wow

Recycled some Jokes on Letterman or vice versa

Johnny hated republicans as much as any of them do now

@@ms90sbabyy - Carson's former lawyer Henry Bushkin stated in his book, "Carson was by instinct and upbringing definitely Republican, but of an Eisenhower sort that we don't see much of anymore." I guess I could add, the Democratic Party of today has no resemblance whatsoever to the Democratic Party of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

I bet people in the future would say the same thing about Jimmy Fallon.

@@4LeeAbraham - The way the world is going, you are right.

Bill of Rights shhhh.

RIP, Ursula.

No one else even comes close. Carson was the master.

@@kathyduby8150 I come close.

No current tonight shows hosts come close to the excellence of Johny Carson. He enjoyed his quests and his laughter proved it. I do miss him.

The GOAT! charming and fun..The best Era of TV!! The world has gone needlessly Dark..Bring back the old times

I'm guessing quick wit is 98% preparation.

@@commentatron I beg to differ: 98.2%. :^)

According to Jimmie Walker, Johnny didn't care for Leno but then, that's only his side of the story. Supposedly, he didn't want him to be the host of the Tonight Show. He had pretty much groomed Joan Rivers to be that person and she bolted to another network.

Dana James ... Joan Rivers ‘Schtupped’ Mr. Carson.

@@martycech5844 If his reputation with the 'ladies' is to be believed, he wouldn't have put that much value on 'schtupping.'

Johnny was just a little bit before my time but I find myself watching quite a bit of him on KZfaq and enjoying it far more than anything current late night has to offer.

uni blab Thanks, I'll check it out!

There is no comedy left these days

@@moa3810 try Kathleen Madigan. I am 73 and my granddaughter is 30 and we Both laugh our Butte off each time we see her. We can quote her word for word, good times.

You’re not the only one. Back when late night was funny.

Yes, Jay Leno too....he and Johnny Carson were and still are the best. :)

All these jokes were tried out on Jays visit to Letterman earlier

Thickness alive and well

Johnny Carson was THE BEST! I still watch reruns of his shows and laugh! RIP, Johnny...you are truly missed.

@Daniel Large: Compared to Johnny or even Jay for that matter, Colbert and Stewart are non funny liberal hacks.

Especially since we have late night hosts who are more obsessed with telling us who we should vote for instead of just making us laugh.

Jay's wit was lightning fast, it seems. Nowadays, he still performs regularly, but I did not see his recent bits, so I do not know how sharp he is today.

Before he landed the Tonight Show I saw Jay's standup act at a Daytona Beach Holiday Inn during Bike Week. Absolutely gut busting funny, there was no doubt he was headed for bigger things.

Yet when Johnny retired, he wanted Letterman to replace him and was angry when NBC chose Leno.

Jay had to play the middle of the audience to draw the ratings. He couldn't be too edgy. He had to remain palatable to the generations that watched Carson.

@@scythelord I think that’s why so many people today are negatively critical of Fallon

When you have to grind it out five days a week instead of honing your material over weeks or months it's a monumental challenge.

I loved Jay's standup routine. When he hosted the Tonight Show his humor and tone became more adolescent and crude. Very disappointing.

Ya, not like fallon's fake shoulder shaking laugh...

Carson and Rickles was the best.

@@235buz Jonathon Winters or Rodney.

I’d say Robin Williams was the king of that. By the later years it was understood that he’d be out of control , and that was ok.

And if you got a nod from Johnny after your stand up routine, that meant you were good & could come sit down for an interview. Food for thought: Talking about plane crashes, “they” say when it’s your time to go, it’s your time. But what if you’re on a plane when it’s the pilot’s time to go..... badda bing! LOL

My brother and his girlfriend went to see Leno when he was touring and landed safely in Vancouver. They were just blown away by the show, including a bit where he'd grab a copy of the latest TV Guide and just pick apart all the shows and made-for-TV movies off the cuff based on the descriptions!

Letterman has more humor in his pinky than Jay Leno has in his entire body

Dave Letterman was way funnier than Leno. Also, Johnny wanted Letterman to take the Tonight Show after he retired. Warren Littlefield loaded the dice for Leno because Littlefield wanted to own the show and not Letterman (which he was already doing with his current show) as part of taking over. Littlefield screwed up because Leno's agent hard balled to get ownership. This was about the only time Jay Leno was funny.

