11 Of The Most Famous Moments On Johnny Carson's Tonight Show

He may not have been the first host of "The Tonight Show," but Johnny Carson will be remembered as its most popular. Taking over from Jack Paar in 1962, Carson ruled television's late-night landscape for three decades, shaping popular culture in America like few celebrities, before or since.

Until his retirement in 1992, Carson's monologues were required viewing for millions of TV viewers, and he'd sometimes get more laughs from jokes that bombed than punchlines that hit the bullseye. He interviewed everyone from the most famous of A-list celebrities to quirky oddballs from the American heartland. Meanwhile, "The Tonight Show" was ground zero for stand-up comics; those who earned his seal of approval by being waved over to join him at his desk could expect to see their comedy careers explode.

Over the course of those 30 years, some legendary incidents took place on the show — although not all of them actually happened. For example, Jane Fonda once asked Carson about an apocryphal story she'd heard about a long-ago interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor. According to Fonda, Gabor — holding her pet cat on her lap — supposedly invited the host to pet the animal, using a pejorative term that describes both a feline and a delicate part of the female anatomy. Fonda had been told that Carson's response to that invitation was, "I'd love to — if you'd remove that damn cat." Carson confirmed it never happened. "No, I think I would recall that," he deadpanned (via "The Tonight Show"). For a rundown of legendary things that actually did happen during his late-night reign, read on for some of the most famous moments on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

Anytime "The Tonight Show" hit a milestone and served up a clip show, it was a given that it would contain this classic 1965 segment featuring actor and singer Ed Ames. At the time, Ames — who was actually of Ukrainian heritage — portrayed a Native American, Mingo, on the popular TV western "Daniel Boone," and had prepared to demonstrate his recently acquired skill of throwing a tomahawk.

His target: a life-sized outline of a cowboy that had been drawn on a piece of plywood. In the clip, Ames proceeds to hurl his tomahawk, but instead of striking at chest level, the blade winds up between the figure's legs. The audience erupts in laughter, with Carson masterfully waiting for the laughs to subside before serving up an off-the-cuff punchline that led to another wave: "I didn't even know you were Jewish." 

As Carson's sidekick Ed McMahon recalled in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, when the audience laughter died down again, Carson then hit them with another zinger: "Welcome to a frontier bris." After more laughs, Carson blocked Ames' attempts at retrieving his wayward tomahawk until Ames challenged Carson to attempt his own tomahawk toss. Carson looked at the tomahawk, then at Ames, declaring, "I couldn't hurt him any more than you did." As McMahon pointed out, "That's probably the biggest laugh ever, on television ever, certainly on 'The Tonight Show,' the biggest, longest-running laugh ... the funniest laugh ever in television."

Tiny Tim became an unlikely star thanks to his 1968 novelty hit "Tiptoe Through the Tulips," sung in a quavering falsetto while accompanying himself on ukulele. During a "The Tonight Show" appearance, the singer informed host Johnny Carson that he'd recently gotten engaged, which prompted Carson to extend an invitation to hold the nuptials on his show. 

The press picked up on it, and before long, a media furor grew that all but guaranteed that Tiny Tim and 17-year-old fiancée Miss Vicki (a.k.a. Vicki Budinger) would marry on "The Tonight Show." That came to pass, with the couple tying the knot in front of TV cameras in December 1969. The wedding-slash-PR stunt wound up becoming one of the biggest pop-culture moments of the late 1960s, drawing an estimated viewing audience of a staggering 45 million. "They said that was second only in ratings to the Super Bowl," Ed McMahon marveled when interviewed for the Television Academy Foundation.

The marriage didn't last, with their divorce coming eight years later. Speaking with the Chicago Tribune in 1995, Budinger revealed she was just 19 when they'd had a child together, aptly named daughter Tulip. Looking back on her televised wedding, Budinger said, "I was just a kid, thinking, 'This will be fun.' And it was. So I don't regret it." Tiny Tim died in 1996, aged 64.

In 1973, self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller became a media darling for his seemingly impossible mental feats, including fixing broken watches and bending spoons, allegedly using his mind. That inevitably led him to "The Tonight Show," for what proved to be an embarrassing and cringe-inducing debacle. During his 20-plus minutes on the show (which can be seen in its excruciating entirety above), every psychic feat he attempted, including trying to bend a spoon with the assistance of actor Ricardo Montalban, fell flat and failed miserably. 

What Geller hadn't realized was that "The Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson was a serious student of magic, adept at sleight-of-hand trickery and stage illusions. Carson smelled a rat, suspecting that Geller's props, not his psychic power, were responsible. He consulted with magician James Randi, renowned for debunking the claims of mediums, faith healers, and the like. Randi advised Carson to have his staff replace the props Geller had brought with alternates and keep a close eye on them backstage to prevent tampering. 

