Johnny Carson made dignified exit from 'Tonight Show' after enduring years of 'SNL' mockery
Johnny Carson superfan, Mark Malkoff, wrote a new book detailing the life and career of the famous talk show host.
Parts of the book details Carson's dislike for the popular sketch comedy show, "Saturday Night Live," and how the many sketches they did parodying his show contributed to his decision to leave the show.
There were many references to Carson's dislike for the show throughout the book, with actor and director David Steinberg telling Malkoff, "[Johnny] watched ‘SNL’ a few times and never liked it," and Malkoff writing that in the late 1970s, Carson wasn't booking any "SNL" castmembers as guests, "due to his dislike of the show."
In 1991, certain choices made by the network, as well as "SNL's" continued jokes about him, led Carson to end his tenure as the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show."
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"Leno, a guest that night, overheard Johnny in the hallway saying, 'If they are going to make fun of me, it’s time to go,'" Malkoff wrote about a May 1991 taping, after Carson received word that "SNL" was planning to do another sketch parodying him.
Two days after Carson allegedly made that comment, Malkoff writes that "SNL" aired the "Carsenio" sketch, in which Dana Carvey portrayed Carson as if he was channeling rival talk show host, Arsenio Hall. Five days after the sketch aired, Carson made the announcement that he was stepping down and that his last show would be in May 1992.
Although this was seemingly the sketch that pushed Carson over the edge, it was nowhere near the first time "SNL" poked fun at the famous host.
"In 1977, Jane Curtin joked on 'Weekend Update:' 'In a sudden policy shift, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson will not be broadcast live, starting next week, as previously announced," Malkoff wrote. "'The decision was based on California’s new euthanasia law, which states that ‘A program does not have to be kept alive by artificial means and has the right to a dignified death.’"
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Carvey then began portraying Carson in a series of sketches written by Robert Smigel in the 1980s. Many of his sketches highlighted the notion that Carson was "old and out of touch," with some insinuating "that Johnny was losing his grip."
During the final months as the host of the "Tonight Show," Carson began firing back at those who spent years getting laughs at his expense, including Carvey, who had recently joked about Carson's struggle with alcohol.
"But Johnny had the last laugh," the book reads. "In his monologue on May 20, two days before his final show, he said, 'We’ve been with this network for thirty years, and this fall—I saw the [new] schedule, and they’re coming up with some real great, innovative programming. They’re going to try a comedy version of Saturday Night Live.'"
Carson's final show aired on May 22, 1992, and out of respect for the legendary talk show host, Malkoff writes that Comedy Central went dark for the full hour of his show, and Arsenio Hall ran reruns of his show all that week.
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"And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something I always wanted to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," Carson said in his final outro, per the book.
He continued: "I want to thank the gentleman who shared the stage with me for thirty years, Mr. Ed McMahon; Mr. Doc Severinsen. And you people watching—I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years . . .I bid you a very heartfelt good night."