European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Say Good night Johnny from the cover laughter chases the demons away. On these nights and on so Many others for almost three decades Johnny Carson has been the last Man America sees before it goes to sleep. So Why is he never in our dreams one other question now that the end is near. Is the tonight show the last thing Johnny Carson sees before he goes to sleep i ask As i think a somewhat representative member of the Johnny Carson generation. You know you Are a member of the Johnny Carson generation if you Are a Young enough to remember having to beg your parents to stay up to watch Carson in the Days after he took Over from Jack Paar and b old enough to find yourself nodding off right after the monologue while watching tonight now. Along with much of this audience in a going to miss Johnny Carson after he leaves Friday. But Why exactly though Carson entered office shortly after John f. Kennedy did ascending from the daytime game show who do you Trust to his late night throne in 1962, he remains like the president he outlasted something of a mystery a Distant icon. Even so he arouses Strong feelings. People go through periods of being delighted by him of finding him pass6 and Boring of being irritated by him of rediscovering him and declaring him Chic during the a a he a so out he a in period of the 1970s, and again no of wilfully ignoring him of jilting him for Dick Cavett Martin mull Ted Koppel Arsenio Hall but never Merv Griffin Joan Rivers Joey Bishop or Ron Reagan. But if our feelings about Carson change he never seems to change at All. Surely his most surrealistic period was the late 1960s a at least from my Vantage Point at the time As a College student a when he must have been the Only Hollywood Star remotely considered Cool who never pandered to the Young by affecting Long hair Bell Bottoms an open shirt or tinted Granny glasses. Yet never even in that polarized time did Johnny Carson arouse hatred in part because unlike most fixtures in the show business firmament he has never patronized the audience or sold out. While the a a tonight show is often an orgy of self promotion its Host the Cool Eye in the Hurricane of hype is not himself a self promoter. Carson has never skilled for the political and corporate establishment like Bob Hope and he has never done commercials away from his own show whether for a product or for himself like that practice Pitchman Bill Cosby. Except for the Odd Cameo Carson has never Lent his talents to a bad movie or trashy sitcom or his name to a Best Selling ghost written Book. Immensely wealthy As he is he has never seemed greedy a a rare feat for american tycoons. And Carson still can be funny. A tonight show delinquent can dip Back into the monologue after a month of crisis spawned nigh lines or a summer of late night baseball games and find at least one joke probably topical to laugh at. Why were people like John Sununu Gennifer Flowers and Geraldo Rivera born if not to be nightly Carson Butts at All times Johnny Carson has remained a permanent reassuring Point on the cultural Compass ready to pop up again at the turn of a dial or the Click of a Remote control. You have a relationship with this Man even at those times when the relationship takes the form of denial. But then its time to sleep and Johnny evaporates just As he always has to let our subconscious play without him. He has disappeared without a Trace Long before the today show dawns and while his better jokes sometimes linger Over morning Coffee the Man never does. Though Johnny Carsons departure is still five Days away his Long goodbye has been going on since de Mcmahon flips through the tonight shows card routine with Johnny Carsons carnac the  trivia quiz by the associated press from the Abc archives in Burbank calif., Here a a list of trivia questions that will Challenge even the most devoted tonight show fans. Although not kept hermetically sealed in a Jar on Funk amp a Agnallo a Back porch the answers Are Given first in the Best tradition of carnac the magnificent 1. Ronald Reagan. 2. Groucho Marx. 3. A rubber Chicken and a wooden Arrow. 4. Sonny Bono. 5. Floyd r. Turbo. 6. To keep Carson from stabbing himself. 7. Don Rockies. 8. Its a Long Story. 9. A marmoset. 10. Dick Cavett. 11. Five. 12. Sonny Bono. 13. 500 and 12 million. 14. Bird calling. 15. Merv  a a 1. What former president has been impersonated on the show by Johnny Carson and also has appeared As a guest 2. Who introduced Carson when he debuted As Host of the tonight show in 1962? 3. Carson insists on having two props from old shows by his desk during every taping for Good Luck. What Are they 4. Who of the following never appeared As a guest Host on the tonight show. Groucho Marx Diana Ross Sonny Bono Kermit the Frog or Frank Sinatra a 5. What is the name of the Carson character known for his patriotic editorial rebuttals 6. Why do the pencils that Carson plays with at his desk have erasers on both ends 7. Who is the Only guest in the history of the show to be provided with his own inscribed Coffee Mug when he appears 8. Why 9. What animal once perched on Carsons head during a telecast 10. Name a past writer of the tonight show who became a Carson rival As Host of his own late night talk show. 11. How Many set changes has the show undergone in its history 12. Who of the following never was musical director of the tonight show. Sonny Bono Skitch Henderson Doc Severinsen Milton Delugg. 13. How Many people can watch the Carson show live at Abc in Burbank and according to the Nielsen co., about How Large is Carsons current nightly television audience 14. High school teacher Leonard j. Wax deck of Piedmont calif., has made 16 annual appearances on the tonight show to introduce some of his most accomplished students what is the skill they exhibit on the show 15. What rival talk show Host gave Carson his toughest Challenge As the King of late night television he announced his retirement nearly a year ago. For months the press has been waxing nostalgic about Long lived Carson characters like carnac the magnificent the psychic question Man and has been Canon izing Long lived not to mention Well preserved Carson regulars like Don Rockies and buddy Hackett. Handicapping the ratings prowess of his successors has become a National pastime As show Biz pundits and Ordinary Folk alike wonder whether the designated tonight show heir Jay Leno or Arsenio Hall or some Neo Johnny come lately like Dennis Miller will inherit Johnny a whole Nielsen Ball of Wax. The answer May be none of the above As i will explain aside from the nightly prepackaged monologue wisecracks on the subject of retirement done to expect Carson to express much deep feeling about the transition. He is sure to be As elusive to the Media posse when departing tonight As he was when he was building the franchise. Though the legend is voluminous his Persona often seems Only an Inch deep. For All the tabloid and for that matter serious journalism that Carson has inspired Over the years no one seems to have any sense of who he is away from the television camera the desk the Couch. The interviewer Carson came closest to letting into his life Kenneth Tynan who wrote a profile of him for the new yorker in 1978, came away with continued on Page 5page 4 a sunday May 17, 1992