Goodnight Johnny

Johnny Carson 1925-2005 Words cannot express my sorrow at the loss of Johnny Carson. He is the man whom all of us in radio and television today owe our careers to. I personally began watching the Tonight Show during the Steve Allen era, through Ernie Kovacs and Jack Parr, but Johnny was the one who inspired me to record my own version of the Tonight Show monologue on my little Casio reel to reel recorder and edited between Ed's intro & Doc's 'Golf Swing' fanfare that I had recorded from the TV. Johnny was the benchmark for all who came after him and all those yet to come. Everytime I watch one of his videos I realize how much I've missed him in my home every night and how lucky we all were to have had him for the thirty years he graced us with his presence. He knew to never upstage his guests and continually brought out the best in everyone of the 20+ thousand of them he welcomed over the years. It really is the end of an era and there will never be another presence that will ever have the impact on the medium of television as Johnny Carson. I have always thought of David Letterman as the natural successor to Carson and as we recently found out, so did Johnny. So much so he even sent Dave jokes for his monologue, which he used from time to time. Dave, don't ever stop doing your version of "Stump The Band" with Paul's version of "Carnak". Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you do Johnny and his legacy justice. We know that it comes from the heart and that you are paying tribute to a great mentor and friend. Like you we will never forget him and we will miss him dearly.