Announcer Ed McMahon sits with host Johnny Carson, dressed in his character of "Carnac the Magnificent," on NBC's "The Tonight Show" on Feb. 10th, 1971.

In these days of multiple late-night talk shows, streaming services, websites, social media, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, it’s difficult for younger viewers to fully appreciate the cultural impact of Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” From February 1962 until May 1992, millions of Americans tuned in to Carson every weeknight to end their day with some laughs and a bit of show-biz glitz.

Appearing from behind the curtain, the smooth and impeccably dressed Carson opened the show with a monologue, consisting mainly of jokes riffing on events in the news. Never mean-spirited or partisan, his jokes had a knack for tickling the country’s funny bone without alienating large segments of it. (A little hard to imagine these days. Quaint, even, given all that has transpired on the late-night talk show scene recently with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.)

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After the monologue came a prewritten bit of comedy called the “desk spot.” Often that involved Carson portraying one of my favorite characters, Carnac the Magnificent, an all-knowing seer. Dressed in a flowing black robe and an oversized bejeweled turban, Carnac would divine answers to questions in envelopes that, as Carson’s longtime sidekick Ed McMahon always........

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