I just heard on CNN that Johnny Carson has passed away. Seeing it on MSNBC‘s ticker across their page, quoting: “NBC reports that Johnny Carson has died from emphysema.” This is a sad day indeed, and I just read an article last week how he was still watching late-night TV via the East Coast feeds, and even occasionally still sent jokes to Letterman that occasionally would be read (just gotta find that URL — I know I flagged it somewhere).
News links to come later when a good obit is posted.
Update: Barney’s feeding me news data. He was 79, died in his sleep. More to come…
Update: Here’s a Associated Press Obit from the local paper’s AP wire feed, obviously was pre-written (common practice) in case this happened.
The only good thing to come out of this is that we’ll be seeing old Tonight Show clips on TV all the time for the next week, and that’s never a bad thing.
Update: Found an article that mentioned Letterman’s Secret Joke Writer (Thanks Barney).
Update: MSNBC has the story. It’s now starting to hit Google News.
Comments
Johnny Carson
Nearly five thousand times
He came out upon that stage
And in entertainment’s history
He wrote a very unique page.
He also “made” many a star
And launched some great careers
And everyone who was someone
Was his guest throughout those years.
Some twenty thousand people
Sat across him in the “chair”
He made them all feel welcome
And he really seemed to care.
He had his own brand of humor
Making funny, what was not
An honest, too good Entertainer
And what you saw is what you got.
Millions of us stayed up late
To see what he had up his sleeve
And now, that show is “really” over
And we are all left here to grieve.
And those who didn’t “know” him
Before he left that stage in Ninety-two
Will never know how much they missed
Now that his time on Earth is through.
But there will be a “Tonight Show”
Forever, somewhere up on high
As Johnny welcomes all those Stars
Who have passed this World by.
Del “Abe” Jones
White Bluff, TN
January 23, 2005