Why we love Johnny Carson

Johnny is still the King of Comedy. SiriusXM radio ranks him with Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles and other “named channel” legends because he still has no rival.

Literally 30 seconds after hearing Johnny Carson was given his own SiriusXM channel, I immediately changed the channel, made it a “favorite,” started hearing Johnny and breathed a sigh of contentment.

Why Johnny beats all his successors and today’s comics: Johnny’s Number 1 priority was making America laugh. All else from favoring any one ideology, to picking on or avoiding any sacred cows to worrying about offending someone or some group somewhere were always secondary to his one mission and overriding goal.

“Just be yourself — it’s the only way it can work,” Carson said, figuring a way to align Hollywood/pop culture, the national Establishment and the everyday American. Today Hollywood, Church and State rarely align but the Nebraska native who did “The Tonight Show’’ in New York City for a decade and was in California for the next 20 years. Over his career, he figured a way to weave all of America together as one.

Today’s greatest comics all agree the one turning point in their lives was being on his show and making him laugh. If they were invited to “The desk”…