So long, Johnny!

I know that I'm but one of millions of people for whom Johnny Carson held a special place in our hearts. He was already there in his Tonight Show chair by the time I walk, and he didn't leave that chair until I was 33 years old. I always loved watching the show. My earliest memories of it are noticing my dad and a couple of uncles laughing hysterically at the TV set. I looked up to see what they were laughing at and saw what appeared to be a newscast of some kind. It didn't make any sense to me. What was so funny about some people sitting at a desk talking to each other? A few years later, another evening with folks over, the same uncles most likely, when they were showing one of the wildly popular "best-of" shows. They were all laughing at something that was about to happen. It was the Ed Ames tomahawk throw and they laughed so hard, well, I just laughed right along with them. When Johnny says, "I didn't even know you were Jewish!" I had not the slightest idea of what he was talking about, but all the men in the room were laughing, so I laughed too. As the years rolled on, I came to love those best-of shows as they showed clips that took me back to my childhood. I guess my favorite was the Clean Copper Clappers with Jack Webb. For some reason I have a direct association between Carson and my father. My dad loved the show too, and no doubt I learned that from him as well as a boy's desire to simply be like his father. I have one profoundly happy memory of my dad coming into my bedroom, waking me up, saying, "Hey, get up, Carl Sagan's on Johnny Carson." He knew I loved Carl Sagan; and he did too. I remember hating all the guest hosts. I remember Johnny hurting himself in an accident and being out for a long time. The night he was due to come back, I stopped everything to be in front of the TV set at 10:30. I still remember his first remark. "Anyone want to buy a slant board; slightly used?" He was like an old friend. And like I said, millions of people feel the same way right now. Goodnight Johnny.