I was there that night. What you don't see was during the credits, Robin, Bette and Johnny did a theatrical bow. Already awash in tears, we all roared. The standing ovation began at the end of Bette's song. No one sat down again until we were in our cars after leaving Studio 1. Everyone was emotionally drained. And it was only 6:30 p.m.
@cornelius washington you said it, yes she is the best at getting us all to cry, she can cry easy herself & the fact she has had quite a bit of heartache, we just have to love her, and be kind & the more we tell her how much we love her, she smiles
@@shihlin1 You are so right. I saw her in Las Vegas in 2008, I believe. I had 8th row center seats. She sang, danced, changed costumes, played the ukelele for nearly 3 hours! It was incredible.
This is why he wanted her as his final guest. Her entire performance that night earned her an Emmy. I don't think she really was focused on that. She just wanted to give him the best send--off ever. He trusted her to do that. And boy, did she deliver.
One of the iconic moments of television history. Nobody in the world could have matched what Bette delivered that night. Absolutely the perfect performance at the perfect moment.
Glad to say that I watched that night. The end of an era in late night television. The world has changed so much. I’d give anything to still tune in to Carson at night. He was a constant. And this song, and Bette Midler, could not have been more perfect.
A lot of people don't understand why Bette Midler ran offstage right after her number. She said many years later she was on verge of sobbing and ran offstage to shed her tears. She did not want to upstage Carson by losing it in front of his audience. You can hear her voice cracking with emotion in the final seconds of the song. Beautiful.
@@jasontodd8071 you are one of those people who have to he vehemently negative for no reason. That evening was unmatched; the end of a television era. There wasn’t a dry eye in all the viewers. It was magical.
@@jasontodd8071 Alice Henderson was spot on and you sir are Exhibit A of a hardhearted person. Or to put it another way , you are simply a dick . She showed class . you sir are 2 letters short .
I watched this when it was broadcast and had tears streaming down my face. I watch it now, again, all these many years later and the tears stream down my face again. One of the most dramatic, poignant moments on television, ever.
It's January 10th 2024, grew up with these talented, fantastic people. What a wonderful time to be alive in those days, they all made life a bit easier. Thanks to Johnny Carson, Robin Williams and beautiful Bette Midler🥹🥲💖💖💖 thank you all very much 💖🥰🤗 🤗🤗
Bette's reaction at the end of that song was ALL of us. But at least we were able to give Johnny his flowers while he could see and smell them. What a memory...
If this doesn't bring you to tears, you weren't lucky enough to be alive throughout Johnny's tenure on the Tonight's show. I cried like a baby the next night when Johnny sat on a stool and addresses he fans alone for the last time. It was truly the end of an era.
Some of my earliest memories are listening to my parents laughing to Johnny Carson when I was supposed to be asleep. I was 16 when he left the show. He was an almost daily part of my childhood.
@@erhardjackel4822 so true! I just think every artist has their own signature song! Judy Garland has “The man who got away”, Tony Bennet has “I left my heart in San Francisco” and Billie has “in my Solitude”
(Continued) but Bette could almost made my heart strings gripped around my heart. What I loved is that it wasn’t exactly like Frank’s! And you’re so right Jackel😊💕💖
Johnny was having a hard time trying to keep from doing the same. The expression on his face as he watched her sing is one of such poignancy... She choose the perfect song to say good-bye to him.
I think it was as hard for Bette to hold him up that night as it was for Carson to be there. He chose the right guest for the final show. She could get him through it. Til those last two minutes. . .
One of the finest moments in television broadcasting. The final guest on Johnny Carson's show, Bette Midler singing, "One More For My Baby." The camera angle captured the moment perfectly.
She was absolutely one of his favorites of all time.. That's why she got the nod. He told her at her first appearance on the show in 1970 that she was gonna be a huge star someday and he was spot on
TV Legend has it that Miss M could not return to the stage because she was so overcome with emotion. The mark of an artist who knows how to deliver a song and make it mean something.
No legend - true. If you're looking for it, you can see her crying at the end in the official video as she goes behind the curtain. she's talked about it
being from Hawaii, I love the fact that she gives Johnny a big lei at the end.... it's a big carnation lei, not the lei most locals would choose (most would choose a Maile lei or Ilima), but the sentiment is there. Many don't know that the Divine Miss M. went to high school in Honolulu (Radford) and credits her time in Speech and Debate as one of the primary reasons she developed her talents...
