Tear Jerker / The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

• Carson's final regular show featured Robin Williams and Bette Midler. The latter ended up inspiring two tearjerking moments:
  • During the interview portion, Carson remarked that "Here's That Rainy Day" was one of his favorite songs. Midler immediately began singing it, and even got Carson to join in. The lyrics—"Where is that worn-out wish that I threw away / After it brought my love so near?"—are particularly poignant, and hearing Carson perform it is beautiful and sad.
  • The final moments of the show saw Midler personally serenading Carson with "One For My Baby," another torch song about the end of a long love affair (the perfect tribute to Carson's time on the airwaves); the emotion in her voice is palpable as she sings it. Two moments in particular stand out. At one point, a cameraman noticed that Carson himself was tearing up, and used an angle that had never been done on the show before to capture him looking at Midler as she sang. The second is even more powerful: after Midler finished the song, she was handed a large red lei (a reference to her birthplace being Hawaii), dashed over to Carson, put it around his neck, hugged him...and then absolutely burst into tears. She was so overcome that she ran off the stage to cry, barely able to keep from breaking down right then and there.
• A 1983 episode featured an 11-year old girl named Samantha Smith, who was instrumental in bringing peace between Russia and the U.S. during the Cold War, and who shared her experiences abroad. The interview wasn't a tearjerker on its own, but it becomes one in hindsight when you learn what occurred only two years later: She died in a plane crash.
• Marlon Brando was interviewed in 1968, shortly after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He gave a moving speech about how systemic racism is in the U.S. and how if we don't start improving race relations, we're going to regret it. Also counts as a Harsher in Hindsight, as arguably things haven't improved much since then.
• Occasionally occurs in the annual "Letters to Santa" desk segment- most of the letters Johnny reads are comedic but he does make a point to read serious ones from less-fortunate kids. He notes that those usually involve the kid asking for something for others, not themselves.
• Another "hindsight" one: George Burns gave Johnny advice on his 1991 appearance: Never fully retire, because you'll be bored. Johnny didn't end up taking his advice to heart, as outside of a couple guest appearances, he lived a very secluded post-Tonight Show life.
• Carson's son Rick died in an automobile accident on June 21, 1991. Carson fought back tears when speaking of his son to his audience on the July 19 episode and showed them the photo of his son he thought Rick would want them to see instead of the one the media all used - that of the one on his driver's license. He also noted how his friend Michael Landon called to express his sympathy all while suffering through cancer, and that a week laker Landon was gone. Carson said that, "These have not been the most happy several weeks."[1]

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