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- THE WEEK, Page 26ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTAnd One for the Road
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- After a week's worth of tributes, Johnny Carson says his last
- good-night
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- It was the week that TV fans thought would never come. A year
- after announcing his intention to retire as host of the Tonight
- show at the end of his 30th season, Johnny Carson stepped
- through the curtains at NBC'S Burbank studios for the last four
- times. He made wisecracks about Dan Quayle, chatted with guests
- like Tony Bennett and Robin Williams, and modestly accepted a
- nightly shower of accolades and standing ovations. The
- sentimental high point came on Thursday night, when Carson's
- final guest, Bette Midler, plied him with musical tributes,
- closing the show with a rendition of One for My Baby (and One
- More for the Road) as the camera showed Carson looking on,
- misty-eyed.
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- For his final show, Carson dispensed with guests and spent
- the hour reminiscing and screening clips from past years. "And
- so it has come to this," he said, perched on a stool at the
- end. He thanked sidekicks Ed McMahon and Doc Severinsen and
- expressed a hope that if he returns to TV, viewers will "be as
- gracious in inviting me into your homes as you have been." Then,
- fighting back tears, he said simply, "I bid you a very heartfelt
- good-night."
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