Zany characters made for classic moments

LOS ANGELES – Johnny Carson’s legacy is not one of catch phrases or famous one-line jokes. It was his physical shtick – his trademark golf swing at the end of every monologue or the trip on stage when he made his entrance as the bumbling Carnac the Magnificent. It was his perfectly timed deadpans and slow-burn reactions – who could ever forget the look on his face when a little marmoset relieved itself on Carson’s head? It was his gallery of zany characters whom audiences never tired of during his three-decade tenure on NBC.

Here’s a look at some key moments in the history of Carson’s reign on “The Tonight Show”:

1964: Carson introduces two of his most popular characters: the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-silly mind reader Carnac the Magnificent and the crabby, wisecracking Aunt Blabby.

1966: Carson begins “The Mighty Carson Art Players,” a sketch format that, over the years, saw him parody personalities such as President Reagan and actor Karl Malden (hawking the American Express card).

1969: More than 45 million viewers tune in to see the on-stage wedding of falsetto singer Tiny Tim and his teenage bride Miss Vicki. Just as with the premiere episode of Carson’s “Tonight Show,” copies of this episode have been lost.

1971: Carson debuts as the lascivious Art Fern, host of the “Tea Time Movie.” With his pencil-thin mustache, slicked-back hair and tacky suits, Fern would peddle products, seduce his buxom co-hostess and give nonsensical, forever-changing directions to the Slauson freeway cutoff.

1977: Carson brings to the stage the last of his great characters, the super-patriotic but dim-witted Floyd R. Turbo, who would deliver bombastic editorials dressed in a checked buffalo jacket and a hat with earflaps.

1992: On the next-to-last show on May 21– the final installment that featured guest stars – Bette Midler brings Carson to tears when she serenades him with the standard “I’ll Be Seeing You.”