Nick Rigdon : Another rabid democrat!

I struggled to watch him but I can't disagree with your comment.

That would be Patrice Not wife beating Johnny

@@lockandloadlikehell my guy, patrice o"neal was funny just talking about any subject.

It's Now the world of PCBS.

@@worldtraveler930 Not for me, though. They won’t see me succumbing to their crap. Not going to happen. I may be the only one out of 7,000,000,000+ people who fight them, but I will most certainly fight them.

Jonathan Wilson I couldn’t agree more. Jimmy Fallon ruined the Tonight Show!

Johnny Carson is the Tonight Show

@@KRAKENNCHANNEL yes he is even though he's Dead and gone now

agree completely!

Johnny Carson will always be the undisputed King of late-night television. Jay Leno was the right choice to come after Carson, as the ratings reflected that during his tenure.

Yeah but there's 200+ channels of nothing to watch!

dabprod get off my lawn!

Yes there is! Sopranos on Amazon Prime! lol :)

Truth

Your recollection of the past is through rose colored glasses. Minus the couple hours of late shows there was nothing to watch but informercials. Now there’s entire networks of nothing but stand up comedy, movies, old shows, new shows, etc. through all hours of the day and night as well as Netflix and all the other streaming sites.

Yeah, lol, and I love the line about the pilots lined up shoving quarters in the insurance machine LOL

It was the airborne equivalent to showing it off to his friends at an unscheduled stop - Look ma no hands.

@@PrimeDirective101 true. Very natural...

They also used to make jokes about both parties ! NOT anymore. 🐴 🐘

That’s because some current pols open themselves to ridicule by their statements and behavior. Had they existed in the time of Carson he would have hammered them.

I think I miss the class most of all. Now, everyone’s minds stay in the gutter. It is so disgusting.

He still does stand up, all over actually.

Saw Jay in person back then, he had us laughing so hard for so long my muscles that control laughter were sore the next day

I think Jay is way better here without teleprompters telling him what to say

I think he was moderated while on the talk show so as to not offend anyone.

Yep... Now it's all politics...🤦🏼‍♂️

I love Leno, but not entirely true. A couple of his jokes including the "3 ages of man" were recycled verbatim from his standup act.

Johnny himself would disagree with you. He much preferred Dave over Jay.

And so Did Johnnys Close Friend Legendary Insult Comedian Don Rickles who is No longer With us He Cracked johnny Up to a Point where He Was in Fits of Laughter And so did other people aswell like Milton Berle and Bob Hope And some of the greats of that Era Yeah Jay could definitely make Johnny laugh but so could David Letterman And Many others

I always liked Leno over Letterman

@@M167A1 fair enough everyone has their own preference

@@computerkid1416 DAVE WHO?!

Imagine a repugnicon defending Government regulations..... wow

I wouldn't know, I haven't watched him, I kid you people not, I have not watched one single episode of any of the talk shows nowadays, not one, not one single time, not even out of curiosity, late night is dead to me.

Not just him, but boring political Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, etc. But it's true that the audience changed as well. This was the 80s, now they have politically correct liberals looking at them who get offended by everything because it makes them feel socially responsible.

@@jeffwvu4602 Yep all us politically correct Liberals are just annoying you thieving uneducated trumpers.

@@duskeyowl2507 Thieving? Uneducated? Are you talking about the people you need to beg to vote so you can win something?

You left out Mr NBC'S final tv appearance was going to CBS to appear with DL.

I liked Letterman in the late night time slot. The top ten list,stupid human tricks etc. The guests seemed secondary on Late night Letterman though . The Carson show guests were #1 and other things like Carson as that magician were secondary .I liked Letterman on CBS ,but I think Leno was the best host to take over for Carson.

Letterman was brilliant. Leno was not.

Boy you said it.Since Johnny left,I watched Jay for awhile,couldn't stomach 30 seconds of Letterman,but left late night talk shows pretty much for good

@@musoangelo - Your reply sounds like "sanity" to you? It was an insult, a death threat and bad grammar. Everything you leftist morons represent all rolled into one forgettable blurb.

