Johnny Carson Honored with Kennedy Center Award (1993)

ladies and gentlemen Ted [Music] PPP there is a scene in the movie based on Stephen King's novel The Shining in which Jack Nicholson in one of his all to rare appearances as a homicidal maniac breaks through a bathroom door with an axe and as he shoves his head through the splintered wood he confronts his cowering wife terrified on the bathroom floor and sings out here's Johnny I don't think there was a single movie going or in America who at that point turned to the person next to them and said Johnny [Music] who the rest of us who may lay claim to a small slice of fame or notoriety are obliged to share our names Ted Kennedy or Danson Barbara Walters or a strand Michael Jackson or Jordan Frank [Laughter] Frank Sinatra or Purdue there are probably a few hundred, people in this country who share the name John but there is only only one Johnny Johnny is unique a singular Talent who for 30 years has always been reliably available at the same time and place to help ease our way through National crises natural disasters and personal travail it has always been easy to underestimate Johnny Carson because what he does he does so gracefully with such apparent lack of effort over the last couple of years Johnny and I have come to know each other a little more personally which has confirmed for me what millions of Americans have always suspected and what may be the highest praise that you can give a person yes you are a man of singular Talent Johnny but you are also a man that all of us would like to have as a [Applause] friend for 30 years he tucked Us in and we lay in the dark and last name something you'd find on a farm yes named something you'd find on a farm well is there a well what's a [Applause] [Music] [Applause] well here's Johnny he was a magic man with something else up his sleeve an act and a name then came a new kind of magic a little black box who knew what was in the air even those on the inside were making it up as they went along my name's Johnny Carson and this program is called the squirrels n and uh we hope this program won't let you down and uh frankly we know it will he was hired on the west coast as an announcer and until he bounced around some ideas of his own he got a $25 budget and a crack at his own local [Applause] program turkey like that that is the way we stop the turkey here and of course if we must there now doesn't that look enticing it was a rapid rise from writing for red skill Shelton to hosting a new National show but his stardom was [Music] shortlived I'd let myself be made into a poor imitation he said he started back at the bottom this time in New York he re-examined the fundamentals of funny and what made comedy work for him he concluded that his strength lay in the spontaneous and the unrehearsed his gift for reparte made even the silliest game show worth watching and made him the Network's biggest daytime draw but television Burns most brightly in the dark and the man who owned the night was Jack Parr when he quit they said no one could carry the weight least of all a lowy daytime game show guy he went out there as Johnny Carson and stayed that way for 30 years do all the girls who shared my [Music] life now our someone else's wife I'm glad they came along I dedicate this song to all the girls I've before I I don't really want to handle this because uh they could break could they this is a little sleeping bird isn't that cute yeah see that's sleeping and here's a here's this is a uh a candle that's a nice little candle that's a candle wow what this one [Laughter] [Applause] Johnny see if you look an animal right in the face and talk to them then they know you're not [Applause] scared he earned his success night after night and grew into a permanent reassuring fixture of American life our measure of comic [Music] Grace good evening this is Walter kronite for the past 19 years I've been sitting at this desk reporting all of the major news stories in the world tonight is my final broadcast and I would like to add one personal note for God's sake knock off that Ticky Ticky tickety you TR to try to come to my birthday can I come to your birthday yeah where's the party going to be in Disneyland in Disneyland I know your birthday is what I know I know your birthday is you know when my birthday is yes when October 23rd 192 [Applause] for all the year for the laugh for the tears for the class that you show make it one for my baby and one more for the [Music] road that long long road I bet you a very heartfelt good night ladies and gentlemen David [Music] [Applause] [Music] Letterman thank you very much seriously don't you think Ted Copple may be just a little too funny to be a newsman it's a pleasure to be here it's an honor to be here the real reason I'm here of course uh the woman who keeps breaking into my house said she needed some time to herself so I said all right I'll [Laughter] just if you get a chance try to attend the the party right after the program I just found out that Sir George schy and Little Richard will be at the same table so that'll be I just love to Eevees drop on that conversation it must mean a great deal to Johnny Carson to have me here [Laughter] tonight this man was on at 1130 every night for 30 years I've been on at 11:30 every night for three months thank you in 1975 I moved from Indianapolis and went to Los Angeles to pursue a career in standup comedy and one of my secret dreams was to be a guest on the tonight's show with Johnny Carson I went on that show in 1978 and it was and still is the biggest thrill of my professional life a couple of months after that Johnny was was nice enough to offer me a position as guest host on the rare occasion when he would take a night off and there is nothing that I am today any more proud of than my association with Johnny Carson it's it's unlikely we will ever see anyone like him again on television so Johnny as a way of trying to say thank you tonight I have prepared a brief but very special presentation ladies and gentlemen I have here in my hand tonight's top 10 list the category of the list this evening top 10 things we miss about Johnny Carson here we go number 10 got laughs without cheap gimmicks like top 10 list [Applause] number nine carnack more entertaining than Psychic Friends Network number eight always gave 110% despite backbreaking 3-day Work Week number seven the way he'd sometimes get confused and accidentally pay me Al [Applause] uh number six did groundbreaking cut off your slos and jokes years before anyone had ever heard of Lorena [Applause] bobin this is the kind of stuff coupple doesn't have the guts to [Applause] do number number five when he's dressed as Aunt blabby he's really a very good kisser number four the way he'd SWAT Ed with a rolled up newspaper whenever Ed belched up Jin uh number three 35 years on the air and he never once said but [Music] auko number two the admirable way he never switched networks just for a bigger [Applause] paycheck and the number one thing we miss about Johnny his don't ask don't tell policy regarding doc there you [Applause] go [Applause] [Music] this has been a pretty good year for the state of Nebraska the University of Nebraska Corn Huskers are the nation's top ranked football team and one of her sons was named to receive the Kennedy Center Honor Johnny Carson has been very quietly revealing it here tonight very generous to the university over the years and a few other students just wanted to come here tonight and say thank you [Music] Johnny go [Applause] h Mr Carson the reason we're here tonight you know Mr President if we' done this about a year ago they probably would have picked a trumpet player to speak Mr Carson we'd all like to thank you we are so very proud to be Nebraskans we know that very many people like to think of midwesterners as being pretty square but how can that be when the hippest guy in America is from North Fork Nebraska and so sir we'd like to thank you for everything that you've done and now we've learned a special song Especially for tonight for [Music] [Applause] [Music] you ladies and gentlemen duck stub himself [Music] oh [Music] keep oh

Channel: Foggy Melson

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Id: VxcN085NHOs

Length: 19min 11sec (1151 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 02 2021