JOHNNY CARSON

October 23, 1925

John William Carson was a television host, comedian, writer, and producer best known as the host of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (1962–1992). He was born in Corning, Iowa, and moved to Nebraska at age 8. Carson joined the Navy in 1943. He attended the University of Nebraska and studied journalism but with a keen interest in comedy writing. 

His first on camera credit was an afternoon television show called “The Squirrel’s Nest” in 1949 in Omaha. Carson also wrote the program. 

Carson’s first brush with Lucille Ball came in February 1961 as a panelist (along with Betsy Palmer, Harry Morgan, and Bess Myerson) on “I’ve Got a Secret”. Guest Lucille Ball was then starring on Broadway in the musical Wildcat. Moore tells Lucy that her secret will be to get the panel to imitate her based on words that appear on the screen.
During Carson’s turn, the word is “ROMANTIC” and then “TIPSY.”  

In May 1962, Carson is host of the 14th Annual Emmy Awards, at which Lucille Ball is a presenter. 

They would also be host and presenter for the 23rd Annual Emmy Awards in 1971. Lucille Ball is not nominated for “Here’s Lucy”, despite the fact that there were only three nominees in her category. Gale Gordon lost to Edward Asner (”The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) and the writers were nominated for “Lucy Meets the Burtons” but lost to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Lucy attended the Awards with her husband Gary, her daughter Lucie, and her then son-in-law Phil Vandervoort.

At the 36th Annual Emmy Awards in 1980, Lucille Ball was again a presenter, but this time Carson was a nominee, not the host. The hosting duties were taken by Tom Sellek. 

A few weeks later, Carson and Ball are on hand at the 14th Anniversary of “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Lucille Ball makes a cameo appearances riding atop an elephant!  

In “Jack Benny’s Carnival Nights” (March 1968), Benny’s all-star cast includes Johnny Carson as a carnival barker introducing Luscious Lucille (Lucille Ball), the red-headed bombshell.  

Barker: “The girl who made Little Egypt surrender to the Israelis, Luscious Lucille is the most fantastic dancing girl in all history. When Lucille made her first appearance, Gypsy Rose Lee retired, Lily St. Cyr burst her bubble, and Sally Rand grabbed her fans and flew back to Capistrano.”

Later in the special, Carson plays Jack Benny’s son, Jackie, an aspiring TV comic. Lucy played Jackie’s worn-out mother, Agnes. 

In July 1968 Lucille Ball made her first appearance on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” having already been a guest on the show hosted by Jack Paar. She was there to promote her new show, “Here’s Lucy.” 

She returned to the guest chair in August 1969, and November 1969, where she brought rehearsal footage of Carson on “Here’s Lucy.”  

“Lucy and Johnny Carson” (HL S2;E11) aired on December 1, 1969.  

Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon play themselves as Lucy Carter goes to see “The Tonight Show”.  In fact, the episode was not shot at the set of the “Tonight Show,” but one replicated by “Here’s Lucy” on their soundstage at Paramount. 

Lucy Carter is picked to play Stump the Band, a staple audience interaction sequence of “The Tonight Show.” Lucy sings “Snoops the Lawyer” a song she says she learned from her father.  

Speaking of parents, sitting just across the aisle from Lucy is her real-life mother, Dede Ball. Carson even directs some of his lines toward her. 

After the show, Harry and Lucy see Johnny and Ed at the Brown Derby restaurant. The Brown Derby scene is very similar to the Brown Derby scene in “Hollywood at Last!” (ILL S4;E16) aka “L.A. at Last!”.  

• In “Lucy and Johnny Carson,” Lucy jumps up when she sees Gregory Peck and causes the waiter to spill a tray of drinks on Carson. 
• In “Hollywood at Last!” Lucy jumps up when she sees Gregory Peck and causes the waiter to spill a tray of cream pies on William Holden.  

The episode opens with a spoof of the TV series “Mission: Impossible” (1966-73), which was a Desilu / Paramount series.

In 1970, Lucille Ball made two more appearances on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”: in February and November. 

In between, in September 1970, Carson, Ball and other stars helped Dean Martin kick off the sixth season of “The Dean Martin Show.”

Lucile Ball made several more appearances on “The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson” throughout the 1970s:

1971 ~ May and August

1973 ~ November

1974 ~ March (with surprise guest Desi Arnaz Sr.)

1975 ~ December

1977 ~ April and November

1980 ~ February

In 1976, Carson was happy to participate in “CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years” recalling his time on her show in a segment titled “Being Upstaged.”

In 1978, Carson and Ball did two tribute shows: “A Tribute To Mr. Television Milton Berle” and “Happy Birthday, Bob!” a celebration of Bob Hope’s 75th birthday at the Kennedy Center. 

On May 6, 1979, Johnny Carson received an award from the Friars Club during a testimonial dinner at Waldorf-Astoria and friends such as Lucille Ball was accompanied by her husband Gary Morton and daughter Lucie Arnaz.

In 1980, Lucille Ball made the momentous decision to break with CBS and sign a contract with NBC. The event was publicized by a fact meets fiction special titled “Lucy Moves To NBC” in which the NBC stars welcome Ball to the Peacock Network. Carson played himself. Lucy’s Secretary announces Carson’s entrance into her office just as Ed McMahon did on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”: “Heeeeeere’s Johnny!” Carson comes in with the “Tonight Show” theme music playing. Breaking the fourth wall, he cuts off the studio audiences’ applause with a sweeping gesture and they instantly fall silent, just as he did on his talk show. Carson delivers some one-liners about his favorite target, Burbank. There is also some innuendo about Johnny Carson’s work schedule at NBC. In 1980,after more than a year of speculation, Carson finally re-negotiated his contract with the network for a shorter work week, only doing one hour a night, four nights a week. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the evening this special aired, Johnny’s guest was Bob Hope, who will be the next NBC star through Lucy’s office door.

Although Lucy’s tenure at NBC yielded very little, she did join Bob Hope on numerous specials, including “Bob Hope Buys NBC?” in May 1985. Ball and Carson both have cameos in the tongue-in-cheek program.

As years went on, Ball and Carson were often part of tribute shows for other celebrities:

• “AFI Achievement Award: A Tribute to Billy Wilder” ~ March 6, 1986
• “America’s Tribute to Bob Hope” ~ March 5, 1988
• “AFI Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Jack Lemmon” ~ March 10, 1988