One of the most precious moments in TV history. I love how she sang the first part of the song to everyone but the second part directly to him. She always said that Johnny Carson was the reason for her success, thus he was the wind beneath her wings. He was in a class above others in many ways. May he continue to rest in peace.
Anyone who saw this live that night lost it. Still do…Was the end of a great era. Johnny was one in a trillion. Bette summed it up wonderfully with this World War II Era standard..
When I watch this it brings me right back to the early 1990s and sometimes I miss those days so much. Time flies so fast its like I watched this episode yesterday even though it was 33 years ago. So here's to you johnny in heaven. One more for the road💕 and thanks Bette Midler for an incredible performance on the last episode Johnny Carson❤
Miss this time in life... Obvious here that Johnny cared about her deeply and her the same for him. I truly wish we could all get back to just caring for one another regardless of any difference in political, religious or social beliefs.
I am old enough to remember watching his shows live. He was the absolute king of late night. The last two shows were so memorable. All the pictures of those he had on the show, words can’t describe the talent. This almost got Johnny emotional. Bette was on her A game
This is 2019, September. I am a Mexican and started watching Carson ever since the early 60’s when I was living in the USA. I was lucky to keep watching him in Mexico till the end. I always feel that Johnny Carson was the finest product that America ever had. Thank you all for let me watch once again this unforgettable moment so many years ago, and so emotional tears again.
watched this when it was broadcast in 1992. Watched Carson from childhood til the end. When you know the history, and Johnny in your living room via tv for years, this strikes deep. I remember the camera angle, and Johnny in the background soaking in the moment. Very very special.
Bette Midler, one of only two performers who could bring me to tears in an instant because of the pure emotion in their voices. The other one is Judy Garland. And there has not been any other talk show host that can introduce so many, what would ultimately be, famous stars than Johnny Carson. He started so many careers, including Bette's. She always credits him as the one that helped her become the star she is. Such a beautiful moment in TV history.
This guy helped raise a generation myself included in that, you could come home from a night out, work or perhaps you just couldn't sleep, turn on the TV and you knew Johnny would be there too keep you company for awhile. RIP Johnny you were a class act.
Truly, one of a kind....Bette did a marvelous job of helping Johnny off the stage and Robin helped him laugh himself silly on the last actual show. This was part of the golden age of television.
Gorgeous, beautiful, heartwarming, I love it. With the influence that Johnny had, he could have had anyone in the world as his final guest. He chose Bette Midler, good choice.
Carson knew what he was doing when he demanded Bette for that last show, and it says a lot that she managed to hold him together that night. It couldn't have been easy on either of them
Well, Johnny was not dumb. He got the worlds funniest man to keep the ship upright and funny, and the one of the worlds most emotive singers to express the emotion of the night. Bette won an Emmy for this episode.
This indeed marked the end of an era. A lot of things in the present day-from popular music to late night television, seem so empty, so hollow. Thanks for the memories from when I was growing up Johnny. Now I’m an old man, and so many things I grew up with have gone away.
Quite possibly the greatest single moment in television history. Bette just nailed it. Johnny was total class and this performance summed all that up perfectly.
I've said this a thousand times. Bette Midler is one of the few people in the world that exudes emotion in every single note she sings. No wonder she is national Idol. As simple as it seems, it's a surprisingly difficult thing to do, but she excels at it.
My dear friend David Buckley dressed Bette Midler and made her outfit! He used black spray paint on the sunflowers! I was visiting him from South Carolina but was not able to go to the show! 😢
When you hit the pinnacles of making Johnny Carson not only cry, but getting him to ask you to be his very last guest on his much treasured talk show, and yet winning an Emmy for it; you've accomplished something.
You feel in your bones every single note that comes out of her mouth. She is a person that moves you to tears. Are there better technical singers out there; yes, but there are very few that possess the ability to move you to your core with every single note they sing. Bette is blessed with that gift.
You are absolutely right. It’s very rare that artist moves me thst much. Bette is pretty much the only one who can do that. I don’t always cry but the feelings - I consider myself a bit tough but she can really break through the shields ❤️
The camera shot at the 2:00 mark had never been used before where they looked over the performers shoulder toward Johnny and it perfectly showed the feelings of the night.
