TONIGHT

TONIGHT. "The Tonight Show," the generic title used to describe the many iterations of NBC TV's latenight comedy-talk show, was originally developed by Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, the president of NBC in the early 1950s. Tonight! was the initial title. It ran from 1954 through 1956, hosted by Steve Allen. In its final year, Allen shared hosting duties with the comedian Ernie Kovacs. In 1957, the title was changed to Tonight! America After Dark, with Jack Lescoulie as host. Unlike Allen's show, which emphasized comic sketches and music, Tonight! America After Dark concentrated on news, interviews, and live remote broadcasts, much like the Today program. After six months, Al Collins replaced Lescoulie and a month later the format was overhauled once again. The Jack Paar Show debuted in July 1957 in a format that emphasized interviews and "desk comedy." Paar also conducted political crusades on the air, supporting Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba, broadcasting from the Berlin Wall, and including presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon among his guests in 1960. When Paar left the show in March 1962, guest hosts filled in on the re-titled The Tonight Show until October of that year.

From October 1962 through May 1992, Johnny Carson established and sustained The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as an American institution. The format of his show, an opening comic monologue—often about news events—followed by interviews, occasional comic pieces, musical performances, and chats with the audience, would be copied by nearly all of the late-night talk shows that followed. Carson retired in 1992 and NBC awarded the vacated position to Jay Leno, who had been a frequent guest host since 1987, and re-titled it The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. David Letterman, angry that he had been passed up for the job, left his NBC program and moved to CBS to compete with Leno.

Since the Jack Paar era, the program has enjoyed an important place in American culture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carter, Bill. The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, and the National Battle for the Night. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

Metz, Robert. The Tonight Show. Chicago: Playboy Press, 1980.

RobertThompson

See alsoTelevision: Programming and Influence .