@@56squadron Just suggesting what your chosen one instructed to do. Yeah and don't get sanctimonious with me. Your dear leader, fu*king moron trump says worse on a daily basis. You're trump turds sh1t on people all the time, try calling them out on their sh1t.

@Bill of Rights Yeah, so were the confederates.

@Bill of Rights I'm of the belief that you're an idiot for believing in any political party. That being said, you're delusional. That idiot lost the popular vote.... And in the midterms, the republicans lost 6 state governorships, while taking none from the democrats. And the republicans lost several congressional seats as well. And his handling of covid-19 is costing him people in states he just barely won. The problem with losing the popular vote, but winning the electoral college is losing just a few voters swings a lot of electoral college votes.

Used to watch nightly. I guess they don't want me anymore. Who is watching?

Jay Leno fired, I didn't know that.

@@briananthony4044 They did not renew Jay's contract because they wanted the present idiot to take over the Tonight show .. even though Jay had the highest ratings .. Jay is missed

@@FreedomFighter-cr5xg Seeing Jay, with his now love of denim, wearing a expensive tailored suit, is a bit of a shock. But he made enough to be able to expand his second love, which must keep him very busy, his collection of cars and bikes. He must have been paid a helluva lot towards the end, no wonder they found a cheaper replacement.

Brian Anthony Don’t watch that replacement ... RIP Tonight show

he means like a roman galley where they made their captives row- like charleton heston in ben hur. nothing racial about it.

@@timothysullysullivan2571 I can say with 1,001% certainty that wouldn't be the first thing most people think of if they were to hear "slave ship".

@@whatdidoursurveysay yes, probably right. my point was what he actually said, not what brainwashed idiots would instantly 'hear'.

No, good thing political correctness didn't exist back then. Too bad it does now, because it has ruined everything, including comedy!

Too bd there is twitter now.

Believe me...I first saw Jay on a comedy cruise on Boston harbor years ago before he became famous and he was raunchy! But still very funny. He had wonderful comedic timing even back then. One of the best evenings of my life !!!

Jerry uses profanity pretty liberally in his stand up, don’t fool yourself.

Ya jay only went clean once his audience became octogenarians

Both swear a fair amount in their club routines. They both just write a lot - Seinfeld writes every day I think - so they've accumulated enough killer shots that they are to be able to work entirely clean for TV.

Jay was and will always be an ASSHOLE.

Cool Comment👍

Flip Wilson told a story and the final punch line sent Carson out of his chair.

Bob Newhart too.

Louis Anderson's line "sorry I'm sweating, but if I didn't I'd explode" had Johnny laughing loud enough to be heard. George Gobel also when he said "Did you ever get the feeling the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?" There were not many that got that kind of response from Johnny, but like many have observed here, Mr. Carson was the consummate professional who enhanced people's performances and stayed out of the way. Wonderful times.

Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Martin Short all had Johnny in stitches as well.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I remember that airline. We moved to the Rio Grande Valley in late '67, and that airline flew into Harlingen, TX. It had a bad reputation, and my dad used to call it Tinker-Toys Airways. :D

Dude..... that is comedy gold. If Leno would have said; one Airline I flew had to stop in Waco, to unload a vacuum cleaner and a box of clackers. It might have killed Johnny. LMAO

@rowdyyates8626 Note that at the end (04:52) Carson says, "A lot of good stuff there." He really appreciated guests who were prepared AND could banter with him. You're absolutely correct that this is a good example. Seinfeld has often said that Jay was the hardest working comedian he ever met. NBC knew how difficult it would be to follow Carson and how demanding the job was so Jay's work ethic was likely a significant factor in his favor. IMO, they made an excellent decision.

Very different audience now

Deanna Austen very deferent hosts

Literally. I couldn't even say who the host is anymore! They all are not funny. They used to make fun of politicians, now its just hate crap!

Truth. The last of the great hosts.

so did america

None compare.I don't watch Any of them.I will,and do watch the Stars on here.

Hi Cindy how are you doing

Me too. There's a bunch of them here on KZfaq.

I loved Jaywalking. God, people are stupid.

My fave. Monday night. Never missed it and actually had one to appear that I'd sent in. I mailed almost once a month weird things in the paper. I screamed when Jay read the one I sent in. It was fried laundry detergent. Proud moment.

@@rockinredneck57 Yes, people are stupid now, thanks to 60 years of political correctness in our schools from elementary through college.

