In the years immediately after Johnny Carson's decision to step down from the "Tonight" show, NBC executives fully expected that their signature star would become a latter-day version of Bob Hope -- providing a special here and there, something that would pull in the millions of fans who never got over missing him at 11:35 each weeknight.

But Mr. Carson had made a different decision. "He knew he had given everything he had on the show, and that's how he wanted to be remembered," said Peter Lassally, his long-time executive producer and close friend.

Still, there was one part of his former life he simply could not leave behind entirely. Having spent 30 years reading and watching the news every day and instantly conjuring the events into monologue jokes, jokes that provided a running commentary on the political and cultural scene, Mr. Carson found he simply could not give up the routine.

"He really missed doing the monologue," Mr. Lassally said. "So he started doing them for me."

Sometimes once a week, sometimes more often, Mr. Carson would call Mr. Lassally and, over the phone, perform his little monologues -- for an audience of one. "They were always funny," Mr. Lassally said, and one day about a year ago the jokes struck him as so funny that he had a suggestion.