''Tonight Starring Steve Allen'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. Hosted by

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and ...

, it aired from September 27, 1954 to January 25, 1957, and was replaced by '' Tonight Starring Jack Paar.'' Allen's run as host of the show lasted for two and a half seasons, beginning in fall 1954 and ending with Allen's departure in January 1957. During its run it originated from the Hudson Theatre in New York City.

History

Originally a local program airing from 11:20 p.m. to 12 midnight on WNBT New York as ''The Steve Allen Show'', the program was moved to the full NBC network in the Fall of 1954. The first network episode of ''Tonight'' aired on September 27, 1954, and ran for 105 minutes instead of the 60-minute duration of modern talk shows (however, the first fifteen minutes were shown on very few stations). The announcer of the show was

Gene Rayburn Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show ''Match Game'' for over tw ...

(who would eventually become a top-game show emcee, best known for his 22 years at the helm of the ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

'') and the bandleader was Skitch Henderson. Allen's version of the show originated such talk show staples as an opening monologue, celebrity interviews, audience participation, and comedy bits in which cameras were taken outside the studio, as well as music; among the members of Allen's musical ensemble were Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, who later became a married couple. The success of the show led to a separate weekly prime time show hosted by Allen, which aired on Sunday nights. Allen gave up the Monday and Tuesday shows, with guest hosts taking over for the summer of 1956. Beginning that fall,

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his dea ...

(who came over from the faltering

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

) was the regular Monday and Tuesday host for the 1956–1957 season with his own cast and regulars, including his own announcer ( Bill Wendell; who would later work with

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

) and bandleader. A

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

of the very first episode survives and Allen's opening monologue has been rebroadcast many times on ''Tonight Show'' anniversary specials, and in documentaries such as ''Television''. In his opening remarks, Allen makes the prescient statement that ''Tonight!'' "is going to go on forever" (an apparent reference to the show's run time, then clocking in at 105 minutes with commercials). With several hosts over the decades, it has done just that, albeit with a much different meaning than Allen intended.

Allen and Kovacs' departure

Allen departed ''Tonight'' in January 1957, after NBC ordered Allen to concentrate all his efforts on his Sunday night variety program, hoping to combat CBS's ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

s dominance of the Sunday night ratings. Instead of getting the show five nights a week, Kovacs was also let go, and a radical format change was implemented (see below). After Allen's prime time show ended in 1960, he would intermittently return to the format he used on ''Tonight'' with syndicated programs bearing the name ''The Steve Allen Show'', from 1962–1964, 1968–1969, and 1971. Allen would also return to occasionally guest host ''The Tonight Show'' during the Johnny Carson era of the show; Allen guest hosted 18 times between 1971 and 1982. He made his final ''Tonight Show ''appearance as a guest on the show's 40th anniversary broadcast in 1994.

''Tonight! America After Dark'' (1957)

Rather than continuing with the same format after Allen and Kovacs' departures from ''Tonight'', NBC changed the show's format to a news and features show, similar to that of the network's popular morning program '' Today''. The new show, renamed ''Tonight! America After Dark'', was hosted first by Jack Lescoulie and then by Al "Jazzbo" Collins, with interviews conducted by Hy Gardner, and music provided by the Lou Stein Trio (later replaced by the Mort Lindsey Quartet, then the Johnny Guarnieri Quartet). This new version of the show was unsuccessful, resulting in a significant number of NBC affiliates dropping the show. The format returned to a comedy-oriented talk/variety program on July 29, 1957, with

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...

being brought in to host his own version of ''The Tonight Show''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tonight Show, The Allen 1954 American television series debuts 1957 American television series endings 1950s American television talk shows NBC talk shows Black-and-white American television shows Television shows filmed in New York City American live television series 1950s American late-night television series 1950s American variety television series

History

Allen and Kovacs' departure

''Tonight! America After Dark'' (1957)

See also

References

External links