Here's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, the Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship Book

If these troubling times have you feeling a bit nostalgic, Ed McMahon's Here's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship might be a good book for you. It's hard to believe Johnny Carson signed off almost 28 years ago, and he passed away in 2005. Ed McMahon himself died in 2009, but this collection of McMahon's memories brings back The Tonight Show's glory days, or I should say, nights.

My first recollection of an image from a color television broadcast was Johnny coming through that brightly-colored vertically-striped curtain after being introduced by Ed McMahon with a hearty "Heeeere's Johnny!" Carson's humor was based on wit, wordplay, and timing, a completely different formula than what is deployed by the current crop of late-night talk show hosts.
I greatly enjoyed Ed McMahon's stories about the early days of his work with Johnny Carson and the unique chemistry behind their friendship and partnership. Here's Johnny! also features plenty of remembrances of stars from times gone by: Elizabeth Taylor, Groucho Marx, John Wayne, and many more, along with behind-the-scenes insights into Carson's various characters, including Aunt Blabby, Art Fern, Ronald Reagan, and Floyd R. Turbo. McMahon also explains how he perceived his role on The Tonight Show, always the "second banana" and straight man who knew how to help the boss and the show.

If reading this review makes you miss Johnny, Ed, and The Tonight Show, give this breezy book a try. It just might have you calling out, Hi-Yooo!