Bette 's voice is full of pure love and respect for Johnny, and Carson's eyes and expression are returning it in full . One of the most graceful and lovely moments I've ever seen.
what's cooooool about this lady is she doesn't just smile from her mouth... it's also in her eyes, hands. scalp, legs, soul... thank you Bette (I never knew ya)!
I was born at the end of the Carson era. I never got to watch him. The way my parents and my grandparents talked about him and loved him. I couldn’t understand it. Then in 2016 when Jon Stewart retired from the Daily Show and his final show aired, and seeing how they sent Jon Stewart off and I was misty eyed and couldn’t believe it was over. My parents said to me “that’s how we felt when Carson went off the air.” And It made me realize so much that day.
End of an era. Watched him when I was growing up. Thank you soo much for the memories. Bette was perfect for this moment. If you were young during this time and remember Johnny, it's ok to shed a tear.
I watched this episode when it aired. Even then, as a 22 y/o man, it made me tear up. Looking at Carson, it appears he was hanging on by a thread. Such a class act. And Midler hurried of the stage as she was sobbing uncontrollably. 26 years later, this clip still gets me
I grew up watching Carson. (Really hearing him on tv across the hall from my parents' room). When he went off the air, I was 22 y/o. I watched this episode and the last one. I felt really sad watching Midler sing this song. I knew it was the end of an era. Watching it now, I tear up whenever I see it. His greatness has never been matched since he left the air
Doc Severinsen was once asked what he thought of the "new" late night shows. Doc said that Johnny set the bar so high that it just wasn't fair for anyone else. Present nail. Hit nail head.
This is seriously my "go to" song when im feeling a bit low.......Bette sings this classic with the perfect amount of pathos and hope....always brings a nice tear to my eye...beautiful.
Singing that song so well and so clearly when she was already tearing up is an All-Star performance. There are a lot of singers, yes including professionals, who would have melted into sobbing. Bette hung in there and nailed it. One reward for her was seeing Johnny wipe away a tear at the end.
God, she's so good at expressing gratitude. It's a hard thing for even good performers to do and she makes it look easy. I hope she brings the house down at the Oscars tonight.
I have said this a thousand times, there are a very few artists who can pour every ounce of emotion into every note they sing. Bette Midler is blessed with that talent. You literally feel every note. She is remarkable!
Well said. Johnny went out with the class and style that epitomized his 30 years on the Tonight Show. If there was ever a class act, he was it. Leno blew it by not paying tribute to the man who built a golden path to the 11:30pm time slot on NBC, I don't care if it was the doing of his megalomanical exec producer Kushnick, it meant that he always operated under the huge shadow of Carson and never quite got out from under it. I predict Leno will in his last show pay the long overdue homage due to Johhny.
This was the one time that I appreciate Bette Midler's artistic performance. She was the bomb in singing this tribute song to Johnny, it still makes me tear up even to this day more than (23) yrs later. Simply a Classical performance
The divine Miss M. What a wonderful woman and talent. Funny, tough, classy and racy. A true entertainer. I don't think they make them like that anymore.
What a classic performance! Bette knocked it out of the park that evening. What's both interesting and ironic is that this song began it's life as a pathetic drunk song, and has over the years evolved into a poignant "end of an era" song. It especially hit home this night.
No, it’s still a pathetic drunk song. The definitive version is Sinatra’s. Midler did a great job here suffusing the song with an optimistic note, but the song itself hasn’t evolved into something else as you describe here.
Absolutely beautiful. I never witnessed this when it happened, I just came upon this on a countdown list and had to see it for myself. I'm in tears. I don't think that song can ever be sang the same way, or as expertly, ever again. Simply outstanding.
The BEST of the Best in Late Night Television -- ever ... For all her Over-the-Top antics and songs, Bette Midler chose the perfect song for this show; and nailed her performance. Johnny Carson was not often humbled by his guests, but she captured the moment so well. Class Acts, both Johnny & Bette...
The crazy thing is she doesn't think she's that great of a singer. She has said this in interviews. She possesses one of the rarest talents in music; she is able to put every ounce of emotion into every note she sings. That is a very unusual and sought after gift and one she excels at! I never get tired of listening to her.
I remember watching this the night that it aired. It touched me then. And I've probably seen this a ton of times since and it still touches me. Johnny was the Best and The Divine Miss M' is simply an Icon!
