Johnny Carson - Three Close Encounters
Some brief encounters with Johnny Carson, jotted down.. each has a longer version of the stories, but I thought it would be good to get them down.. the image is a screenshot from the Web site now (larger version on click)..
1) TV on the Floor, High School Years...
During my high school years, circa 1960-64, back in Charlotte, North Carolina, Garinger High School, I lived with my mother, a waitress at a steak house.. my nights were my own for homework, hanging out, whatever else I wanted to do (a great gift of freedom).. Mother worked the nights and dinner shift, so she'd be home about 11pm or so most nights; this was pre-videotape machines, so I'd be in the floor, with a pillow under my head, watching Johnny Carson on the "Tonight Show," when she'd come home.. I'd fill her in on what had gone on in the early minutes, the monologue, and the guest list that night.. we'd watch together, talk about our days and the night at work, and I'd count her tips for her.. Johnny always made us laugh together, the shows were the same but always different, and it was a great way to end the day together.. the show would end, I'd turn it off, kiss her cheek, and head to bed.. all was right with the world...
2) NBC Tour, Post-Production California Road Trip...
It was in 1981, I believe, when we finished filming "Swamp Thing" in Charleston, South Carolina, that I began a journey that would lead me to Johnny Carson again.. quite a large number of props had been obtained for the Art Department and set dressing from MGM Studios (huge source for everything from stuffed owls to 1940s cups); it was determined that the company could save money (and money was a huge issue) if instead of shipping them back, someone drove them back to California from South Carolina.. having no next movie lined up, I volunteered --this was my "screenwriting" as filmmaker period, and a chance to see "Hollywood" was a magical-sounding elixir.. I drove across country with the props in a rental truck, returned them, had enough money for a bus back home & change.. but, the adventure was the thing.. one of the things I did that trip was visit NBC Studios in Burbank, CA, and take the studio tour.. waiting in line to go in, I had a visitor tourist like me snap a photo of me standing next to this huge cardboard cutout of Johnny.. lifesize.. I still have the old photo somewhere, and will post it one day.. it was a great shot though.. it made it seem for all intents and purposes (and I tended to show it to people and say, "Look, here's me and Carson...") that I was standing with him, him smiling that easy smile, with my arm around him.. we were pals, my days in the Movie Business were just around the bend.. I got a nice coffee mug on the tour, says "Today Show" on it, and drink coffee from it today.. I also saw the star on the floor that marked Johnny's spot to stand and deliver.. his monologues.. it was great standing where he did, all those years.. that's where the laughter started...
3) The Big Chill, Carson Production Group...
The last encounter for me was about a year after, when we were making "The Big Chill" in Beaufort, South Carolina.. Johnny Carson had a film production company called Carson Production Group, and this was, I believe, their first film.. we got to meet Marcia Nasatir from the company on the shoot and sets, and she even read one of my early draft screenplays, "The Shield".. it was amazing, gave me "notes" on my work, and inspired me --something I remember to this day; she didn't dismiss my earnest efforts, but encouraged, and gave me feedback in a creative way.. I believe Johnny was behind the picture 100%, and proud I've heard about it and the awards it racked up.. I have no way of knowing for sure.. he didn't know it, but I worked for Johnny Carson once.. and it was grand.. thanks for the memories, Johnny, and as you said on the last show...
"If I could magically, somehow, that tape you just saw, make it run backwards. I would like to do the whole thing over again. It's been a hell of a lot of fun. As an entertainer, it has been the great experience of my life, and I cannot imagine finding something in television after I leave tonight that would give me as much joy and pleasure, and such a sense of exhilaration, as this show has given me."