Johnny Carson’s 100th Birthday Marked by ‘Tonight Show’ Museum Exhibit

If Johnny Carson were alive today, he’d be 100 years old — and you can almost hear him delivering a sly, perfectly timed monologue about it. (“I’m so old, my cue cards have liver spots.”) To celebrate the centennial of the King of Late Night, as he has come to be known, the Museum of Broadcast Communications is rolling out the red carpet and reopening its doors with two exhibits: “The Johnny Carson Centennial” and “The Evolution of Late-Night Television.”

The exhibits will debut at the museum’s pop-up location at 440 W. Randolph Street in Chicago, which opens to the public on Oct. 24 and will remain open through January 2027. But before the lights officially come up, the museum is hosting a media preview and benefit event on Oct. 23, which would have been Carson’s 100th birthday, had he not died at 79 of respiratory failure in 2005. The celebration will support the MBC’s educational and archival mission.

“I’m thrilled that the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago is creating this exhibit to honor Johnny’s legacy and celebrate his remarkable place in American history,” said Jeff Sotzing, President of Carson Entertainment Group. “As we mark what would have been his 100th birthday, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the enduring impact he had on television, comedy, and the cultural conversation.”

At the heart of the reopening is “The Centennial Exhibit,” which pulls back the curtain on Carson’s world. It features rare artifacts from the museum’s collection, exclusive video content from Carson Entertainment Group and Shout! Factory, and special items on loan from the Johnny Carson Gallery at the Elkhorn Valley Museum in Norfolk, Neb., like Carson’s “Tonight Show” desk and monologue cue cards.

Highlights of the exhibit include photo ops where guests can grab a snap standing on a replica of the “Tonight Show” stage entrance and in front of the original curtain that adorned the set, as well as a mockup of the interview area of “The Tonight Show,” complete with desk, backdrop, sofa and all.  

Carson hosted the late-night show for 30 years from 1962 to 1992, and his retirement not only became a major media event but also the year that the show finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series after 13 nominations. 

The MBC’s companion exhibit, “The Evolution of Late-Night Television,” traces how Carson’s pioneering spirit inspired a parade of hosts who followed in his footsteps, exploring the contributions of hosts from Steve Allen and Jack Paar to David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Joan Rivers, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert, while examining how the format adapts to streaming, podcasts and digital media.

“Johnny Carson was more than a host, he was a national institution whose humor and curiosity united Americans for three decades,” said David Plier, Chairman, President, and CEO of the Museum. “This exhibit is a rare opportunity to celebrate a career that helped shape American culture.”