re: 'Johnny Carson: King of Late Night' takes an in-depth look: 5/14

The great thing about the Tonight Show back then was that Carson was a bigger celeb than his guests so he could get away with so much more. Johnny was the only game in town. Today, late night hosts are a dime a dozen so it's hard to really grasp how big of a staple Johnny was.

He really was a national father figure and that is what made his retirement so sad. It was bigger than Bob Barker, Regis, Larry King, Brokaw, etc. Its really hard to explain how big of a deal his retirement was. The guy was in your home every night and was arguably the biggest comedian in the country....then he just disappeared. Letterman described it best by saying that it was like watching a family member die when Johnny retired. It's shocking (and sad) to think that he was around for over a decade before he passed away and didn't conduct a single interview. His last appearance was in 1994.

It was very odd watching the first Tonight Show with Leno. The producers and Leno made a decision to barely acknowledge Carson. It was like Johnny never existed.