The Tonight Show

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Template:Infobox television 

 | format = Talk show, Variety show
 | runtime = One hour per episode
 | creator = Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. 
 | starring  = Steve Allen (1954-1957)
Jack Paar (1957-1960, 1960-1962)
Johnny Carson (1962- 1992)
Jay Leno (1992- 2009)
Conan O'Brien (starting in 2009)
 | country = United States
 | network = NBC
 | picture_format = 1080i HDTV
 | first_aired = September 27, 1954
 | last_aired = Present
 | num_episodes = 4,531 (under Carson)
3,086 (under Leno) as of January 27, 2006
 | imdb_id = 0103569

|}} The Tonight Show is NBC's long-running late-night talk and variety show, currently hosted by Jay Leno in Burbank, CA (near Los Angeles). The hour-long show premiered September 27, 1954 in a 105-minute format hosted by Steve Allen. The show features at least two guests each night, usually including a comedian or musical guest. In 2009, Leno will step down, to be replaced by current Late Night host Conan O'Brien.

Now in its 52nd season (though its roots date back to a local New York program called Broadway Open House in the early 1950s), The Tonight Show is the second longest-running entertainment program in U.S. television history (after the soap opera Guiding Light).

Image:Steve1sttonight.jpg

While NBC executive Pat Weaver is credited as Tonight's creator (he created its morning companion, The Today Show), Allen had already created much of the structure of Tonight with his local New York late-night show, which premiered in 1953 on what is now WNBC-TV.

Johnny Carson had a 30 year run as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Tonight became the first U.S. TV show to broadcast with MTS stereo sound in 1984. On April 26, 1999, Tonight started broadcasting in 1080i HDTV, becoming the first U.S. nightly talk show shot in HD. The show is shot in 16:9 aspect ratio with a 4:3 center-cut for standard definition TV viewers.

A kinescope exists of the very first broadcast of The Tonight Show (then called simply, Tonight), and Steve Allen welcomed viewers with the warning, "This show is going to last forever.", referring to the running time. He has yet to be proven wrong.

Contents

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Hosts

Host From To Notes
Steve Allen September 27, 1954 January 25, 1957 variety show
Ernie Kovacs October 1, 1956 January 22, 1957 Mon.-Tue. host
Jack Lescoulie January 28, 1957 June 7, 1957 format switch to news program Tonight! America After Dark
Al Collins June 10, 1957 July 26, 1957 replaced Lescoulie
Jack Paar July 29, 1957 March 30, 1962 format switch to talk show; also called Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Various hosts April 2, 1962 September 28, 1962 interlude between Paar and Carson eras. Temporary hosts included Groucho Marx.
Johnny Carson October 1, 1962 May 22, 1992 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Jay Leno May 25, 1992 2009 (announced) The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Conan O'Brien Scheduled to take over in 2009 -
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Steve Allen

Image:Stevetitle.jpg

Tonight's original host was Steve Allen, as noted above. Thanks to his popularity on this program, he was given his own nighttime series, leading him to share hosting duties with Ernie Kovacs during the 1956-1957 season; while Allen prepared his prime time show, Kovacs hosted Tonight on Monday and Tuesday nights. Kovacs is sometimes referred to as the show's first guest host.

During the later Steve Allen years, regular audience member Ms. Miller became such an integral part, she was forced to join AFTRA the television/radio performers union. Allen's original announcer was Gene Rayburn, who went on to greater fame as host of Match Game.

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Jack Paar

Image:Jackbumper.jpg

After Allen (and Kovacs) departed Tonight in January 1957, NBC changed the format, renaming the show Tonight! America After Dark and transforming it into a news program hosted by, initially, Jack Lescoulie, with interviews conducted by Hy Gardner. This new version of the show, which was essentially a nighttime version of the Today Show, was not popular, and in July 1957, the show became a talk/variety show again, reverted to its original name and Jack Paar became the host.

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Johnny Carson

Image:Tonighttitle.jpg

Parr quit the series in March 1962, and Johnny Carson was chosen as his successor. For all but a few months of its first ten years of existence, Carson's "Tonight Show" was based in New York, New York. In May 1972 the show moved to Burbank, California, where it remained for the remainder of his tenure. Announcer Ed McMahon was Carson's sidekick throughout his time with the program; although taped in Burbank, it was announced as coming from Hollywood.

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Jay Leno

Image:Jaytitle.jpg

Johnny Carson retired May 22, 1992, and was replaced by Jay Leno, who continues to host the program.

The show's full name is currently The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During the Carson years, it was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. During the Paar era, it was first Tonight Starring Jack Paar, then The Jack Paar Tonight Show, and finally The Jack Paar Show.

