'Here's Johnny!:' The 'Shining' Line That Younger People Might Not Get

Jack Nicholson really knows how to make an entrance in 'The Shining.' Source: (IMDB.com)

Of all the stolen movie lines, "Here's Johnny!" might be the best.

It happens in The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick, which isn’t just a horror classic -- the 1980 psycho-chiller is a staple of modern cinema. The film has been combed over and debated for decades, but the scene that’s endlessly quoted is when Jack Torrance (Nicholson) busts through a bathroom door with an ax and shouts, “Here’s Johnny!” No matter how many times you’ve seen the movie, this intense scene will still get your heart racing.

Here’s the thing about this scene: as scary as it is, to this day, younger viewers might not realize that Nicholson is actually referencing Ed McMahon and The Tonight Show. Let that sink in while we explore the bathroom at the Overlook Hotel.