Here's Johnny

About

“Here’s Johnny” is a quote from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, which aired from the 1962 to early 1992. At the beginning of each episode, Ed McMahon would introduce Carson with the line, “and now, heeeeeere’s Johnny!” The line was quoted in a famous scene in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) in which actor Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance breaks through a door. That scene has been parodied online in various video remixes and exploitable image macros.

Origin

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson first aired October 1st, 1962. Prior to Carson’s appearance on each episode, Ed McMahon would announce “and now, heeeeeere’s Johnny!” (example shown below).

The line became well known in pop culture and was famously referenced in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. In the film, Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance hacks down a door with an axe. Once there is a hole large enough for his face, he sticks his head through and sinisterly says “here’s Johnny!” (shown below). The scene would inspire future memes using the phrase.

Spread

The scene became one of the iconic moments of the film, and was widely parodied, both online and in pop culture. Online, an early LEGO parody of the scene was posted May 30th, 2007 by Dan Parks and gained over 1.1 million views (shown below, left). It was also parodied in a series of YouTube Poops. For example, on August 13th, 2008, an edit was posted by iContainFail, gaining over 13,000 views (shown below, right).

The scene has also been parodied in several popular YouTube videos which feature different characters acting out the scene. For example, a Five Nights At Freddy’s animation posted by Crazy Is Crazy gained over 2.2 million views (shown below, left). A Source Filmmaker edit of the scene posted in June of 2015 by zombiller gained over 950,000 views (shown below, right).

Another popular video trend on YouTube finds people reenacting the scene. Some popular versions include a video by YouTuber trentpekkala posted in November of 2009 that gained over 783,000 views (shown below, left). Another by Hive Mind Productions posted in 2014 gained over 142,000 views (shown below, right)

Sparta Remixes

Another popular trend in the late 2000s and early 2010s saw the scene applied to Sparta Remixes. For example, an upload of a Sparta Remix of The Simpsons by zonic19game in October 2010 gained over 139,000 views (shown below, left). A reupload of a Here’s Johnny Sparta Remix was posted by Spartan ReUploader on July 5th, 2012, gaining over 48,000 views (shown below, right).

In Pop Culture

The phrase has been referenced in dozens of pieces of pop culture, including films like Finding Nemo and television shows like Bob’s Burgers. On April 19th, 2017, YouTube channel iiAFX uploaded a compilation of “Here’s Johnny” references in pop culture, gaining over 5.5 million views (shown below).