Thanks, Johnny.
Jan. 25th, 2005 01:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jlhFor about two hours now I've been sitting here trying to write something to let the majority of you who are not old enough to remember the man in this icon know what it meant when he was here and what it means now that he is gone. But I find that I cannot do it. I can't even put down a joke here and have you understand; I realize that his voice is in my head even as I read them.
Johnny Carson's monologue was like David Letterman's top ten list—you stayed up late enough to watch that bit and then maybe went to bed. (You especially went to bed if any of Johnny's cronies, like Buddy Hackett or Don Rickles, were guests. Watching them on the Tonight Show was like watching your parents talk to their friends, full of unfunny jokes and obscure references to people or places you've never heard of, and was to be avoided.) It was a well-formed ritual: the theme by Paul Anka played by Doc and the orchestra, Ed reading off the guests, "Here's Johnny", the curtain parts, the jokes are told and when they aren't funny it's even funnier as no one could milk a dead audience like Johnny, then he did the little golf swing and was off to his desk, and you more often than not were off to sleep. Guests? That was just a bonus.
Don't get me wrong; I'm a Letterman watcher from way back and think he's close to the best, ever. But just that I think of myself as a Dave fan, and think that Leno is a lantern-jawed freak, shows the change. Late night tv, like tv itself, used to be unified, with a standard that others might rail against or try to beat but that everyone at least agreed was the standard. But no more.
So thanks again, Johnny. You are missed.
Johnny Carson's monologue was like David Letterman's top ten list—you stayed up late enough to watch that bit and then maybe went to bed. (You especially went to bed if any of Johnny's cronies, like Buddy Hackett or Don Rickles, were guests. Watching them on the Tonight Show was like watching your parents talk to their friends, full of unfunny jokes and obscure references to people or places you've never heard of, and was to be avoided.) It was a well-formed ritual: the theme by Paul Anka played by Doc and the orchestra, Ed reading off the guests, "Here's Johnny", the curtain parts, the jokes are told and when they aren't funny it's even funnier as no one could milk a dead audience like Johnny, then he did the little golf swing and was off to his desk, and you more often than not were off to sleep. Guests? That was just a bonus.
Don't get me wrong; I'm a Letterman watcher from way back and think he's close to the best, ever. But just that I think of myself as a Dave fan, and think that Leno is a lantern-jawed freak, shows the change. Late night tv, like tv itself, used to be unified, with a standard that others might rail against or try to beat but that everyone at least agreed was the standard. But no more.
So thanks again, Johnny. You are missed.
