Geeze you'd rather have anybody but Fallon. Thinking of Fallon as Carson's legacy makes me want to cry. But also I try to look at it like Jerry Seinfeld put it. He said basically "there is no tonight show, there is just Carson. Nobody will replace him. He took the tonight show with him when he left."

@@spizzlo I just dont enjoy Fallon that much. I think he might even get replaced soon after his contract ends in 2 years. That must mean then Seth will get the Tonight Show spot.

@@wolfchrt I hope it's not Seth either. He's much better than fallon, but still okay. I'd really rather they gave it back to Conan. That would be a mass hit

Conan ;))

Totally!

Stole my comment!! (0-;

DigitalShark99 ---Good for you in pointing that out, it is often left out of ‘cold’ Johnny ‘freezing out Joan’, when HE DISCOVERED HER, hyped her career & then w/o a word SHE goes to another network to compete with him, & gripes the rest of her life about his unforgiving spirit. I liked her, thought she was funny but she betrayed him & he never healed from it.

@@judywright4241 *NBC* was not renewing her contract, though. So, if she had an offer for a show of her own, it wouldn't be fair to expect her to turn it down when she had no chance of ever inheriting "The Tonight Show." However, if I'd been her, I sure would not have let Johnny find out about it right after she'd been on the show with him a few nights earlier.

Carson was a complete crybaby bitch regarding Joan.

@@gallery7596 I don't think that's a good enough reason to go head to head with the person who made you a star. At least not without consulting with him. Take a daytime show or something. And it's not like she was poor! At this point she probably made 50K a night when she did stand up thanks to her Tonight exposure. You have to make it right with people who gave you so much. Ironically, of course, Leno arguably found himself in the same position with Dave and to some extent Carson.

@Bill of Rights Russian troll go away.

David Letterman could

Jay kept thr culture/tradition of the Night Show, Conan kept the humor alive...without those two, its all a shell of what itnused to be. Even Arsenio was fun, entertaining, and in line with Johnny.

Agree!

Like Norm MacDonald said. The hosts have gotten lazy, They use Trump as a crutch"

Craig fergusen?

Well, except for Colbert. He's the best now!

Nope,,,,, Mavis "is" a Fox!

pete smyth obviously been keeping him amused, they stood together like 44 yrs so far, no kids, lotsa toys,

@Barbara Guest What does that mean, I’ve never even imagined anything different there

I read that Johnny was really hurt by the way Joan handled it. I think if she had just asked for his blessing beforehand it would have been fine.

I just watched the 1972 Joan Rivers appearance on The Tonight Show and Johnny loved her. It's sad that he felt betrayed and they never spoke again. I'm glad that Joan Rivers forgave him before she passed.

@Bill of Rights Yes, more Coronavirus deaths for everyone.

@@ClayLoomis1958 spot on!

@@ClayLoomis1958 what does that have to do with anything

@@ClapHurts It has to do with the guy named "Bill of Rights" that commented and then deleted it after I responded. You're mighty late to the thread.

lol

@@ChangingTides777 Jay Leno guest started on the tonight show,

Great advice Johnny gave Jay

And Johnny refused to ever speak to her again, even though she tried to apologize profusely and beg him to become friends again.

@@adamsyed5535 yep exactly. Crazy story. There was more to Carson than his on screen persona. This conversation between Rivers and long time Carson lawyer and friend Henry Bushkin is great and talks about it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iM9zqsmom7iml40.html

@@spizzlo thanks, watching now

Johnny also had a falling out with Fred DeCordova [his producer/director] & banned him from the set for the last year of his tenure Fred told Johnny to wrap it up & Johnny took offense & then tore into him as soon as the show ended

@@danielruggiero5230 You left out that what Fred wanted Johnny to rush through was pics taken by his late son Rick who died a tragic death in '91...

Too soon

If you like anvil-headed people, with a pelican face.

Yes

Do you remember that was a slam on Joan Rivers. He never spoke to her again.

Little did Johnny know that Jay and his crazy manager Helen would conspire to push him out of the Tonight Show chair. Watch the 1995 HBO Late Shift movie or read the book. Jay spying on NBC executives is one the best parts of the movie and book.

..yes, he was referring to Joan Rivers...

I think so too.

he was not passing the torch. as great as Jay Leno is, Carson always viewed Letterman as his natural successor…

Tom Perkins Maybe that is what drove Johnny to the huge success

@@pronemanoldbutyoung5548 You are right! But it broke his heart.

After Johnny's first few weeks, Carson's mom said Paar was better.

This was the first and only time I ever heard Carson publicly say anything about his mother. He would not allow interviewers to ask about his childhood.

@@brewer921 What a wonderful mom.

She said she called him several times and he refused to answer the phone.. so who knows

Not completely accurate. Helen went behind Jay's back to plant stories in the press about *NBC* supposedly wanting to axe Johnny. However, the network had made no actual move to push Johnny out, and they were as shocked as everybody else was when Johnny said in 1991 he would be leaving the next year. Helen left, too (but not voluntarily) when her Machiavellian ways forced Jay to fire her as producer of "The Tonight Show."

Later...👍

His mother was as cold as the iceberg which hit the Titanic, that is why he hated her.

Leno was known for writing a high percentage of his own jokes.

Jay is a really awkward guy to talk to. Carson could interview anyone, but yeah, definitely, uncomfortable here. It's like Leno is doing a monologue in the guest seat.

@@Thomas-fk3cw Watch Part 2 and Johnny is much more relaxed

Johnny carson left on his own he wasnt forced out

@@noelcook8421 Technically, Johnny left on his own. But Jay Leno's agent planted a story in the New York Post about NBC wanting Johnny out when in fact NBC had not said any such thing. That forced a chain of events that made Johnny want to retire, although he may have done it anyway. There is a clip of Letterman on Carson during his last year where he mentions "the palace coup." The whole thing is in The Late Shift (1994), the book by Bill Carter. It was made into an HBO movie two years later.

Here is the "coup" comment from Dave.

@@brewer921 Jay never had an agent.

@@Steven_Edwards Not true. It was Helen Kushnick. He fired her in 1992, four months into his Tonight Show run. They had a bitter breakup. There was a book and movie called The Late Shift about it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Kushnick

BS. he did not hate Leno at all.

Dave Letterman always made me nervous because he constantly interrupted his guests.

Yeah, like you really know that!!! SMH