Like many Thanksgiving fights, one of the most beloved moments in the history of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson began with a seemingly innocuous question about turkey.
Forty-five years ago, on November 21, 1979, Doc Severinsen sat in for Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s usual Tonight Show sidekick. It was Thanksgiving Eve and Carson explained that McMahon was already back in New York to celebrate the holiday. In the post-monologue segment of the program, Carson and Severinsen begin talking about their holiday plans.
Severinsen asks the host whether he’s successfully secured a turkey for the big day. “Sure,” Carson replies (in a tone suggesting he’s clearly above such logistics).
“Truthfully,” Severinsen asks, “do you help Mrs. Carson prepare the turkey?” The NBC Orchestra band leader leans in as he asks the question and immediately begins to smile, making it clear that he’s trying to get a playful rise out of Carson. “Just like you help Mrs. Severinsen prepare the turkey,” Carson says, in an attempt to highlight Severinsen’s hypocrisy.
There was just one problem.
“Noooooo. There is no Mrs. Severinsen,” the musician replies, carefully emphasizing each word. “There used to be. The fact that I never helped her stuff her bird was one of our big problems.”
Carson, who can barely contain his laughter, apologizes, then gleefully begins to blush as he realizes that what was supposed to be a joke about manhood has suddenly turned into a reminder of Severinsen’s 1976 divorce from his second wife, Evonne Nyman.
“You know, I forgot all about that,” Carson admits. “We’ve been together so long that I forget sometimes where we are.”
The host wasn’t joking. Severinsen had been with Carson since the start of his run on The Tonight Show in 1962: first as a trumpeter in the show’s house band; then, five years later, as its leader. The warmth and respect shared between the two transcended the show, as was evident even decades later, when Carson was a Kennedy Center Honors recipent in 1993—the year after he retired from The Tonight Show.
As part of the Kennedy Center ceremony, Ted Koppel, David Letterman, and the University of Nebraska marching band came out in tribute. But Carson was visibly no happier than when Severinsen made a surprise appearance and played The Tonight Show theme with the Cornhuskers. That kind of mutual appreciation is on full display in the 1979 Thanksgiving segment, which is a masterclass in playful, self-deprecating banter.
From the moment Severinsen calls him out, Carson immediately sniffs out the comedy. Perhaps Carson’s greatest gift as a host was his ability to see when a guest was about to kill. And on this day, Severinsen certainly was.
Doc continues the conversation about the former Mrs. Severinsen, claiming that stuffing was “one of the things we really fought about… I wanted an oyster stuffing in the turkey and she wanted bread stuffing. And she got bread stuffing and a lot of money,” he jokes. The line kills and Carson relishes the moment. In that moment, you can almost see the host decide to take a backseat and take on the role of straight man to Severinsen, as the two keep the conversation going and the one-liners flying.
Carson shares a story about growing up in the Midwest, where many kids often got turkeys as pets and then shot them for Thanksgiving. He could never do it. “They deserve it,” Severinsen counters pointedly. “Anything that ugly should die.” Carson nearly falls out of his chair.
The unsaid joke at the moment is that Carson himself, at the time, was in the middle of his third marriage (there would be a fourth). Doc manages to get that message across clearly with both his eyes and the delivery of the next line: “I suppose you’ll be home with the family, having turkey,” he says, with a sarcastic twist of his shoulders. “Just a typical American family.” Carson’s delight is palpable.
Carson, who was always eager for jokes at his own expense (see every Don Rickles appearance ever made on The Tonight Show for proof), gives Severinsen an opening. “And you’ll be out there writing the checks,” he blurts out with a laugh. “Sending them for the stuffing.”
“You will have written yours the day before,” Severinsen retorts. “And Ed went to deliver his personally.” At this point, both Carson and the audience are in stitches. Severinsen wipes tears from his eyes.
The segment quickly became one of the most beloved in the history of The Tonight Show, especially by its host. It aired again the following year, when Carson played a clip for the show’s 18th anniversary special in 1980, the year in which Severinsen married for a third time. Carson seems thrilled to share the moment with McMahon, who was presumably seeing it for the first time.
“Now, all three of us have had changes in our marriages since we’ve been on this show,” the host said with a laugh as he introduced the segment (McMahon was married three times). “It happens.” After the clip played, Carson simply said, “You’re not gonna get much funnier than that in five minutes.”
“Beautiful, beautiful,” McMahon added.
The clip resurfaced again on the 20th anniversary show in 1982, and then on the 25th anniversary show in 1987 (the same year Carson was married for a fourth time). “All of us have had a little marital trouble along the way,” Carson said, once again, in 1987. “It’s no great secret,” he added before playing the clip. “I’m still crying 10 years later,” Carson said once it finished, with a laughing Doc seated once again to his right.
Following Carson’s death in 2005, Larry King hosted a tribute show on CNN with McMahon and Severinsen—plus a host of celebrities calling in to pay their respects. As the show returned from commercial break, a clip from the segment played.
CNN opted to play the close of the exchange, in which Carson begins to take pity on Severinsen and invites him to join his family on Thanksgiving. “Would you like to come to the house,” he asks. “This is the first time you’ve ever asked me,” Severinsen says without missing a beat.
Carson leans into the discomfort, setting up the band leader to play into the power dynamic between the two. What follows is a master class in improvisation, one that reads as if written from a stage play.
Carson: You make me feel so guilty.
Severinsen: I mean, when you ask an employee in front of 15 million people, “Do you want to come to the house for Thanksgiving dinner?” What, am I going to say, “No?”
(Laughter)
Severinsen: You know what I say? I say, Yes, Mr. Carson, I’d love it.
Carson: Can you come?
Doc: No.
Carson loses it and reaches under the desk and grabs a box of tissues. The two blot their eyes. “It’s a great occasion in American history,” Severinsen adds with an eye roll. “Can you give me whatever you’re taking tonight,” Carson asks. It is here where it all comes full circle, as Severinsen hits one last home run. “I can’t give you any,” he says, “but I’ll sell you some.”
One of the great gifts of Johnny Carson was his willingness to cede control of his program. His interest was not in himself, but in whoever sat on the other side of the desk. He knew, better than anyone, how to help his guests land the plane.
“He could take you in a conversation and just gently guide you along, so it looked like you knew what you were talking about,” Severinsen told Larry King decades later. “He was the best to work with.”
That was a time when people on television actually had talent.
So well-written, thanks.
This has to be one of the best with Johnny and Doc ! Thank-you I needed a great laugh this morning !