Goodnight, Johnny
Now Playing: THE TONIGHT SHOW
Jay Leno had a very classy show tonight, a one-hour tribute to former TONIGHT SHOW host Johnny Carson that included some of the King of Late Night's oldest friends: Ed McMahon, Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. Each man sat with Jay, shared some memories of Johnny, and watched some great clips, just a handful of the hundreds of memorable moments generated in Carson's 30-year reign. Many of them I've seen a dozen times if I've seen them once--the Ed Ames tomahawk toss, Johnny leaping from a tiger's lunge straight into Ed's outstretched arms, Johnny storming the CPO SHARKEY set to chew out Rickles for breaking his wooden cigarette box (and for Toler, Johnny fighting a monkey!)--but they each seemed different this time around, like perhaps they're going into the vault for good. Drew Carey talked about his first TONIGHT SHOW appearance and introduced clips of other comedians' first TONIGHT spot (David Letterman was one); this collection of clips was taken from an old anniversary show, but considering how difficult it must have been to prepare this show on such short notice, I don't begrudge them that fact. Some of the clips tonight I had never seen before, including a very funny bit between Rickles and Frank Sinatra.

Letterman is in repeats this week, and it will be interesting to see what kind of tribute he puts together for Monday. While Leno's show tonight was a dignified, high-class affair, it also seemed dry; perhaps everyone was all cried out. I expect Letterman, who had a closer relationship with Carson than Leno, to present something much more personal.

One other thing of note about Carson's TONIGHT SHOW. It was also the last bastion of old-fashioned big-band, swing and jazz music on network television. Doc Severinsen and his NBC Orchestra, quite simply, kicked ass every night, starting off with Johnny's memorable theme and thumping their way through every commercial break with class and style. It's unlikely we'll ever hear the likes of them again with any regularity in late night.