As news broke Sunday of the death of Johnny Carson—the classiest act in the entertainment business, bar none, and a longtime Sahara headliner—a few familiar faces from our hotel stages passed through the frenzy of remembrances and film clips that clogged CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Here's some of what we saw and heard—and didn't see and hear.
Don Rickles: His Hockey Puckness and Strip stalwart was fairly well-behaved during a live interview on Dateline's hour-long Carson retrospective. But on Larry King Live, bantering with the host and guest Carl Reiner, Rickles kept lapsing into his smart-ass schtick. If Carson were there, he would have laughed along, as did King, but that didn't make it any less annoying. What you saw: frequent replay of Carson playfully tossing Rickles into a pool. What you didn't see: Carson, after fuming on camera that guest Rickles had busted a cigarette box on his desk while he was vacationing, storming the set of Rickles' sitcom CPO Sharkey, interrupting filming and reaming him out. On camera. (It was eventually played on Jay Leno's tribute show.)
Rich Little: The Suncoast headliner appeared on MSNBC and CNN, fondly recalling The Master's interviewing and hosting attributes, and ruefully recalling bygone, pre-VCR/DVR days when people made a point to rush home to watch Johnny. He was respectful and sincere. What you heard: Little going into his Carson routine which, in light of his death, was both beautiful and spooky. What you didn't hear: any mention that in later years, Little virtually disappeared from the Carson guest-list, becoming what's known in the industry as a "no-book."
David Brenner: Effusively credited Carson with his entire career. Why shouldn't he? With 158 appearances—including 70 substitute host spots—Carson made him America's Guest.
George Carlin: Seen in a film clip, the long-ago, suit-and-tie Carlin broke up Johnny (and us) anew as the stoned Hippie-Dippie Weatherman, noting that radar had picked up scattered thundershowers and a Russian ICBM, "so I wouldn't sweat the thundershowers."
Wayne Newton: What you didn't see: Wayne Newton. That may be because of Newton's infamous run-in with the King of Late-Night over the 1980 sale of the Aladdin—and Carson's frequent jabs comically questioning Newton's masculinity, which enraged The Lacquered One.
Could have heard a lottery ticket drop after the state Democratic press conference Thursday in which Sen. Dina Titus, in responding to W.'s inauguration, mentioned that state Dems would back a push for a state lottery. She slipped word of her support of a bill that would route proceeds to fund classroom materials into her We-Have-A-Plan Democratic response. But, after she finished speaking, not a single reporter showed interest in the plan. Questions? Questions? With no daily newspaper reporter interested enough in the Dems to even be there, and just a couple of weeklies and an assortment of TV crews on hand, the announcement floated, like the lottery proposal is likely to do in the gaming capital, to the ground without much ado. Saturday's R-J reported that "Democratic legislative leaders on Friday proposed yet another attempt to enact a state lottery" because, well, they must have proposed it again. If a tree falls in a forest ... if a Democrat launches a lottery bill ... Attempts to create a state lottery in Nevada have failed since the 1970s.
There are no more parent-teacher conferences in the Clark County School District, not in this millennium. Now there is Parent-Student-Teacher Academic Planning Time. Can't you feel those test scores rising already!
"Homeless find shelter in libraries"