On September 27, 2004, the 50th anniversary of the show's premiere, NBC announced that Jay Leno will be succeeded by Conan O'Brien in 2009. Leno explained that he did not want to see a repeat of the hard feelings and controversy that occurred when he was given the show following Carson's retirement instead of David Letterman.

The death of Carson on January 23, 2005, made Leno the last surviving host of The Tonight Show.

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Music and Announcers

Music for the series is provided by The Tonight Show Band, led since 1995 by Kevin Eubanks, who replaced Leno's original musical director, Branford Marsalis. In 2004, the long-time announcer Edd Hall was replaced by John Melendez, who started out on The "Howard Stern Show".

Skitch Henderson was the band leader during the Steve Allen and early Carson years, followed briefly by Milton DeLugg. Jose Melis led the band for Jack Paar. For most of Johnny Carson's run on the show, The Tonight Show Band was led by Doc Severinsen and the show's announcer was Ed McMahon. By the end of the Carson years, Severinsen had become the primary substitute announcer when McMahon was absent. When Severinsen was absent or filling in for McMahon, Tommy Newsom would lead the band.

Image:Stevezsazsa.jpg

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Recurring gags (Jay Leno)

  • Headlines (Monday): Humorous print items sent in by viewers.
  • Jaywalking: Jay Leno and a camera crew ask people questions in a public area, often Hollywood.
  • Ask the Fruitcake Lady: Marie Rudisill, an outspoken older woman, responds to questions about relationships, sex and family. She was originally on the show to promote her cookbook about fruitcake.
  • Pitch To America: Whenever a screenwriters convention is held in the US, a Tonight Show camera crew sets up an area where screenwriters can walk up and make a pitch for a movie script that he/she has been working on.
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Classic gags

  • "Man on the Street interviews" (Allen)
  • Stump The Band (Paar, later Carson) (currently used (albeit with comical variations) on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien). Audience members are asked to name an obscure song and the band tries to play it. If the band doesn't know the song, it usually breaks into a comical piece of music.
  • Carnac the Magnificent (Carson). Carson plays a psychic who is given sealed envelopes (that McMahon invariably states, with a flourish, have been kept in a mayonnaise jar or something similar overnight). Carnac holds an envelope to his head and recites the punchline to a joke contained within the envelope.
  • The Tea Time Movie, with "Art Fern" (Carson) and the Matinée Lady (originally Carol Wayne, later Teresa Ganzel). A parody of 1950s-style advertising pitchmen, the skit consists of a rapid-fire series of fake advertisements for products and companies sponsoring a late-night movie. Invariably the jokes refer to his buxom Matinée Lady assistant, and at least once in every skit a variation of the "Slauson Cutoff" joke is made (i.e. "You can find our store by heading down Hwy. 101 until you get to the Slauson Cutoff. Get out of the car, cut off your slauson, and get back in the car.")
  • The "Dancing Itos" (a parody of Judge Lance Ito during the O. J. Simpson trial) (Leno)
  • Several traditions were adopted for Carson's monologue. When jokes didn't work, he would occasionally pull down the boom microphone to announce "Attention, Kmart shoppers!" or the NBC Orchestra would break into "Tea for Two" prompting Carson to break into an impromptu soft shoe dance, among other responses.
  • Frequently during his monologues, Carson would make a statement of the form "It was so (hot/cold/big/small, etc.)", and an audience member would invariably ask "How (hot/cold/big/small, etc.) was it?" which would trigger the punch line of the joke.
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Programming history

The Tonight Show has been scheduled at various times throughout its history on NBC. All times shown are Eastern.

  • September 27, 1954-October 5, 1956: Monday-Friday 11:15 P.M.-1:00 A.M.
  • October 8, 1956-January 4, 1957: Monday-Friday 11:15 P.M.-12:30 A.M.
  • January 7, 1957-December 30, 1966: Monday-Friday 11:15 P.M.-1:00 A.M.
  • January 2, 1965-January 1, 1967: Saturday or Sunday 11:15 P.M.-1:00 A.M. (repeats)
  • January 2, 1967-September 5 1980: Monday-Friday 11:30 P.M.-1:00 A.M.
  • January 7, 1967-September 26, 1975: Saturday or Sunday 11:30 P.M.-1:00 A.M. (repeats)
  • September 8, 1980-August 30, 1991: Monday-Friday 11:30 P.M.-12:30 A.M.
  • September 2, 1991-present: Monday-Friday 11:35 P.M.-12:37 A.M. (though the show may end at 12:47 A.M. on some affiliates)

The Tonight Show is also seen around the world on many channels, although an early attempt at airing the show in the United Kingdom in the 1980s was unsuccessful, sparking jokes by Carson.

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External links

he:The Tonight Show ja:The Tonight Show With Jay Leno simple:The Tonight Show sv:The Tonight Show

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