Quotes
Angie Dickinson/Ethel Merman/Henry Heimlich/Richie Barathy
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- Johnny Carson: [on Three Mile Island and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission] They said the radiation is at a minimum level. Now, what that means - according to their standards, minimum level - that means if you buy a chicken for your radar range, by the time you get it home, it is done.
- Johnny Carson: You've got to hand it to President Carter - he is always at the scene of a disaster. Uh... today he, uh... and to prove it, he did it again today by visiting his programs in Congress.
- Johnny Carson: [on the president touring Three Mile Island] I think Jimmy Carter is a bright man, and he knows what he's doing. He wants to make sure that his teeth light up during the 1980 presidential campaign.
- Johnny Carson: [on the Mets] They have really pinned all their hopes on a brand new rookie shortstop they have this year, Earl "Oops" Dankworth. Uh, I'm not saying he's bad, but on his wedding night, his wife charged him with three errors.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [holding envelope to forehead] Clean air, a virgin, and a gas station open on Sunday.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [opens envelope and reads] "Name three things you won't find in Los Angeles."
- Carnac the Magnificent: [holding envelope to forehead] Black and white, and twenty feet tall.
- Ed McMahon: Black and white, and twenty feet tall.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [opens envelope and reads] "Describe Sister Mary Kong."
- Carnac the Magnificent: [holding envelope to forehead] Coming Home.
- Ed McMahon: Coming Home.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [opens envelope and reads] "If voters have their way, what message will Jimmy Carter be sending to Plains, Georgia?"
- Carnac the Magnificent: [holding envelope to forehead] 60 Minutes.
- Ed McMahon: 60 Minutes.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [opens envelope and reads] "How much time has Governor Brown spent in California this year?"
- Carnac the Magnificent: [holding envelope to forehead] An Unmarried Woman.
- Carnac the Magnificent: [opens envelope and reads] "What was Elizabeth Taylor between 3 and 5pm, June 1st, 1952?"
- Angie Dickinson: I love to pull weeds - isn't that odd? I - I am odd, but... what it does - it's so easy to do, and then it looks so clean when you're all finished, and I don't have to wait for it to spring up or anything like that.
- Johnny Carson: Pulling weeds is a big thing in your life.
- Angie Dickinson: It's nice! It has its moments.
- Johnny Carson: Never have had that answer in seventeen years - somebody says, "You know, I really dig pulling weeds."
- Angie Dickinson: [on rescuing worms] You'll find them trying to get back to the earth, to the ground, and they're on the asphalt, being swept away.
- Johnny Carson: But then aren't they washed over to some other ground or something?
- Angie Dickinson: Where? They're washed into the wash, like everybody else.
- Johnny Carson: And this bothers you?
- Angie Dickinson: Yes! Doesn't it bother you?
- Johnny Carson: Hell, no!
- Angie Dickinson: If you saved a cat from a high tree, wouldn't you - so what's the difference?
- Johnny Carson: A cat I can relate to!
- Angie Dickinson: Well, if you went out and watched those worms, you would relate.
- Johnny Carson: ...I - I've *been* swept out of my home before. Nobody came out and put a stick under *me*.
- Johnny Carson: [on demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver to a friend] I did as you said; I got the thumb under the rib cage, and I gave kind of an upward - so forth - and I cracked one of his ribs. Unbeknownst to him - and the next day, he came in all taped up; I had cracked - I had cracked his ribs, and I said, "But aren't you breathing a lot better?"
- Johnny Carson: So I am seated in a restaurant, and you would ask me to stand up?
- Henry Heimlich: Not necessarily. But I'll show you how to do it standing up, and then show you that it can be done seated.
- Johnny Carson: Alright. So I'm going...
- [Johnny makes a choking signal]
- Henry Heimlich: Right... Are you choking?... OK... The first time you've been silent on your show.
- Johnny Carson: [putting arms around Angie Dickinson to demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver] Forgive me - I'm not a surgeon; I may stray.
- [after Johnny demonstrates the Heimlich maneuver on her, Angie Dickinson gives him a kiss]
- Henry Heimlich: [in mock envy] *I* devised the maneuver, and...?