Goodnight, Jay...

It will be difficult saying "goodbye" tonight. As a youngster, I got to stay up with my mom and dad on Friday nights and watch Steve Allen, the precursor to Jack Paar. Then I went to bed with Johnny (Carson) oh so many nights!

Back in the "olden" days, we only had 5 TV channels and most of them went off the air around midnight. Then came the shot of the air force planes flying to to the poem of "High Flight,"'( a sonnet written by John Gillespie Magee, a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. He came to Britain, flew in a Spitfire squadron, and was killed at the age of nineteen on 11 December 1941 during a training flight from the airfield near Scopwick.)

"Oh I Have Slipped
The Surly Bonds of Earth...
Put Out My Hand
And Touched the Face of God"

Next came the all too familiar test pattern which stayed frozen on the screen until the station signed on again in the morning. For us night owls, it was either hit the hay or read. I usually read myself to sleep.

During the dark hours of my life, when I struggled with an alcoholic husband, staying up and waiting for him to come home, I watched TV. Some local channels (LA) started showing political commentators like Joe Payne and Louis Lomax. I guess that's where my love of political talk shows (TV & radio) began. Then, there was the drifting off to sleep with the test pattern...

I loved Johnny Carson and watching the Carson era end was literally heartbreaking, and I didn't see how some funny looking kid like Jay Leno could ever fill his shoes. That was the magical part of it. Jay never tried to be anyone but himself. With his goofy face and kind smile, he won me over. Johnny Carson was my favorite uncle but Jay is like a favorite cousin, one you could cut up with and no one would tell on the other.

I won't be switching to Letterman. I liked his earlier shows but he has become so bitter and his "humor" shows it. Although his show won awards, Jay got the audience and the love of his fans.
I don't know if I'll follow Conan or not. I used to watch him at the 12:30 a.m. slot years ago, but he got a little over the top for me. I'll give him another shot. I hate to end the Tonight Show legacy that began, for me, about fifty years ago...

I've got the Kleenex ready. I'll say "goodbye" to another late night friend...