David Letterman's Tribute to Johnny Carson 4

[observer9670]

Peter Lasally has an interesting story of his own. He and his family escaped the Holocaust in Germany in the 30's by escaping to Holland then London and finally arriving in New York City. He went to work for NBC as a teenage page, then after college became an associate producer for Arthur Godfrey, and then for NBC radio's Monitor. He then went to LA as a free lance producer and worked on Jerry Lewis' and Joey Bishop's shows before being hired at the Tonight Show when it moved to Burbank.

[ralfodrum]

Leno's ego writes checks that even HE can't cash----Johnny Carson #1 David Lettermen #2

[nicmobass]

wow! i'm the 60,000th viewer! yay! :p

[LithuanianMC]

probably those 3 negative votes were made by Leno, but even he wouldn't do that, so who the hell gives negative votes for this kind of videos?!?

[DarkeningSkies1]

The proof is in the pudding: the actual Tonight Show had NOTHING close to this sort of tribute to Johnny upon his passing. Leno is a putz.

[MegaObserver1]

@DarkeningSkies1 Leno had Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart and Don Rickles on his show the night after Carson died. Leno did not do a monologue, but delivered his own tribute to Johnny. Leno also showed several clips of young comics who got their big break with Carson, including himself and David Letterman. Drew Carey was there to talk about his first time on the Tonight Show. Carey told Leno: "When you die, we aren't gonna do this for you." Jay cracked up.

[trollheimer]

"Once I do retire, remind me not to come back." Something that Leno didn't do.

[Tamaslammer]

I wish Dave wasn't so self effacing. Dave is fucking awesome and has nothing to apologize for. Ever.

[KeahuBooth]

WOW! Leno should have taken a lesson.

[vegasrobbie]

wow I miss Johnny...people who grew up with him considered him a part of the family...11:30 weeknights for so many years.........thanks for posting this! :)

[Hoopermazing]

I thought this was Norman Fell in the thumbnail pic.

[daisypeachy]

@Hoopermazing ha ha ha!!!!! ditto!!!!

[DoL0kk]

"No, he was not a screamer". Think quite a few in the audience misinterpreted that sentence :D

[tntrex0]

Missed this. FACINATING!!!! Thanks for posting!

[mason000]

I've watched this episode again and again, and I still curse myself for being too young to watch Johnny when he was on the air.

[Arnabas315]

@mason000 I am not too old, but I was able to catch some first-run episodes of Johnny, including that final episode. There was nothing like it. It is hard to explain to people today what Carson meant to the industry and to the public. He was magic, pure and simple.

[sjm757]

This makes me want to go watch "The Late Shift" again...and I just watched it last night.

[dranwang]

I always have tremendous respect for nice old chaps. They've lived their life with all its ups and downs. They've taken countless punches, and yet, remain good and nice. No matter where they end up in the end - I just can't help but admire every single one of them.

[bobby6649]

leno sucks

[septip123]

I love when the show gets serious and stuff.

Listen...you can hear a pin drop

[septip123]

That's what Seinfeld thought: Don't stay too long at the fair.

[ViceWorld]

leno could learn a little lesson from this

[stephenmyers99]

@ViceWorld  - Agreed!

[Fallen2me]

Jay should watch this... I'm with Dave and Conan

[VeryFineWhine]

WOW Peter Lasally was SOOOO lucky. He got to to hear Carson's monologue for YEARS afterwards. What I would have given to be a fly on those phone calls.

And this one time I totally disagree w/Johnny Carson. He left the fair WAY too soon. And if there is any doubt, not that their should be, the quality of his current jokes, through his retirement, proved it.

I sure hope he had fun in those retired years...then there was a purpose for his leaving us WAY too soon.

[dvsxavier]

Schmuck...that's who I call Leno. Doesn't even do a full tribute to a man he replaced.

[wertyhhp]

welL he did but it was shit, TEAM DAVE!

[proken58]

Leno is getting a bad rap. All he asked NBC to do was release him from his contract. NBC wanted to keep him from going to ABC or Fox. If you want to blame anyone, blame NBC. If they would have released Leno, then Conan O'Brien would still have the Tonight Show.

[flugel76]

The problem with that is that folks haven't forgotten how Leno got the job in the first place...by hiding in closets and spying on network meetings. How many times did Carson cameo on Leno after he retired? Zero. Even Johnny considered Letterman his successor on the Tonight Show.

[swamison]

You are right on! I played the Tongiht Show with Buddy Rich and Johnny was just so cool!

[flugel76]

Very cool!! Buddy was always one of my favorite guests. He was just as charismatic on the couch as he was behind the drumset. I always liked when he and Shonnausey played together.

[bibbler9]

Conan got NBC to release him. Jay could have done the same thing. Jay should have listen to this interview don't come back once you leave. Jay Leno is frincking weasel. Johnny was/is the best, Dave and Conan are class acts. I'm with COCO!

[jdchoi2]

Peter Lassally has been around for so long, I'm glad he was there for Dave and was/is there for Craig.

[rumpole33]

leno didnt gracefully retire like carson did. leno cant get enough of the camera, unilke carson who had a life after the show.

even carson didnt want to impose on dave, who was on another network, by sending in jokes, but i'm glad lassally convinced him to do so.

carson would never have made nbc give him back the 11:35p spot & kick leno off to 12:05p, effectively the 'next day.'

there are some ppl who exhibit class, then there's leno.

