Johnny Carson Bid an Emotional Farewell on His Final “Tonight Show” Broadcast, 34 Years Ago

Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years before deciding to end his late-night reign

NEED TO KNOW

• Carson's final show aired May 22, 1992, and had over 50 million viewers

• Carson was openly emotional about what the journey meant to him while also making viewers at home laugh with him one final time

Johnny Carson's farewell toThe Tonight Showwas an emotional moment that still sticks with viewers, over three decades later.

The moment was a year in the making, with Carson announcing his departure with time to give fans time to digest it. The talk show host's 30-year run ended on May 22, 1992, with a look back at three decades of discussing the evolving pop culture landscape that late-night came up in.

In his self-written monologue, Carson explained how the show would play out, the night after an explosive farewell that featured appearances by Bette Midler and Robin Williams.

"The show tonight is our farewell show; it's going to be a little bit quieter," he said at the time. "It's not going to be a performance show. One of the questions people have been asking me, especially this last month, is, 'What's it like doingThe Tonight Show,' and what does it mean to me?"

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"Well, let me try to explain it. If I could magically, somehow, that tape you just saw, make it run backwards. I would like to do the whole thing over again. It's been a hell of a lot of fun," he continued.

Carson added, "As an entertainer, it has been the great experience of my life, and I cannot imagine finding something in television after I leave tonight that would give me as much joy and pleasure, and such a sense of exhilaration, as this show has given me. It's just hard to explain."

While Carson's tone met the moment, he didn't take it too seriously either, concluding the monologue with "This is not really a performance show. This is kind of a look-back retrospective. We are going to show you some moments in time. Some images of the many people, and there have been some 23,000 people. We are going to show you a little excerpt of how the show is put together, so go get some more cheese dip and we'll be back in just a moment."

Further, the audience consisted only of family, friends, and loved ones of the crew members as Carson led the intimate goodbye, which was watched at home by over 50 million viewers.

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Carson's last words to his audience struck a balance between emotional and jovial as he shared gratitude one final time.

"And so it has come to this: I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something I always wanted to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it. I want to thank the people who’ve shared this stage with me for 30 years. Mr. Ed McMahon, Mr. Doc Severinsen and you people watching," he said.

Carson continued, "I can only tell you that it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. And I hope when I find something that I want to do — and I think you would like — and come back, that you’ll be as gracious in inviting me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night."

On the same night, 34 years later,Byron Allenis stepping into what wasStephen Colbert's former CBS time slot, the night afterThe Late Show with Stephen Colbertended.

In an interview withTheWrap, Allen shared that his takeover being on the anniversary of Carson's farewell was by design. He explained that while the show could have premiered in the time slot in September, he encouraged the May 22 start date.

Allen himself made his wider comedy debut onThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carsonin 1979, at just 18. He was the youngest comedian to ever perform during Carson's late-night reign.

"Normally, you would premiere in September, but I said ‘No, no, no, no. That’s when Johnny stepped down. That’s when I’m stepping up,' " he told the outlet.

Comics Unleashedtakes over the time slot on Friday, May 22.

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May 26, 2026

Johnny Carson Bid an Emotional Farewell on His Final “Tonight Show” Broadcast, 34 Years Ago

Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show for 30 years before deciding to end his late-night reign NEED TO KNOW Carson...

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Yes, that was Martin Scorsese you heard in 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'

The release ofThe Mandalorian and Groguthis holiday weekend marked the return ofStar Warsto the theaters for the first time since 2019'sStar Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. While the movie hasn't gotten rave reviews from critics --it sits at 63% on Rotten Tomatoes-- the audiences are loving it to the tune of 89%.

Moviegoers may have been in for a surprise when they sat through the opening credits in theaters this weekend as a very familiar, yet unexpected, name popped up on screen. Martin Scorsese, the iconic director of movies such asGoodfellas,Taxi DriverandKillers of the Flower Moon, got high billing inThe Mandalorian and Grogu.

So, who did he play? That would be Hugo Durant, the very helpful informant and sandwich maker on the remote planet of Shakari.

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It's not the first time Scorsese has lent his voice talents to a movie -- he voiced Sykes inShark Talein 2004 among others -- but it might be the first time he has four arms.

The Mandalorian and Groguis in theaters now.

This article originally appeared on For The Win:Yes, that was Martin Scorsese you heard in 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'

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May 25, 2026

Yes, that was Martin Scorsese you heard in 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'

The release ofThe Mandalorian and Groguthis holiday weekend marked the return ofStar Warsto the theaters for the first time since 2019...

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“Wuthering Heights ”Director Says She Regrets Cutting Margot Robbie's 'Extremely Hairy Armpits' from the Film

Emerald Fennell said she regrets cutting a Wuthering Heights scene showing Margot Robbie's character with unshaven armpits

NEED TO KNOW

• The director said she'd been bothered by how period dramas often showed women as smooth-skinned, despite razors not being available at the time

• "They're all kind of hairless like eels," Fennell recalled of women in other period dramas, set around the time of Wuthering Heights

Emerald Fennellis looking back on aWuthering Heightsstyle decision that was cut from the film.

On Friday, May 22, the director spoke at Hay Festival in Wales and opened up about her adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel, which was released in theaters in February 2026.

In hindsight, she admitted, Fennell wished she'd kept a scene with Cathy (played byMargot Robbie) in which her unshaven armpits were visible, because it would have been more accurate to the time period.

Fennell said she was often bothered by the hairless skin of women in period dramas, because it applied modern beauty standards to a time when they weren't physically attainable.

"Where are the razors that these women are using?" she recalled asking while watching Jane Austen film adaptations. "They're all kind of hairless like eels. I'm like: ‘What's going on? It's completely mad.'”

