Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Therrrrrrrrre goes Johnny

Johnny Carson, 30-year host of "The Tonight Show," apparently passed away from emphysema early this morning. He was 79. ( Full CNN.com story )

[After Graham turns on "The Tonight Show"] Turn that off. I can't watch that guy. I miss Johnny. [Graham laughs] I felt for Johnny, married to all those Joannes. I think of him all alone on some God-forsaken Malibu beach ... no guests. God, I miss him.
-- Patty Chase (Bess Armstrong) in "My So-Called Life," 1994

So did I. Nobody quite like him before or since, especially in the art of the ad-lib. Wry without being cynical. A perfect fit for 11:30 p.m.

[Phone rings backstage, during the monologue] "Oh, no! Her lawyers are calling me here now!"

Rest in peace, Johnny.

Johnny Carson is just one of those personalities you feel like has always been around, and will always BE around.

Unfortunately, that just isn't true.

I hope he enjoyed his last few years of retirement. Wasn't he one of the richest men in showbiz?

When they made Johnny, they threw away the mold. His brand of humor has registered with me well after his retirement, which is probably a testatment to how long his legacy will live on...

We just gave my wife's parents a dvd collection of the Tonight Show, for Christmas. We were laughing hysterically. That man was wonderful. He fit in with both unsophisticated small towners and ultra chic superstars. I'm very sorry to hear he's gone. I admire his sense of privacy in his later years. Very dignified.

He was one of the best. And I had just read an article on Thursday about how he was having trouble with his emphasema but still did his morning ritual of reading the newspapers and thinking of jokes for a monologue. He would even send some of those jokes to David Letterman who would use them. Johnny always felt that Letterman should have been his replacement, not Leno.

I'm sure St. Peter pulled back the curtains for him and led Johnny back to his desk. Now he'll really have some insight on what's going on. Rest in peace.

He loved what he did, and he worked hard at it, and when he felt it was time to go, he walked away. For that alone, he's an inspiration.

Now, see, here is something that Grey and i can agree on, lol. Politics it ain't, but it is about a guy that was the top of his profession, thirteen years after retirement,and most likely will be the all time best, ever.

Not to mention that he was able to laugh about himself, was more than generous professionally, as well as as a private individual, and wasn't an attention whore like so many hollywood types these days.

Did anyone else catch Letterman's Carson tribute last night? At first I was surprised that he came out and went straight into a monologue. Then I realized that the jokes, though funny, weren't quite current and I got the feeling that Letterman was doing all jokes that we now know Carson had been sending him. Add that to hearing the classic "Tonight Show" theme from Paul Schaffer and company and I was already kind of choked up. Seeing the clips of Dave and Johnny together was great too. My understanding is that Johnny preferred Dave for the Tonight Show and it seems obvious the two had more of a bond than Carson and Leno. It was a nice tribute from one generation to the prior one.