Burbank May Put Johnny Carson on Map
The city of Burbank wants to honor the mouth that bites it.
The Burbank City Council will vote Tuesday on renaming Buena Vista Park after “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson, who has repeatedly poked fun at the city for 20 years.
City Manager Bud Ovrom said in a memo to the council that Carson, who is retiring from the television talk show in May, has brought national recognition to Burbank.
“If you go anywhere in the nation, people know about Burbank--and much of the reason is Johnny Carson,” Ovrom wrote. “You could not buy that kind of name recognition for millions of dollars. It does not really matter what the original basis was.”
Ovrom said Mayor Michael Hastings sent a letter to Carson about the plan to re-christen the park across the street from the NBC studios where the show is taped. He added that Carson expressed “his appreciation for this honor.”
No joke.
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