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Waxing and hair removal creams existed for many centuries prior to the events ofWuthering Heights, though it was only truly accessible to wealthy nobility.

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PerGillette UK, English women began removing hair from their face and body with safety razors in the early 1900s, after the First World War — several centuries after Brontë's novel was published in 1847.

For that reason, it was "so important" to Fennell to show Cathy's body hair as historically accurate, the director said. "Unfortunately, the scene that we see them [in] didn't make it in there," she added.

Fennell's adaptation ofWuthering Heightsdrew some criticism for its lack of historical accuracy — from Cathy's ostentatious attire, to the race of Heathcliff (played byJacob Elordi), to the plot of the film itself, which deviated significantly from Brontë's gothic novel.

However, Fennell previously explained the disparities by noting her rendition was meant to embody the version she "remembered reading" as a 14-year-old, in which she "wanted stuff to happen that never happened."

"So it isWuthering Heights,but it isn't," Fennell said of her adaptation in aninterview with Fandango, published in January. "The thing for me is you can't adapt a book as dense and complicated and difficult as this book— I can't say I'm makingWuthering Heights. It's not possible. What I can say is I'm making a version of it."

Wuthering Heightsis now streaming on HBO Max.

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May 25, 2026

“Wuthering Heights ”Director Says She Regrets Cutting Margot Robbie's 'Extremely Hairy Armpits' from the Film

Emerald Fennell said she regrets cutting a Wuthering Heights scene showing Margot Robbie's character with unshaven armpits NE...

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“Grey’s Anatomy” star Sarah Drew reveals how her dad's advice helped her overcome panic attacks during pregnancy

Grey's Anatomy star Sarah Drew says she overcame panic attacks thanks to advice from her dad.

Key Points

• The actress said his method of "aggressive gratitude" has become "the greatest combatant of fear in my life."

• Drew previously recounted experiencing panic attacks in the wake of filming a harrowing Grey's finale.

Grey's Anatomyalum Sarah Drew is opening up about the life-changing advice that she once received from her dad.

Drew, who spent over a decade portraying the insecure yet highly-capable surgeon Dr. April Kepner, recently recounted her struggle to overcome panic attacks while pregnant with her first child.

"One of the biggest, scariest risks that I leaped into was choosing to become a mom," the actress toldFox Newsin an interview published Saturday. "I took the risk, and I was pregnant. I was probably about six months pregnant, and I had been having panic attacks."

She explained, "I’d been so caught up with anxiety about all of it— I was worried I was going to screw up. I was worried for my kids that I wasn’t going to have the necessary selflessness that’s required. I was worried that I was too self-absorbed to do this well. [I was worried that] I would resent the fact that [my kids] were … demanding things from me."

Drew said she was walking into motherhood with "so many big fears" that the panic attacks kept recurring. Eventually, she turned to her father — a pastor — for guidance.

"I remember writing to my dad and just saying, 'Do you have any advice or any wisdom or any Scripture that you can point me toward that could help combat this fear? Because it’s really overwhelming,'" she recalled.

Drew said her father indeed sent over some Bible verses, but noted that even more helpful was a brief piece of advice he gave her. He told her that the best way to combat all the fear she was experiencing was to embrace "aggressive gratitude."

"I was like, 'Tell me more,'" she recalled. "He calls it 'aggressive' because it’s not always easy when you first start practicing gratitude because sometimes you’re just in a mind spiral, and all you can see is the scary and the dark."

Drew explained, "You’re replacing the scary and the dark with, 'I’m grateful that there is oxygen in my lungs. I am grateful that I have a roof over my head. Look, I have this beautiful meal. I’m so grateful for this. Thank you for this. Thank you for that.’ All of a sudden, your brain chemistry starts to shift."

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She added that it has proven to be "the greatest combatant of fear in my life."

Drew, who is now mother to son Micah Emmanuel (born in 2012) and daughter Hannah Mali Rose (born in 2014), likened aggressive gratitude to rewiring her brain, saying that the approach taught her to immediately look towards good things rather than focusing on all the potential negatives. Now, it has become part of her every day life

"Whenever I’m feeling really scared about something, I go straight to gratitude," Drew shared. "And that generally turns the corner for me. As soon as I start being grateful for things, I start noticing more things to be grateful for, and it transforms."

Drew has previously talked about struggling with panic attacks while filmingGrey's Anatomy— particularly when it came to the mass shooting storyline at the center of the season 6 two-part finale.

"I had nightmares and panic attacks while we were shooting that, even for several days after we finished," Drew said in Lynette Rice's 2021 bookHow to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy,perBusiness Insider.

Drew added, "It was very intense and scary and hard to go to those places and then leave them at the door and then come home and be like, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine. Nobody’s trying to kill me. I didn’t just watch my best friend die. I didn’t just get covered in her blood.'"

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In the two-part episode, a grieving widower named Gary Clark (Michael O'Neill) comes into the hospital with a loaded gun, seeking revenge on a group of doctors that he blames for his wife's death. It proves to be a particularly traumatizing ordeal for April, who is on the team that Clark targets. At one point, she slips on blood and finds her friend Reed (Nora Zehetner) dead in a medical supply closet. Later, she pleads for her life at gunpoint.

Drew said that filming such a frightening situation "does something to your body because your body doesn’t know that it’s not [really] happening."

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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May 24, 2026

“Grey’s Anatomy” star Sarah Drew reveals how her dad's advice helped her overcome panic attacks during pregnancy

Grey's Anatomy star Sarah Drew says she overcame panic attacks thanks to advice from her dad. Key Points The ...

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