The first time I felt like a grownup was the summer I started watching The Johnny Carson Show. It came on every weekday at 10:30 at night, broadcast from a studio in Burbank, California. The guests were generally suave, the conversation genuine and sometimes a little risque. I wasn't quite able to digest the interviews at first with their references to personalities and places long gone - but there was plenty of banter with the band and Johnny's sidekick, Ed McMahon. There were performances by singers & comedians, and stunts and pranks to keep an adolescent entertained. Bright and charming, Johnny Carson seamlessly joshed with his guests until they were comfortable and bloomed on stage. I first saw Tiny Tim on his show, and Ayn Rand. I got to hear my parents' contemporaries converse about their joys and mishaps in life, and so learned a lot from Bob Hope, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Doris Day. Actresses I'd only heard of- like Olivia deHaviland- impressed me with their perfect upswept hair and sequined jackets. The early years of the program, Johnny and many of the guests smoked on stage - that dwindled and disappeared toward the 70s. Johnny Carson was hugely popular, funny, modest, always on the edge of what was proper to talk about, and never a mean word to any of his guests.