My Connection to Johnny Carson and How He Got Fired From Radio

Growing up, my Grandfather would always brag about how he was buddies with Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. I never really thought anything of it, until I realized that Johnny Carson was an american icon. The stories my Grandpa would tell were exactly the kind you would expect from Johnny Carson. Nothing but trouble. The guy was a natural born entertainer, and REALLY mischievous.

Grandpa loved telling the stories of the trouble they brought to Norfolk, Nebraska. He would tell of the time that he and Johnny were busted trying to steal watermelons out of a local farmers garden. He said that Carson should have made it to the Olympics after seeing him hurdle the fences trying to escape being shot with a loaded shotgun. Unfortunately, Grandpa wasn't as lucky, as Johnny spent the remainder of that night helping my Grandpa pick salt pellets out of his butt. Turns out the farmer was a great shot, with rounds loaded with salt.

Grandpa would also tell me of the time Johnny Carson got fired from the local radio station. Working part time, he was put in charge of running local religious programming on Sunday morning. Johnny would set up a record, with a pre-recorded sermon, and let in play. Sometimes Johnny would walk across the street to a local diner and grab breakfast, while the show was airing. One day, things did not go well. While Johnny abandoned his post for a bite to eat, the record began to skip. The only problem was, being religious programming, it repeated the phrase "GO TO HELL, GO TO HELL, GO TO HELL." It repeated that until Johnny returned 20 minutes later. Needless to say, that was his last day on the job.

The lesson I took from that story, is that, if this radio thing never works out. Theres always hosting late night television.