Google “Johnny Carson gets attacked by an emu.” You won’t be disappointed.

Taped back in 1983, it’s far from the strangest or funniest clip in the host’s highlight reel, and it’s certainly not the most famous. But the bit offers a potent snapshot of late night’s peculiar magic.

British puppeteer Rod Hull arrives on set with his ersatz bird that promptly snaps at Carson while playing nice with Richard Pryor on the Tonight Show couch. The moment is irresistibly funny, even if you don’t know that producers begged Hull for his puppet not to attack their host. Its blend of casual weirdness and ineffable showmanship — watch Carson slyly turn discomfort into comedy — distills the essence of late night better than any marquee guest or recurring segment. You didn’t know you wanted to see it, bu

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