TEN YEARS AGO, THE KING OF LATE NIGHT WENT AWAY FOR GOOD, VANISHED. THE GARBO OF AMERICAN COMEDY. BUT NOW, JUST ONE LAST TIME, HERE'S JOHNNY.
NOTE: I was very fortunate enough to have met him backstage of the TONIGHT SHOW.. i was with country Star MEL TILLIS.. who was a guest..and Mr. Carson was so kind and gracious..I was in AWE! Total Awe...
Carson on REALITY TV
On reality TV shows like "Survivor" and "Fear Factor": "These people are in just about as much jeopardy as I am having dinner. People forget there's a crew there. There's a catering service. It's not like they are going to die out there in the jungle. These silly people will do anything the director suggests because they want to be on television." ( boy was he right..)
here's JOHNNY's last interview..
There are nights, he will tell you, that he finds himself back where he was, back where we had him, before we could not have him anymore. "I still, believe it or not, have dreams in which I am late for The Tonight Show," he will say. "It's a performer's nightmare, apparently. I've checked with other people, and it occurs to them frequently. And it's frightening. Because I'm not prepared. It's show time and I'm going on--and I've got nothing to say! Jesus! I wake up in a sweat. It's now been ten years since I've been done with the job. But I will be back there--it was two thirds of my adult life, remember--and people at the show will be as real and fresh and current as ever in the dream, and all of a sudden, I'm having to go on and I'm not prepared. You think you're on the air. And you're not ready. You hit the wall."
Read the WHOLE final INTERVIEW AT ESQUIRE
