CARSON WILL BE BACK IN '94, MCMAHON SAYS

It looks something like a comeback year for Johnny Carson in 1994. The former TV late show king is being honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. But that's just the beginning. He is working with some of his former "Tonight Show" writers to develop a prime-time special featuring Johnny and the Mighty Carson Art Players, according to TV Guide, which quotes former sidekick Ed McMahon as saying, "Johnny will be back in 1994." Next spring, Buena Vista Home Video will release a five-part retrospective of Carson's 30-year reign on the Tonight Show, and Carson is handpicking the highlights. Carson has confided to Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales, "I don't want to do television just to do television . . . you have to have a reason to do it."