The Tonight Show
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Tonight Show
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. As of 2006, Conan's Late Night successor has still yet to be announced.
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).
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.
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 | - | |
Steve Allen
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. More than being a guest host, Kovacs had his own announcer and bandleader, separate from Allen's.
During the later Steve Allen years, regular audience member Miss 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.
Jack Paar
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.
On February 11, 1960, Jack Paar famously walked off his show for a month after NBC censors edited out a segment, filmed the night before, about a joke involving a W.C. (a polite term for a flush toilet) had been censored. As he left his desk, he said, "I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this."
Paar returned to the show on March 7, 1960, strolled onstage, struck a pose, and looked right into the camera. "As I was saying," he said "before I was interrupted."
Of course, the audience erupted in applause. He continued, "When I walked off, I said there must be a better way of making a living. Well I've looked and there isn't."
The W.C. joke that caused the controversy involved an English lady visiting Switzerland. She asked about the location of the "W.C." The Swiss misunderstood her as talking about the Wayside Chapel, and left her a note that said (in part) "the W.C. is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy... It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday... It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband... I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone."
Interregnum
Following the departure of Jack Paar, the name of the series reverted to The Tonight Show and the program continued with a succession of guest hosts until the next era of the series was ready to begin.Johnny Carson
Paar 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.
Jay Leno
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.
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. Gene Rayburn served as Allen's announcer and sidekick. Jose Melis led the band for Jack Paar, and Hugh Downs was his announcer. 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.
Recurring gags (Jay Leno)
- Headlines (Monday): Humorous print items sent in by viewers.
- Jaywalking: An unscripted pre-taped segment where Jay Leno asks people questions about current news and other topics in public areas around Los Angeles (such as Hollywood Boulevard or Universal Studios); they typically respond in an outrageously incorrect manner.
- *The segment's name is a play on the host's name and the illegal practice of jaywalking.
- *Some of the interviewees prove so popular with viewers that they become regulars on The Tonight Show itself.
- *The same concept is used in a game show called Street Smarts and, in Canada, on Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans segment on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
- Celebrity Interviews: Jay will conduct an interview with a celebrity or recent major news name. The person in question is an obvious parody designed to utilize humorous responses. This often occurs "via satellite", but while cutting to a commercial break, the studio which the character is in will be displayed.
- Comedic Products: Depending on the season, Jay will bring out comedic spins on gifts, media releases, and "inventions that didn't work out".
- Ask the Fruitcake Lady: Marie Rudisill, an outspoken older woman and aunt of Truman Capote, responds to questions about relationships, sex and family. She was originally on the show to promote her cookbook about fruitcake.
- Ross the Intern: Ross Mathews, a highly effeminate intern for the show, is sent to participate in special events.
- 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 or television show that he/she has been working on. People also can pitch a product as well.
- Stuff We Found on eBay: Jay brings up some of the oddest stuff that he has found while searching on eBay.
- Pumpcast News: A fake news anchor displayed on a TV screen at a gas station harasses and bothers the customers pumping gas.
- Duller Image Catalog: Jay will present outrageous and crude products that are created by the staff.
- The Fine Print: At his desk Jay presents regular everyday products but when zoomed in to reveal the fine print there is a message telling what the product's real intentions are. For example on a bag of chips the fine print will reveal that if you eat the product you will get fat.
- Photo Booth: A real free photo booth is set up at Universal Studios Hollywood and people inside are bothered and made fun of before getting their picture taken.
- 99 Cent Shopping Spree: Jay shows off items collected from a local 99 cent store. These products are real and are shown if they have any assembly mistakes, poorly translated words on directions or packaging, or if they are just tacky items.
- Celebrity Jeopardy: A jeopardy game that includes people in costumes portraying famous people that were recently in the news. George W. Bush, and Martha Stewart, are commonly portrayed. Gilbert Gottfried, who is always included on the panel, portrays other uncommon characters such as the Easter Bunny or Pontius Pilate.
- Truth in Labeling: Jay displays products whose names have been changed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are now renamed for their most common uses. For example a United States one hundred-dollar bill is now just called gas money.
- Dealing with the Public: Jay plays real police/911 audio/video recordings that are ridiculous/stupid/funny.
- Sidewalking: A camera and microphone are set up in a public location (e.g., on the street, on a college campus), individuals step up to the microphone and perform whatever they desire.
- Teenage Wasteland: Teenagers come out and perform a stunt or show off a talent which they posess.
- Does this impress Ed Asner: Individuals perform stunts or show off a talent in front of Ed Asner. