On the evening of May 22, 1992, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson hop-skipped through the curtains at the NBC studios, gave a little bow and held up his hands to hush the crowd, as he always did. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you." He must have said thank you 30 times that night, with little effect. The audience just wouldn't stop clapping.
"We love you," somebody cried when the racket finally started to die down. "I love you too," Carson replied.
The relationship between celebrities and their fans tends to be fickle - today's undying devotion is tomorrow's disregard. The connection between Carson and the American public was a rare exception. People really did love Johnny, and Johnny really did love them back. You could see it in his face as he flapped his arms on the stage that night, trying to get a word in.
Even today, it's hard to watch this clip without welling up. This was the last time Carson would host The Tonight Show, three decades and 22,000 guests since he'd first stepped onto the stage. Something like 50 million viewers had tuned in to watch as he began his final opening monologue: "Look on the bright side - at least you won't have to read or see one more story about my leaving the show."
Until recently, this reel and the thousands of others Carson recorded were stored in a disused salt mine in Kansas (Carson, who died in 2005 at the age of 79, would have had fun with the salt-mine bit). This month, though, the Carson Entertainment Group announced that the surviving Tonight Show archive (videos for the first decade of the programme, sadly, were taped over by frugal NBC execs) has been digitised.
While this won't make much of a difference to regular Carson fans - for now, the digital library is only available to industry professionals, such as producers wanting to use a clip of the show in a film - Carson Entertainment plans to release 50 episodes on DVD, and will also upload some of the clips onto johnnycarson.com, which is a wonderful thing, even if the majority of people under the age of 50 don't know it.
There was a time when Johnny Carson was the most famous name in US television. Even today, as we approach the 20th anniversary of his final show, he remains massively influential. In its heyday, an appearance on The Tonight Show was a prerequisite for anyone hoping to break into TV. Not only did Carson cast the mould for the likes of David Letterman and Jay Leno, he introduced them to the world.
But Carson's influence went beyond this. While late-night talk had existed before he came along, nobody had done it quite like him. In the early 1960s, chat shows were still starched and scripted affairs, once removed from their audiences. Carson changed all that. He was spontaneous and informal. He made viewers feel as if they were somehow there. This was part of his appeal: it was like being invited to a great party.
And nobody enjoyed these things more than Carson, which brought his audiences closer still. One of the things we loved about Johnny is that he spent as much time laughing as he did cracking jokes. There were times when he'd be helpless with it, unable to do his job. And his guests picked up on this, too - people were always at their funniest and most charming when they were on The Tonight Show.
Even contemporary masters of late-night have failed to recreate this quality. Letterman's a little too abrasive to put his guests fully at ease, Leno's a touch too smug. Worse yet, the new generation of hosts - the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Chelsea Handler - deliberately rub people the wrong way. Carson very often teased his guests, but these guys taunt them. Late-night audiences, meanwhile, continue to dwindle.
Johnny Carson ushered in the era of late-night talk, but he also made life difficult for those who followed - you could say that the genre peaked too soon. In this regard, his final show marked the beginning of a long decline. This fact makes Carson's recent debut into the digital arena even more of an occasion, and it makes clips of that show even harder to watch.
Carson was too much of a pro to cry on that last night. There was grief on his face, but he didn't crack. Instead, he simply perched on that stool of his, as he always did in the dying seconds of the show, and quietly bid his audience goodnight.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
The years Ramadan fell in May
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Australia tour of Pakistan
March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi
March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi
March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi
March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi
April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi
April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Milkman by Anna Burns
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Circe by Madeline Miller
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars