When [Johnny Carson] returned to his "Tonight Show" platform Wednesday night, it was sigh-heaving time. Ahhhhh, yes, the daily ritual could get back to normal. Though not a member of the Writers Guild of America, Carson had been honoring the long-running WGA strike, and had not done a new "Tonight Show" since Feb. 26.

There's no word, meanwhile, from "Late Night With David Letterman," which follows "Tonight," about an impending return. Carson's show is produced by his own company, which then sells it to NBC. Letterman's show is produced and owned by NBC Entertainment. Thus Carson's company may reach an independent agreement with the WGA (freeing Johnny's writers) whereas it's very unlikely Letterman can.

Letterman is the upstart and Carson is the institution. NBC has to be happy to have its institution back. "The Tonight Show" reportedly grosses more than $100 million a year in advertising revenues, easily justifying Carson's estimated annual salary of $20 million.