REMEMBERING JOHNNY CARSON PRAISED FOR SENSIBILITY HE BROUGHT TO FIVE PREVIOUS BROADCASTS OF THE OSCARS.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

In addition to the year's winners, Oscar also found time on Sunday night to honor the memory of Johnny Carson.

Host Chris Rock spoke of the legends of our day: ``I got to watch Michael Jordan play basketball, I got to laugh at Rodney Dangerfield, I got to watch Muhammad Ali box, and I got to watch Johnny Carson host the Oscars.''

Carson, who died on Jan. 23, hosted the Academy Awards ceremony five times, from 1979-82 and 1984. Clips from his appearances were shown, including what may have been the first of what has become an Oscar perennial: the plastic-surgery gag.

``I see a lot of new faces, especially on the old faces,'' Carson joked in a clip from 1979. Another clip had Carson tweaking Hollywood insincerity: ``Tonight is the night where the winners thank the little people they've stepped on the whole year.''

The brief tribute also included thoughts from Whoopi Goldberg, herself a former Oscar host: ``You can try to duplicate him, but there was only one Carson.''

The homage ignored one of Carson's edgiest moments, in 1981, the day after President Reagan had been shot. After Reagan made a short appearance via satellite, Carson joked, ``The president has asked for severe cuts in aid to the arts and humanities. It's Reagan's strongest attack on the arts since he signed with Warner Bros.''

Carson also mastered the art of the running joke, which Billy Crystal ran with during his own turns as host. In 1980, when the winner of the sound effects editing Oscar was a no-show, Carson reflected on previous camera-shy winners: ``It always happens: First George C. Scott doesn't show, then Marlon Brando, and now Alan Splet.'' As the evening proceeded, Carson turned Splet's absence into a running joke about his getting lost en route. When Melvyn Douglas likewise wasn't on hand to receive his trophy, Carson cracked, ``It's not Melvyn Douglas' fault - he's in a car pool with Alan Splet.''

Just as the Oscar ceremony was evolving into a bloated leviathan, Carson, too, was on hand. As 1984's show - which would clock in at a then-record three hours and 42 minutes - wore on, Carson brightly quipped, ``OK, folks, we're in our fourth hour now - let's check the board and see how much we've raised.'' At evening's conclusion, he bade farewell: ``Until next year, which is coming up soon.''

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When he hosted the Oscars, Johnny Carson often poked fun at Hollywood stereotypes.