Monolgue for May 10 1974, Bombs away

A particulry bad and boring Monologie. One wonders, with a roomful of writers, whose only job was to script his opening Monologue, how it could be so devoid of spark or humor.but the Band is not present in this episode and i think that really threw off his timing and made him uneasy. the band was always his escape hatch when the monologue tanked and without them he had no where to run, no exit. He was trapped.

JC: (Audience with usual applause, but a few keep applauding when everyone else has stopped, then they stop) there is always a couple of people who are always a couple of beats off in life, you ever notice that? Anyway I am Johnny Carson, stick with me and one of these days we will be on Prime time. Do you know what prime time is to the networks? You know what that term is? primetime is from 7:30 till 10:30 at night. Everything after that is just a bone. We're a Bone thats all we are."

ED:" No, not at all. This is a big show."

JC: ""Where's the Band then?" ( it seems there is a musician strike going on and the band is not there, as though anybody but Johny really cares about that, e goes on too long about this and makes a quip that they are using their time off to take music lessons, the audience is totally uninterested in this, and the joke goes nowhere.)

( Fred must have walked away on this) JC:' where you going Fred, come back here, one goes down the drain don't turn and walk away, one joke goes down the drain, and fredie goes..."

JC:"Did you see it in the hearings today,they started on television today, The televised Senate impeachment hearings. This is some television season, we have the new "dating game", the new "Newlywed game" now we have the new " Truth or consequences"

"But seriously folks" Johnny with the deer in the headlights look." It's going to be an exciting show. You know war they should call it-Impeachment squares. It's going to be a great show.I'LL TAKE JOHN DEAN TO BLOCK" ( audience responds to this clever line)" what did i do right."

JC " No, but the President wants you to know that every American to know that every man is presumed innocent till proven guilty, and Mr Nixon wants you to know that Peter Rodino will get a fair trial."

note:Peter Wallace Rodino, Jr. (June 7, 1909 – May 7, 2005) was a Democratic United States congressman from New Jersey from 1949 to 1989. Rodino rose to prominence as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, where he oversaw the impeachment hearings that led to the resignation of president Richard Nixon.

JC: " You see Peter Rodino is the head of the House Judiciary Committee "

note: if the band was there, it would probably be warming up to play the music Johny always dances to when he bombs, so the band is important for that reason.Here Johnny was working without one of his best tools to make the audience laugh.

JC: But, I'LL have to give..phew" wipes his forehead of flop sweat." But you have to give the President a lot of credit, he's kept his head up high all the time. And there is a reason for that, so he can see who's coming to get him. Did you know that?"

JC: "But things don't look too bright for the President. Remember the old days, when he use to have conferences with the Shah of Iran, The Queen of England would be there, The Russian Prime minister, Now, all he has is meetings with The representatives of Allied vans, beacons storage.." ( again audience doesn't respond, they probably don't like the fact that Nixon is being impeached, many people just saw it as a witch hunt by the liberal press who were always out to get Nixon anyway."

JC:" MOTHERS day is coming on Sunday" (Johny quickly transitioning out of Nixon land to safer haven) " can't miss with a goo Mother"s day joke. Yes you can, tonight you could miss with a good mothers day joke. No, Mothers day is dare to everyone's Heart, did you know that?" ( and of course it is common knowledge that JC had a contentious unloving relationship with his own Mother."Western Union and the Florist mainly"( I think he should have used in particuar here instead of mainly-just shows how the writing was off." ( just a few chuckles from the audience, drowned out by Eds laughter)

JC:" My God I went deaf." puts hands hands up to his head. hits his head like you would hit a wonky television. looks around like he is dazed and trying to come out of it. "A Tumor actually ...that was a ..that was not a joke really..that was a commentary. But every Mothers day Euell Gibbons has a big fight with his mother, because of sending flowers he eats them before he sends them"

note:Euell Theophilus Gibbons (September 8, 1911 – December 29, 1975) was an outdoorsman and proponent of natural diets during the 1960s. --as well as a man with funny name-and Johny loved placing funny names in his monologue.

JC:" ( after some more bad jokes, Johny is fidgeting around nervously, he knows the jokes were bad and he has not entertained the audience-in the studio or at home.) " We have a great show " I will go to anything I have, I have no pride anymore at all, No, we have a ...interesting show tonight,( fidgeting with his hands like he has become self aware of them," God, i wish i had a gun on me, or a poison capsule or something. i think you have been very grand through all of this, no really , you have been more than decent , this is really more than you should have had to put up with. "

Johnny goes over who will be on the show tonight, when he gets to the last guest-"Mr Orson Bean is here tonight" literraly one person claps and then stops right away, Johnny looks at the audience with an almost hateful glare in his eye, turns to Ed and says " I have to, um , catch a ..., do you want to lock up.. i have to catch a Bus."

I think not having the Band to play against or to set his tempo with, or maybe not having their presence there so he could look to his right, threw him off in this Monologue, Johnny was a creature of habit , and this is quite possible. the Band was always his escape hatch, and with out that he had nowhere to run.