute-hosting.

 

Found it;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNhnioNNIPI

Buddy absolutely burns at 2:46.

My favorite humor segments were of the Animals. A Towel most always appeared at the end of these, or something was broken, for some reason or aonther. There wasn't anything on TV to compare it to back then, and there isn't anything now, IMHO.

 

My favorite Johnny Carson memory?

I guess probably being able to stay up and watch the show in my room. I'd gotten a TV for Christmas and for the first time in my life, (I was 18 before I got my own TV) I could stay up and watch what ever I wanted. Johnny was what I watched. The whole hour and a half. Yes, it use to run that long. The original show ran 105 minutes but it was cut down to 90 and then later to an hour.

Then I'd watch Tom Snyder and call it a night.

 

Wasn't there an animal that the keeper (I think it was Jim) said was born with both sex organs? Johnny started riffing on that until the thing lunged at him or bit him? Or was there excrement involved?

 

One of the funniest shows I ever saw featured Burt Reynolds followed by Dom Deluise. Burt and Johnny got into a shaving cream fight, with Dom caught in the middle. The crowd was in hysterics, and wondered what the final guest, Art Carney, would do to top this. Well, Art came out feigning (?) drunkeness, wearing shirt, tie, sport coat and boxer shorts! Everyone lost it, especially when Art was getting too close to letting it all hang out while talking to Johnny. Wish I could get a hold of that show on DVD!

 

I'm not sure I have one favorite - there were so many nights when he and the guests were just "on." Especially the raunchy guy comedians sprinkled in with some Eva Gabor, Suzanne Pleshette, Elizabeth Ashley types into the mix.

I liked a skit he did with Carol Wayne. Remember her? The flashy blonde bimbo with the strange eyes and sort of weathered face?

 

The memorable one that I saw was when one female guest star who was well-endowed up top appeared on the show wearing no bra and a dress that didn't have much support. She jumped up to sit on the corner of Johnny's desk to face him and fell out of the top of her dress. The director was pretty quick and cut away, but the actress didn't notice at first, and the look on Johnny's face was priceless, torn between not looking at what was staring him in the face and obviously trying to decide whether or not he should tell the actress. I can't remember her name.

John K.

 

Gotta love the outfit Johnny's wearing in that one!

John K.

 

When the Aunt Blabby skits would just die as written... and Ed & Johnny would fallback to just trying to make each other laugh with ad-libs and putdowns, resulting in some of their best comedy.

 

When Chuck Berry was a guest to promote the "Hail Hail Rock And Roll" movie and he was so engaging that Johnny cancelled the rest of his guests that night and gave Chuck the full show.

 

I seem to recall Johnny telling Rolling Stone that this was why Dick Shawn wasn't invited back after that.

 

Lots of good memories of Johnny. The aforementioned Rickles/cigarette box incident (I remember watching this when it aired).
I loved it whenever Tony Randall or Charles Grodin were guests, Grodin, always pretending to be miffed or pissed about something.
Johnny used to perpetually make jones about Karl Malden's nose and that he always seemed to be wearing a hat. Malden appeared on the show wearing a hat and wearing a false nose that made his large nose look even more enormous.

Carnac: "Dipsy Doodle".
Ed: "Dipsy Doodle".
Carnac: "What do you call a crazy doodle?"

Carnac: "Dippity Doo".
Ed: "Dippity Doo".
Carnac" "What do you call the moisture that forms on your dippity?"

 

Art Fern: The Matinee Movie guy.
Carol died very mysteriously in a drowning accident....she never swam but they found her in the water. She was supposedly very smart, belying her looks.
There was a very awkward moment one night when she came out and sat after the skit. During a lull in the conversation, a man yelled out "How big are they?" She very quickly said "none of your business!" Johnny was p-o'd and gave the faceless guy a piece of his mind.

 

Mel Brooks telling the story about meeting Cary Grant. I never thought I'd see it again, and here it is on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdtfCm9gE0&feature=related

Hilarious, and one of the best meditations on encountering celebrity I've ever heard.

My favorite Carnac -

A: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

Q: How do you tell a Frenchman his doo-dah's open?

 

Like someone said, there's so many, but one of my favorites is when Johnny is talking to Ed and he mentions to Ed that he's taking the following night off, which surprises him. He says to Ed that he didn't know anything about it, to which Ed replies, "Well, you should, you invented it."

Carson's reaction, whether it was rehearsed or not, was priceless. Johnny was known for taking many vacations and didn't even put in a full week of shows by that point.

Carson was the master of late night TV. It's like Letterman said, Carson was the real thing, everyone these days are just impostors.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwJAAlXomVk&feature=related

Gee, is Buddy Rich good?

 

My favorite Carnac:

A: The Orient Express

Q: What do you call a drink made with soy sauce and prune juice?

 

Does anybody remember the record album Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show? Casablanca records president Neil Bogart was so sure that this would be a big seller he pressed and shipped several million copies only to have most of them returned.

And this was before Casablanca had hit big with KISS. In fact, the gargantuan flop almost sank the company. It gave rise to a new industry slogan that it shipped gold and returned platinum.

For years, millions of copies of this album filled cutout bins.

 

Yeah, I own a copy, myself. In the dark years before home video, this was a cool way to be able to get the clips for your home keeping, but IIRC, as I haven't spun it in awhile, the actual audio quality was pretty poor.

 

"If I ever catch kleptomaniac Claude Kooper, who copped the clean copper clappers from the closet...I'll clobber him!"

 

Here's the video

 

Some hilarious skits, Johnny was a natural comedian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekU09llSZFQ

 

The Great Carnac... 'Ghotbzadeh'.