In the segment, Geller repeatedly stalls and offers excuses for why his powers had mysteriously abandoned him. Carson, appearing bemused, lets it all drag on to extend the agony. "I didn't know at that time that [Carson] was an amateur magician," Geller told Mark Malkoff for his book, "Love Johnny Carson" (via Parade). "I also didn't know that he was a total skeptic. I was humiliated. It was my first major TV show in America. By the end of the show, I was devastated." 

One of Johnny Carson's most enduringly popular "The Tonight Show" bit was his Carnac the Magnificent character, introduced by Ed McMahon as "that famous visitor from the East," the "seer, sage, soothsayer" who could provide the answers to questions concealed in envelopes that had been "hermetically sealed ... in a mayonnaise jar" kept on "Funk and Wagnall's porch." These segments were always reliably entertaining, but one has come to stand out from all the others. 

During the episode aired on August 5, 1981, Carson holds the envelope to his forehead. Before even reading the line, he starts cracking up, knowing what's to come. Finally, he composes himself and utters a phrase generally associated with cheerleading, "Sis boom bah." He then opens the envelope and reveals the question: "Describe the sound made when a sheep explodes." The audience erupts with riotous laughter, while both Carson and McMahon collapse into convulsive fits of laughter that continue for a full minute before they get themselves together.

Recalling the moment when interviewed for the Television Academy Foundation, McMahon remembered that prior to the show, Carson issued him a warning — the first and last time he'd ever done so. "He said, 'There's a line in Carnac that's gonna put you away,'" said McMahon. According to McMahon, "Sis boom bah" proved to be the most popular Carnac line in the show's history. "Now, the two of us laughed ... We just couldn't go on ..." McMahon added. "That's the only time he ever set me up for something." 

Comedian Don Rickles was one of Johnny Carson's most frequent guests, responsible for many uproarious comic moments over the years. During an appearance when Bob Newhart was guest-hosting, Rickles was clowning around when he accidentally broke a wooden cigarette box that had been a fixture on Carson's "The Tonight Show" desk, feigning horror upon the realization that he'd be in big trouble.

On Carson's first night back after Rickles' appearance, the dismayed host displays the broken box while chatting with "The Tonight Show" bandleader Doc Severinson. Cameras then follow Carson, microphone in hand, as he storms over to confront Rickles while taping his TV sitcom "CPO Sharkey" in the studio next door. "Rickles! Rickles! Stop the taping!" declares Carson when he enters the "CPO Sharkey" set. "Somebody broke my cigarette box!"

Rickles is taken by surprise and laughs uproariously at Carson's surprise visit. "They told me you broke it on the show last night," Carson says accusatorially, until Rickles eventually begins tugging on Carson's jacket, promising to make it up to him before resorting to all-out begging. "But just keep me on the show, you mean so much to me," Rickles tells Carson, who responds with disgust, "Don't humble yourself! I want something back." Then, as Carson prepares to leave, Rickles points to Carson and introduces him by name. "They know who I am!" Carson snaps.

When aspiring stand-up comic David Letterman made his first appearance on "The Tonight Show" in 1978, he received that all-important wave from Johnny Carson, inviting him over to the desk. Letterman soon became a Carson favorite, quickly tapped as a guest host before launching "Late Night," his own late-night show following Tonight.

When Letterman appeared on "The Tonight Show" in 1986, he owned a house in Malibu that wasn't far from Carson's abode. Carson tells viewers about going out for a walk one day. "And I passed this house, and I saw this beat-up red pickup truck," Carson says, revealing the truck belongs to Letterman. This is followed by footage — which Letterman is apparently seeing for the first time — of his truck being towed away. "I figured that as a citizen I did have the right to improve the community," Carson declares, before a curtain lifts and Letterman's truck is displayed in the studio in all its dilapidated, dented glory.

The story didn't end there, although it's safe to say this wasn't one of those times when Letterman went too far. A couple of months later, Carson welcomed Letterman again. This time, Judge Joseph Wapner of daytime TV hit "The People's Court" enters the fray, taking a seat at Carson's desk to adjudicate the case of the stolen truck, while Carson and Letterman stand at podiums to make their respective arguments. Ultimately, Wapner ruled in Letterman's favor, determining that Carson did not have the legal right to abscond with the truck. Agreeing with Letterman that Carson had damaged the truck, Wapner ordered Carson to pay Letterman $24.95 to cover the repairs.

In 1988, Martin Short was white hot, having parlayed his gift for celebrity impersonation on "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live" into movie stardom with "The Three Amigos" and "Innerspace." In January of that year, he appeared on "The Tonight Show," where he regaled Johnny Carson with his impressions of such celebs as comedian David Steinberg, Jerry Lewis, Katharine Hepburn, and others. 

Sitting next to Short was the previous guest, legendary Hollywood movie star Bette Davis (and if you've never watched a Bette Davis movie, here's the one you should start with). When Carson asks Short — who has just done a bit as his "SCTV"-slash-"SNL" character Ed Grimley — if he's working on any other impressions, Davis interrupts to pipe up, "Do you do me?" Short responds by attempting his best Bette Davis, saying in her exaggerated cadence, "Well, you aren't that easy to do." 