[flugel76]

Exactly. LenoGate is EERILY similar to Carson's final days as host. NBC didn't want to lose Leno, which is why he became the regular Monday night host. I think Carson could have easilly gone another 5 years, but you're right, he was classy. Leno is not.

Check out Leno's interview on Oprah, trying to do some damage control. It's quite pathetic.

[edmonton67]

This shows the class that Letterman has for those whom he learned his trade from. Nicely done!

[joshaf26]

"And once I do retire, remind me not to go back." Anyone want to read this quote to LENO?

[bz4kh]

I was just about to quote that till I saw your posting. What a classy man.

I see the same classiness in Letterman and O'Brien.

[IamConnorMacLeod]

@joshaf26 Hah! Great point.

[ExodusPessoa]

@joshaf26 Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha very funny my friend very funny.

[chomsky88]

I don't think there was ever a better host and interviewer than Carson but in terms of breaking new ground and doing something different with the format I think David Letterman in the 80's has not been topped.

[mooreentstudios]

Well said.

[Tekneek74]

@chomsky88 Important to remember that Johnny gave him that show, probably in order for it to be taken in a new direction. The guy had a good sense for the business.

[AccordionManiac]

@chomsky88 Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely!

[KellyGreen5555]

@chomsky88 Agreed. I honestly don't care much for Craig Ferguson or Conan O'Brien...they're okay, but compared to Carson and Letterman, they are only marginally talented.

[saxdog2005]

Omg yes. I have the 14 DVD Carson set, and I still can't watch Bette singing "One For My Baby and One More For the Road" without tearing up. How she sang that without breaking is just amazing.

[proken58]

In one of his very rare interviews after he retired, Johnny said his second-to-last Tonight Show with Robin Williams and Bette Midler was the best single entertinment show ever on television. He said he could never top that, and didn't want to try. He wanted to keep that legacy, and any appearances on TV after that would only tarnish the image from that show.

[wertyhhp]

would have been cool if he done more things like his appearance on letterman in 94 was amazing and i read that there was an idea pitched to him by steve martin to do a walk on at the oscars in a similar gag, imagine if he had done that the place would have gone crazy

[mattsker83]

Agreed... Craig Ferguson is our generation's innovator in late night television.

[Theburn77]

Craig Ferguson is probably the closet to Johnny and his show, he's just hilarious

[jimmbo13]

If you read the Late Shift by Bill Carter, you really get a picture of the relationship of Letterman and Lassaly

[ionuorah]

this is nice

[icetyrant]

I guess it's worth giving ferg another shot though, but, I mean, really, I'd rather watch Conan Re-runs and Fallon then his show. It just never really got me.

[risingfrost]

personally, i think conan's the best guy on late night tv right now, him and letterman

yet again nobody'll match up to johnny carson though

[icetyrant]

"These days, Peter Lasally is the Executive Producer of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"...Not saying that Ferguson is better than Carson, but he comes pretty close 2nd sometimes."

Wow, really? I think Ferguson is awful.

[risingfrost]

i think carson daly beats ferguson out in the "awful" contest

[VimisiDigitalMedia]

Letterman puts Lasally at ease with his sincere gratitude. Dave has grown into the "class act" Johnny was. Johnny would be proud. He'll be remembered as the Johnny of the future generations. (I hope that's a long, long, LONG way off.)

[tvnutboy]

These days, Peter Lasally is the Executive Producer of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson"...Not saying that Ferguson is better than Carson, but he comes pretty close 2nd sometimes.

[DrSamuels305]

Ferguson is soooooo good. I think he is great!

Carson

Letterman

Ferguson

Conan/Parr

Kilborn

Leno

Daily

[evh5150316]

Only thing I don't like about Ferguson is that he isn't the greatest interviewer. But his show is HILARIOUS!

[MildApplause]

Peter is such a modest and apparently kind man.

Such a rarity in Hollywood.

But, what a great show he's doing with Craig Ferguson these days. So, in a way, the Carson legacy lives on.

[rootykazooty]

DT-Those clips are Manna from Heaven ~ Truely. I, also missed this show. I feel like I came to better-know an old friend. Thanks is *not* enough for the reminder of JC's brilliance. RED

[rowenagoldfarb]

Thank you so much to DTSavaria for posting these. I missed this originally and am so thrilled to be able to view them now. Great job and thank you again!!

[RAGS123abc]

lol - sooo obvious that johnny liked dave alot and didn't care for leno - who did he send jokes to?

carson had good taste - letterman is the best out there today...

[martygp]

Carson is the best EVER and I'm from Australia!

[pp341]

Whoa!

[letsdance73]

Carson was a class act! Humor exuded from every facet of his being. There has never been anyone like him and there never will be again, he was truly one of a kind. A true comedienne. Leno doesn't even begin to come close to Carson.

[cap442]

Yes, and it's not close at all. Jay Leno is a tool. Can't wait until he's out in less than two years and Conan takes over. Then the Tonight Show will be watchable again.

[Slides2006]

LOL, prophetic statement about Leno.

[xRoger007x]

just to remind u of this comment of urs... lol did left the show and Conan took it over...lol

rest they say is history.... :)

[rajanlaad]

was carson even better than jay leno ?

[bucklaw]

Carson created them all. All three are funny but in different ways and different times.

[Captmiloman]

When I decide to retire, remind me not to come back. Johnny was the king of monologues.

[redheadeddude]

Put down the crack pipe, Rajanlaad.