“Our Presidents serve for four to eight years; even F.D.R. went just over 12. Carson ruled The Tonight Show for nearly 30. The greatest Presidents have mere administrations. Johnny Carson had a reign.”-- James Poniewozik, “The Great Telecommunicator,” Time, January 30, 2005
He’s been gone from this life for five years now and from the talk-show scene for nearly a generation. But Johnny Carson remains, indisputably, King of the Night. Nobody managed to unseat him throughout his three decades with The Tonight Show, and despite the partisans of various claimants—David, Jay, Conan—nobody has really taken undisputed possession of his throne since.
This coming Saturday would have been his 85th birthday. God, what fun he would have had with today's political scene! For starters, he surely would have been puzzled how Jerry Brown could still be still around. That current candidate for governor of California, you might recall, saw the first stage of his career come to an end, at least partially, because of the memorable nickname bestowed on him by Carson: "Governor Moonbeam." But Brown--even the 1970s version--looks positively sane compared with today's candidates.
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