Johnny, you made me laugh

I cried today when I found out that Johnny Carson died this past weekend.

I watched Johnny Carson the way I watched Carol Burnett, which was faithfully. They both entered my childhood and taught me to laugh. Once I said to my dad, "I want to be on TV with Johnny Carson", and my dad picked me up and sat me on top of our old bunny-eared television. "There," he said, "you're on TV with Johnny Carson".

I have continued to watch the Tonight Show, though I favor David Letterman's acidic wit and timing. But I'm a huge fan of so many of Carson's projects, including Robin Williams, Ellen Degeneres, Bill Cosby.

What I admired about Johnny Carson was the way that he could save a show that was not making it. Once, I remembered, the jokes were so bad, he took a lighter from his pocket and set the script on fire. Another, when the jokes weren't killing, he reached up and pulled down the microphone and said, "testing, testing.." When you can get a laugh when no laugh is planned and do it with that kind of style, you are a genius.

I'll miss him.