Laugh Track: The Best of Johnny Carson

Everyone in America knows the name Johnny Carson. For 30 years, he hosted the Tonight Show and was watched by more Americans every night than the nightly news. Now, every network has their own late night show, but back when Carson’s incarnation of The Tonight Show was on the air, he was late night. Sure there were other shows, but he was the one everybody watched.

There have been many biographies and books written about Carson, so there isn’t much that needs to be said about him that can’t be gleaned from the countless books about him. Instead, we are going to look at some clips from The Tonight Show that showcase just how funny Johnny Carson was.

One of Carson’s best known bits was Carnac the Magnificent, where he pretends to be a psychic from the Far East:

Another popular bit on the show was when Johnny would have on Joan Embry and Jim Fowler (much like David Letterman has Jack Hannah on his shows today).

Carson had numerous celebrities and comedians on the Tonight Show over the years:

And of course, the famous “cigarette box incident,” where Carson returned the day after Don Rickles was a guest on the show, which had been guest hosted by Bob Newhart, to find that Rickles had broken his cigarette box. Enraged, Carson burst into a live taping of Don Rickles’ show CPO Sharkey and confronted him.