Davis, her arms folded and her visage grim, doesn't seem to realize she's just been impersonated and replies, "Then we'll skip it. I just wanted to know." For a brief moment, Short appears genuinely shocked and chagrined, but quickly pivots and resumes his interview with Carson. Sadly, that wouldn't be the only time that he'd find himself at odds with a legendary Hollywood figure — such as the time that Short once had a messy confrontation with Lucille Ball in public.

Albert Brooks' appearances on "The Tonight Show" were legendary, as inventive and bizarre as they were downright hilarious — including the time he used a Speak & Spell children's toy to create a hilarious ventriloquism bit. His most famous bit, however, came when he dropped by the show in 1983 to debut his "home impressions kit" (via The Tonight Show), guaranteed to turn anyone into the life of the party by delivering drop-dead accurate impressions of various celebrities. The secret, Brooks explained, could be found in specific types of food. "There are certain foods that, when they interact with the normal body chemistry, produce the impressions," Brooks says. "It's uncanny."

He proceeds to pull out assorted plastic containers full of food, each labeled with the name of a different celebrity. For his first impression, Brooks jams a lemon wedge between his teeth and sucks on the juice. Wincing, he impersonates Clark Gable in "Gone With the Wind," saying the actor's signature line, "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn." 

Further impressions include a steaming hot baked potato to impersonate Burt Lancaster (and, with the addition of hot pepper, Curly from the Three Stooges), crunching raw carrots for Sylvester Stallone, placing vanilla ice cream at the back of his throat for Merv Griffin, and chewing saltwater taffy to approximate talking sitcom horse Mr. Ed, all of which reduce Johnny Carson into hysterics. 

Steve Martin's career exploded thanks to his multiple stints hosting "Saturday Night Live" in the late 1970s. While it's true that he wasn't involved in any of the most awkward moments that aired on "SNL" (even though a resurfaced sketch of his from the show had the internet seeing red), Martin is also responsible for one of the all-time great comedy bits to air on "The Tonight Show." This took place in 1992, when Martin presented himself as a magician called the Great Flydini.

The routine is as silly as it is outrageously funny. Martin — who, like Johnny Carson, entered showbiz via magic — performs a variety of tricks through the unzipped fly in his trousers, sporting a fake arm hanging by his side while his actual arm feeds objects through the fly. These begin with scarves, then an egg, followed by a bouquet of flowers, a cocktail, a telephone, and a tiny puppet resembling opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, who mimes along with an aria.

Throughout the routine, Martin never says a word, evoking silent film comedians such as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. "We have seen some amazing effects, ladies and gentlemen, over the years, but you have to admit Flydini has shown us more than we ever wanted to see in magic," Carson quips at the end of the routine.

In addition to the thousands of celebrities to plant their behinds on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" guest chair over the years, he also welcomed an array of colorful non-celebs who were famous for often bizarre things. Such was the case with Myrtle Young, known as the Potato Chip Lady for her unusual hobby of collecting potato chips resembling things that were not chips.

During Young's appearance on "Tonight" back in 1987, she brought some of her famous chips with her, displaying them for Carson. These include chips that were vaguely shaped like a pair of socks, a calf without eyes, a camel, and others. However, she has no idea she's about to be the focus of an epic prank when second banana Ed McMahon distracts her by seeking Carson's attention. While her head is turned toward McMahon, Carson slyly sneaks a potato chip hidden from view, then places it in his mouth and loudly crunches it. Young swings her head around in horror, believing Carson's just swallowed one of her prized chips. He then pulls out a bowl of chips that had been concealed behind his desk, and she slowly comprehends the joke he's played on her.

"She was serious, this was not fun ..." McMahon told the Television Academy Foundation of Young, recalling her reaction when her head was turned, and she heard the unmistakable sound of a potato chip crunching behind her. "And she grabbed her heart," McMahon recalled, "I thought she was gonna die on the spot." 

In the days leading up to Johnny Carson's final episode of "The Tonight Show" on May 22, 1992, a parade of A-listers dropped by to bid farewell before he rode off into the sunset. On the penultimate episode (the last one featured no guests), Carson welcomed Robin Williams and Bette Midler. 

Midler closed the show by serenading Carson, who sat at his desk while Midler sat upon a stool nearby. "I can't believe I'm the last guest — the last fool Mr. Carson will have to suffer gladly," Midler said before declaring that Carson was the wind beneath her wings. She then launched into an emotional rendition of "One More For My Baby" that had the host tearing up, and was greeted with thunderous applause that seemed to last forever. 

Poignantly, it was back in 1972 that Carson made a bold yet prescient prediction during one of her early appearances on "The Tonight Show" — joining the things you don't know about Bette Midler. "I said it before when you were first on this show, and I mean it," Carson said. "You're going to be someone to contend with. You're going to be a big star in this business because you are unique and you are different. When it all comes together, it'll happen."