Inside Betty White And Johnny Carson's Adorable Friendship

Due to his role as the host of "The Tonight Show," Johnny Carson was privileged to meet a lot of celebrities. One of the meetings included Betty White, who passed away at age 99 on New Year's Eve.

The "Golden Girls" star appeared in his show in the late 80s. During their conversation, viewers could get a deep insight into their friendship, mainly because they were both extraordinary in their field. 

It also didn't help matters that the nature of their jokes and conversations tilted from flirting to extreme comparisons.

Their chemistry worked so well with their viewers that the pair made cameos in scantily clad sketches around the 70s and 80s.

White once reminisced to the Television Academy that she began to work with Carson on the show after they became acquainted.

According to the actor, she had been a regular guest on the show under the former host, Jack Paar. Later, when Carson took up the role, he called her up and asked her to dinner to talk about the show.

After the discussion, she began to appear in his sketches, and later, Carson started asking her for input on the illustrations.

In October 1987, while he introduced the guest star, Carson explained that he was fond of White.

"If you hadn't gotten in such a rush to get married, we could have arranged something," White responded jocularly.

She lost her husband in 1981, and Carson was estranged from his third wife in 1982. Then, he remarried in June 1987.

White's remark drew a rousing reaction from the audience. Carson lightheartedly said to her, "You're somewhere between Mother Theresa and a call girl. And I'm not quite sure where it is."

Later in the show, Carson praised White and her "Golden Girls" co-stars. He gushed about how the show was one of the most creative and funniest shows he'd ever seen.

We grew up together," White explained of the funny sessions between herself and Carson's relationship.

However, all past evidence points to a hilarious but adorable friendship between the pair. They were both trailblazers with unique qualities, leaving behind legacies pop culture still enjoys today.

White told Television Academy that she began to notice a pattern when she joined Carson on the show.

In a sketch, she played the role of a female reporter who was allowed into male locker rooms. At the end of the sketch, she and Carson both dropped their towels.

"I chased him right into the shower," she mentioned at the end of that scene.

Later, they played Tarzan and James and Adam and Eve. In those sketches, they were clad in leaves and loincloths. Eventually, she got fed up with the situation and angrily told Carson, "Johnny, why don't you admit it! Every time you want to take your clothes off, you call me! What is this?" She later concluded that she had a good time and ultimately didn't mind.

In a 1987 interview on YouTube, Carson explained that he and White would be "most dignified" and keep their clothes on.

Carson's legacy in TV history was monumental, and there will most likely never be a host like him.

His presence on TV came before the introduction of cable. Despite that, he brought hundreds of viewers for nightly watching. Carson hardly had any real late-night rival for most of his career, and this bagged him the original King of Late Night title.

Per PBS, "Carson was seen by more people on more occasions than anyone else in American history. Over 30 years, 4,531 episodes and 23,000 guests, he became a fixture of national life and a part of the zeitgeist."

At the end of his run on "The Tonight Show," he accrued a nightly audience of 15 million viewers.

The icon was a widespread presence on TV, with a career that dated back to the early days of television and had spanned decades.

Long before she appeared on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the '70s and "The Golden Girls" in the '80s, she featured in the "I Love Lucy-like Life" with Elizabeth, a show she co-produced.

As recorded by PBS, she became the first woman to appear on television due to her performance on a 1930 experimental broadcast. As such, she's entitled a TV pioneer and the First Lady of Television.