Johnny Carson Once Worried He'd Seriously Injured Betty White When a “Tonight Show” Sketch Went Off the Rails
Johnny Carson Once Worried He'd Seriously Injured Betty White When a “Tonight Show” Sketch Went Off the Rails
Virginia ChamleeThu, February 26, 2026 at 10:21 PM UTC
0
Johnny Carson (left), Betty WhiteCredit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty -
Johnny Carson once worried he had seriously hurt Betty White during the filming of a sketch on The Tonight Show in 1983
Writer Mark Malkoff details the incident in his book, Love Johnny Carson
“Carson described the sketch as, "Probably the most ambitious sketch we have ever taken on in our life"
LongtimeTonight Show host Johnny Carson once worried he had seriously injured Betty White during the filming of a classic 1983 sketch on the show.
Writer Mark Malkoff details the incident in his book, Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend, writing that Carson described the sketch as, “Probably the most ambitious sketch we have ever taken on in our life.”
In it, Johnny and Betty played a married couple from Dubuque, Iowa, on vacation in California. Visiting an upscale Malibu restaurant, they were seated by a giant window overlooking the ocean.
The skit was to air as severe Malibu rainstorms were making national news, and the idea was that the couple was seated so close to the ocean that waves would spray them through the window while they tried to eat — until, ultimately, they were fully soaked by ocean waves.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Johnny Carson and Betty White on The Tonight Show
Malkoff writes that after rehearsing the sketch, Carson's crew went to a restaurant near the NBC studios for some drinks — and then decided to triple the amount of water they had been planning on using.
They did not, however, tell Johnny and Betty.
While the actual on-the-air bit, was filmed, the waves splashing Betty and Johnny turned into torrents — "but then things got extreme," writes Malkoff.
Advertisement
"Parts of the set were banged around. Carson feared for White’s safety when she was knocked over by a wave," he writes. "The audience went wild. Troupers to the end, Betty and Johnny absurdly kept up their dialogue even as they were completely drenched."
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Later recalling the skit, Betty said that “550 gallons of water let loose and washed us all over the stage . . . So I kept playing the sketch out with my face down in the water. Johnny was scared to death. He thought, ‘Oh, my God, she’s hurt, she’s drowned, she’s dead!’ "
After the sketch was aired, Johnny said that art director John Shrum “didn’t tell us that The Poseidon Adventure was going to happen."
Betty would later say that, over her 40+ appearances on Carson's show, the Malibu water skit was her favorite, adding of the host, “We just loved each other forever."
Malkoff interviewed some 400 people for his book, including Carol Burnett, Michael J. Fox, and Jay Leno.
White, an Emmy-winning actress, comedian and producer was about to celebrate her 100th birthday when she died in her sleep on Dec. 31, 2021.
Carson died on January 23, 2005, at age 79 from respiratory failure.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
