We used to watch him every night on The Tonight Show. He was great!

He is on antenna TV here in OKC.

One of a kind, there will never be another like him.

we also watched him nightly. I think of him quite often. You are right when you say no one could ever measure up to him.

I've seen some YouTube segments over the years and frankly the Carson show excerpts seem pretty dated and not so special. The entertaining clips are so because of the performances of guests, which for comedians makes me think of the likes of people like Steve Martin, or Robin Williams, or Johnny Winters. And many others. Another case of remembering a program to be better than it really was? Not uncommon with past TV shows - try the same thing with many many other old shows. Big hits then, not so impressive when seen today.

Carson was a very troubled/disturbed person in his personal life and had many problems. A common affliction of many performers. I think David Letterman is/was naturally more clever and much funnier, but he's also a troubled human being.

I love watching his animal segments on youtube.

Take a look at Will Ferrell, Exotic Animal Expert, from the Colbert Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OtMq2s0TyM

I loved watching Johnny! I watched him every night thru out HS and until he went off the air. I liked Leno too but he was a different type. don't like Letterman so didn't watch him or any of those on night shows now.

I did watch a promo show recently for Bob Hope military tour shows. am thinking of ordering that - so many of the old stars/celebs joined him on those tours. Jimmy Durante, Milton, Bing, George Burns, Danny Thomas, Rickles, Newhart, that was comedy. today what they call comedy is mostly filth and isn't funny. Hope also had many stars / singers like Connie Stevens, Joey Heatherton, Ann Margaret etc.

I always preferred Jay Leno and always hated David Letterman.

In 1982 I went to a taping of one of Johnny Carson's shows, but I don't remember much about it. He did have good guests frequently. We also made furniture for his house in 1990 or so, and his new wife came to our warehouse to inspect samples. I happened to see her in the parking lot before she came in, and I thought she looked like a hooker - or had just come from a singles bar. She was wearing a black leather mini skirt, magenta high heels with matching wide belt, and a matching magenta necklace of large plastic beads - and badly bleached platinum blonde hair. Her color scheme for the master bedroom was yellow and purple, and I had to try to find purple stone for the console that was going in the bedroom but was unsuccessful. I don't think there is any really purple marble, and if there were, it would probably be ugly. I felt sorry for Johnny having to live with a yellow and purple bedroom.

I never found Jay Leno that funny. His delivery just grates on me. Different strokes! Much preferred Carson and Letterman.

Re^^ clothing and décor. It was the 90s!

I loved Johnny. Still tape and watch some of the reruns. He actually let his guests talk without interrupting them.

Johnny was great at what he did. His timing, delivery and facial expressions were priceless.

Don't care much for David Letterman. I thought Jay was funny, but he had some big shoes to fill when he took over The Tonight Show.

Jimmy Fallon has been accused of being too nice, but he seems to have made an effort to toughen up. I like him, he's quite funny and is a great singer, but he can sometimes be too silly and fawns too much over his guests for my taste.

Jimmy Kimmel can be hilarious and he doesn't flinch at asking direct questions when needed. I used to like Seth Meyers show, but the last couple of years he has become too mean spirited for me. I know times are challenging right now, but sometimes I wish he'd give it a rest.

“Carson was a very troubled/disturbed person in his personal life and had many problems. A common affliction of many performers. I think David Letterman is/was naturally more clever and much funnier, but he's also a troubled human being.”

What makes a person troubled or disturbed, Elmer?

My favorites: Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Tom Snyder, Craig Ferguson and Conan O’Brien. I only watch Jimmy Kimmel because he just happens to follow my preferred local news, but he really pisses me off sometimes.

Many things can make a person troubled in private life that isn't obvious when one is working. Johnny Carson had a drinking problem....to name one. Mind you that alone, didn't dimminish his hosting capabilities and popularity. Public and private are often very different.

Stories of Carson's erratic behavior and emotional problems were widespread during his Tonight Show years. He was tolerated by those in the business (because his show was an important showcase for performers) but not liked.

He was a mean-drunk alcoholic, a unabashed "skirt-chaser" who was consistently unfaithful to his string of wives, a loudmouth, and a person who had a pattern of becoming estranged from friends and family (like his kids).

If you have an interest, one of his discarded friends/business associate wrote a book about him.

Here's a quick article I just found, there are plenty around

Newspaper article written when Bushkin book was released

Loved Johnny Carson. Liked Leno's appearances on the JC show, but never really cared for him when he took Johnny's place. David Letterman was my choice. Turns out he was Johnny's too.

Pretty much watched Letterman every night until his last few years. Started getting hard to stay awake. ;)

"He was a mean-drunk alcoholic, a unabashed "skirt-chaser" who was
consistently unfaithful to his string of wives, a loudmouth, and a
person who had a pattern of becoming estranged from friends and family
(like his kids)."

There are people in political life who are like that. They don't get paid to make jokes for late night TV watchers.

Johnny Carson was a joy to watch, his timing was wonderful. Facial expressions added to a lot of the zaniness that happened on the set.

Elmer,I have seen the will ferrel animal segments before. So. Funny!!!

A lot of people in the public eye,especially the entertainment industry are delightful to watch yet horrid to know. I have heard about Johny Carson's fits of temper, pigish ways and arrogant manner. It's a shame really. A man who brought laughter to countless people died alone and miserable. And no one to blame but himself.

I still watch him occasionally though,despite it. I like the character he portrayed,if not the real man.

I lived in LA during many of those years and his reputation was well known. I personally found it so off-putting that I couldn't watch him. The Tonight Show wasn't popular among people I knew, for many for the same reason.

It's true that there are a lot of "not-normal" people in show business, on both sides of the camera. Many of the "in the camera's view" ones fit the description of talent and attractive outsides and empty-headed insides. There are many normal ones too who people think quite highly of - Tom Hanks comes to mind and there are many others.

I used to love watching Johnny Carson years ago. After reading some articles in the past few years, though, it kinda changed the way I think about him.

Yes, my husband is currently reading the Henry Bushkin book about Carson. I still prefer him on air over the others mentioned.

I loved Carson! I still like Fallon and Graham Norton. Graham's show is always funny. He's very witty. I've never watched it on tv, just clips online. I need to find out if I can watch him on tv.

Always liked watching Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. Letterman was o.k. Won't watch any of them now, waaaaay too political, and one sided political at that. Please, just stick to entertaining, interviewing people, having funny skits. Colbert - never. I can't stand Will Ferrell. Never could. I don't know what it is about him, but ugh, nope.

Will Ferrell? Are you sure about that? He's a comic who does movies. Or am I missing out? I love Elf. So many great one liners in it.

Here's telling my age:

Jack Paar

he knew his guests and liked them. There was time to talk ...

I watched Johnny until he left and then enjoyed Leno, don't like any of the ones that came after. I am enjoying the reruns. Wish Johnny Carson in real life had been like the person he was on the show.

rob, the Will Ferrell link I shared was his appearance on the Colbert show, in a routine that he played straight posing as a wild animal expert. It was a parody of such experts who'd appeared on talk shows with real animals. It's quite funny.