WHAT WAS THE BEST (& LONGEST LASTING) LATE NIGHT SHOW ON TV?

When he started

Almost 30 years later

Without a doubt, it was "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson!!  He kept millions of people laughing from October 1, 1962 through May 22, 1992.  Those of us who are "of a certain age" have a definite advantage over you young punks--we can remember his shows.  For you older people who want to reminisce & laugh & for you younger ones who just want to laugh, I'd like to present some of the better clips from his shows.  It was very difficult to limit my selections!!

One of my favorite skits on his show

was Carnac, the seer:

Click here.

Some other great Carnac lines:

        "Billy Graham, Virginia Graham, and Lester Maddox" ... "Name two Grahams and a Cracker!"

"Over 105 in Los Angeles" ... "Under the Reagan plan, how old do you have to be to collect Social Security?"

"Camelot" ... "Where do Arabians park their camels?"

        "Gatorade". ... "What does an alligator get on welfare?"

 "Ben-Gay" ... "Why didn't Mrs. Franklin have any kids?"

 "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" ... "How deep is Orson Welles' belly button?"

·         
"Mr. Coffee" ... "Name the father of Mrs. Olson's illegitimate baby."

·        
"S. I. Hayakawa!" ... "Describe the sound made by a man getting his zipper caught in a Waring blender."

·         
"Pass the hat" ... "What does a cannibal do after eating Minnie Pearl?"

·         
"Dippity-Do!" ... "What forms on your Dippity early in the morning?"

·         
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" ... "How do you tell Marcello Mastroianni his doo-dah is open?"

·        
"McIntosh, Dolly Parton, and the Ford Pinto" ... "Name an apple, a pear (pair) and a lemon!"

·        

·       "Senta Berger" ... "I ordered a corned beef on rye from the NBC commissary, and guess what they did!"

·        
"Inky dinky doo" ... "What do sanitation workers have to sweep up after a parade of Inky dinkies?"

The show was sometimes educational.

Ed Ames, who was of Native American descent, 

showed the proper way to throw a tomahawk.
Click here.

Johnny Carson was an amateur magician

& often gave professional magicians the spotlight.

Click here.

He featured many comedians on the show.
Click here
and here.

And when he featured animals,
nothing ever went wrong.
Click here
and here.

To see his almost 1 hour long Friar's Club roast,
click here.

The man had class in addition to humor.  This was his final closing:

    “And so it has come to this: I, uh... am one of the lucky people in the world; I found something I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I want to thank the people who've shared this stage with me for thirty years. Mr. Ed McMahon, Mr. Doc Severinsen, and you people watching. I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And I hope when I find something that I want to do and I think you would like and come back, that you'll be as gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night.”

I don't think you need any more laughs today & besides, I couldn't find any good Carson cartoons----fishducky