And when school teachers could not even get our wars correct ! 🕷

You got that right!

Craig was T H E Best!!!

I watch re-runs of Johnny Carson. :)

Agreed

Ferguson was a gem. Conan is still great in my opinion...he may be the last of the greats.

his mom was a bitch?

I haven't heard Dennis Miller do anything new for quite a while. His wit reminds me of great political comedians like Bob Hope and Will Rodgers. Maybe Dennis retired.

Why has he taken a lot of heat lately?

Cuz he’s gay.

NONE of it was deserved. He did nothing but be loyal to his employer. It was CONAN who stabbed Leno in the back. In 2004. He went to NBC...while Leno was still CRUSHING Letterman in the ratings and making the network millions and said "Promise me the Tonight Show or I'm leaving to ABC." So without talking to Leno, they agreed and THEN went to Leno and said "We know you are still #1, and that you don't want to leave, but this next 5 year contract you are signing is going to be your last." Leno agreed solely because he had no choice. then, as 2009 came along and Leno was still crushing Letterman in the ratings, NBC realized they made a huge mistake and scrambled to keep Leno with the ill fated prime time show. And then, partly due to them forcing Conan to move to California which was a HORRIBLE idea that Conan never recovered from even on TBS, his show flopped. Most of his early joes were "Look how out of place I am in California." And what made people like him at 12:30 was taken away from him, like the Masturbating Bear, or Preparation H Raymond. They were allowed to use them only very sparingly. But there is no denying that the show flopped and The Tonight show went from dominating the ratings to second place by Week 2 and was falling dangerously close to 3rd place. And worse, it was losing money. As was Leno's prime time show. The decision to cancel Conan did not come from Leno. He didn't have that power even if he wanted it. As shown by how NBC went behind his back AGAIN just a few years later after he had regained the #1 spot and showed no signs of slowing down, but still pushed him out for Jimmy Fallon. As for originally taking over for Carson...it was not his decision that NBC didn't feel Letterman's humor worked at 11:30. But they KNEW that Tonight Show audiences loved Leno because whenever he would guest host, his ratings were much better than Johnny's. This made it a no-brainer for NBC. (People give Helen Kushnick way too much "credit" for this as if she really had any power with the network.) And the ratings for 90-95% of their time head to head showed that NBC made the right call. Letterman tried to blame it on the NBC prime time dominance giving a better lead in. But then in the mid to late '00s, CBS became the dominant prime time ratings winner and NBC was in the tank. And yet Leno STILL dominated. The one that has the most to be mad about IS Leno. He had his show taken away behind his back THREE TIMES. First when they promised it to Letterman, but Letterman rejected it and went to CBS instead, then in 2004 (2009) when they promised it to Conan and pushed him out 5 years later. And then another 5 years later when they pushed him out for Fallon. All while he did everything NBC asked of him and delivered them tens of millions of dollars a year.

@@KnickKnack07 "Kushnick" 'Mushnick' hasn't received _any_ 'credit'

@@manofiske3318 Everybody says she was the reason why it happened. Have you not read, nor seen The Late Shift? But thanks for being a good typo police, officer. The world is more safer knowing you are on patrol.

The tonight show were a lot? That doesn’t make any sense.

Go back to school. Both of you are uneducated moronic illiterate degenerates.

The understatement of the decade! Humor is now gone from late-night TV.

Who is Jimmy Fallon?😏

So true.

Fallon is talented, just not as a talk show host. That fake laugh is over the top stupid.

AGREED FALLON IS A BIG DISAPPOINTED CREEPY GUY.

🥴 ONLY 50?

Zing!

Johnny was too judgemental toward Jay years later.

Letterman acted like a spoiled kid when passed over Tonite Show

Disappointed in Carson too

yep. A-holes checking a-holes.

I’m a proud, strong physically challenged woman who uses a wheelchair. I always have to get felt up by Big Bertha every time I want to board a plane! It’s sickening and totally unnecessary!

They’re checking your seat before you get to sit in theirs.

I quit flying many years ago. I remember when my pilot said to me, "So which city are you traveling to"? That was my last flight. I'm not saying flying has gotten bad, but on my last plane flight the tail was painted with skull and crossed bones.

@@PlanetEarth3141 Ba-dum-bum.