Carson's America
I've enjoyed the regional coverage of Johnny Carson's life and passing that I've found searching on-line today. Every part of the country loved Johnny.In Nashville, the local paper interviewed some of the former country music performers who were guests on Carson's show, like Barbara Mandrell and Brenda Lee. Lee noted that Johnny loved Dolly Parton best of all, "He just loved Dolly to death, and thought she was the greatest." Parton appeared on the show 15 times.
In Las Vegas, a columnist chatted with comedian David Brenner, who says he feels like he's lost a second father.
In St. Louis, they found the 80 year old local who showed off pieces of his extensive vacuum cleaner collection on the Tonight Show 17 times.
In Baltimore, they sought comment from the director of the Gliner Center for Humor Studies at the University of Maryland. (Enroll me today!)
In Chicago, movie critic Roger Ebert recalled that he and colleague Gene Siskel were so nervous before appearing with Johnny for the first time that they each drew a blank when trying to remember the name of a film that had been released that year. "Gone With the Wind?" Roger asked. "Me too," Gene said.
In Cincinnati, they recalled comedian Ray Combs, a Hamilton, OH native, who committed suicide at the age of 40 in 1996. Combs had called his debut on the Tonight Show, and being invited to sit down with Carson at his desk, one of the greatest nights of his life. Many other comedians have told similar stories.
In Philadelphia, they noted that Carson served on the battleship Pennsylvania during World War II, and that he hired former Philadelphian Ed McMahon as his professional sidekick in 1958, four years before taking over the Tonight Show.
Here in Iowa, we're recalling Johnny's birth in Corning. The Des Moines Register spoke with the daughter of a woman who used to babysit Johnny, and the governor noted the entertainer's financial contribution to "Main Street" Iowa, which included funding for an arts center in Red Oak and the Carnac Family Skatepark in Corning.
In his adopted home state of Nebraska, they remembered his childhood in Norfolk, the early magic tricks, his collegiate days at NU, as well as his financial generosity to the Cornhusker state in recent years. A former fraternity brother said, "I don't know how to verbalize it... but we always knew this guy had 'it,' whatever 'it' is."
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By the time most of you read this, we will know the Oscar nominees. They will be read by Adrien Brody at 7:30 central time Tuesday morning on ABC, and the awards will air Sunday, February 27th. Johnny Carson hosted the Academy Awards five times. Wouldn't it have been serendipitous if he could have presented this year's Best Picture award to fellow Cornhusker Alexander Payne and "Sideways?" Alas...
posted by CM @ 11:30 PM
1 Comments:
After awhile, I could probably get to sounding like a broken record on this subject (because I'm such a big fan), but to my mind, there is no greater tribute that could be made to Johnny then the epic one from a few years ago: The Larry Sanders Show.
I've been rewatching the first season on DVD the last few months (after getting it from my girlfriend for Christmas) and in a really odd but poignant way it prepared me for Johnny's passing. The more you know about Carson and his show - understanding the complex dynamic of his relationships with Ed McMahon and producer Fred deCordova, knowing how prickly and shy he could seem off-stage - the more you can appreciate how much Garry Shandling constantly had Johnny in mind in his depiction of a character almost as much Johnny's alter-ego as his own.
I can't think, in the entire range of pop-culture, of a more satisfying and loving tribute from one artist to another. It has everything Carson mastered- wry irony, sarcasm, but hits you with something oddly affecting when you least expect it.
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