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32 years ago today, May 22, 1992, Johnny Carson sat in front of that colorful Tonight Show curtain and bid farewell to a show — and an entire late-night industry — that he made internationally famous. This is the way a late-night king leaves his throne: not with a fight, but just a heartfelt good night. Compared to the drama that preceded his departure, Carson's final episode was a deliberately low-key exit that allowed the host plenty of time to look back at a three-decade Tonight Show run that started in 1962 and look ahead to a well-earned retirement. "This show tonight is our farewell show — it's going to be a little bit quieter, it's not going to be a performance show," Carson said at the top of the telecast about what viewers could expect from the finale. "Now we don't want this show to be mawkish. It's a farewell show, and there's a certain sadness among the staff here. But look on the bright side: you won't have to read or see one more story about my leaving this show!" As the evening wound down, Carson moved back to the stool for his closing statements. "So it has come to this," he began. "I am one of the lucky people in the world: I found something I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it ... I can only tell you it has been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. I hope when I find something that I want to do and I think you will like and come back that you will be as gracious to invite me into your home as you have been. I bid you a very heartfelt good night." Carson never did find that career second act, preferring to live the remainder of his life off-camera. He did contribute the occasional guest spot to other shows, calling up David Letterman at his new Late Show digs and stopping by The Simpsons to offer advice to Springfield's own Krusty the Klown after his afternoon show is canceled. (He notably never revisited The Tonight Show set after it passed into Jay Leno's hands, more or less confirming where his late night loyalties lay.) Carson died in January 2005, 13 years after his widely watched farewell.