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REMEMBERING JOHNNY CARSON
Johnny Carson passed away yesterday, Sunday, January 23 2005, and it was a very
sad day for millions of people who, like me, watched and laughed with one of the greatest entertainers and personalities television
has ever seen.
I happen to live in Philadelphia and it was the day the Eagles were playing in their fourth consecutive
NFC Championship Game, having lost the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl each of the last three seasons. The entire city
was in a frenzy over this game, long starving for that elusive sports championship, and blizzard or no blizzard, we all couldn’t
wait for game time. Yet here I was clicking that remote back and fourth from the game to the news channels to watch and listen
as the details of Mr. Carson’s death were being reported.
I glued myself to my sofa and watched as celebrities
called in to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News to share their heart felt affection and memories with the show hosts and the viewing
public about this one of a kind Icon of all Television Icons. For me, one football game, compared to the decades of fun and
entertainment of Tonight Show viewing, seemed to pale by comparison, it didn’t matter how big the game was.
My
personal favorite attribute of Mr. Carson’s was his ability to make a bad joke funnier than a good one by his demeanor and
quick whit, and he made that process into an art. Were it not for the fact that he was an entertainer, a “funny man,” he would
be remembered as one of the best interviewers in all of television history, and he probably will be remembered that way anyhow.
He has no equal in how fast his spontaneity was, and how remarkably funny that speed would be.
The Tonight Show
starring Johnny Carson was as much a staple of America as anything that I can think of at this moment, GM, Apple Pie, The
Super Bowl or The World Series, take your pick. On any given night when life’s everyday’s really got to me, I would watch
that man on that show and somehow he would make me smile and make me laugh, a lot. Watching this artist do his thing reminded
me that tomorrow would be another day as he seemed to put the world into comic perspective. He would lighten your mood and
even ease your pain, when all he thought he was doing was having fun.
Let the entertainment world talk about what
he was like as a talk show host, and let his family, may GOD bless them, and his friends talk about what kind of human being
he was. For me, I will miss Mr. Carson for the way he unwittingly lightened my life.
Rest in peace Mr. Carson.
We will all miss you. And we will always remember you for a job so well done.
CP
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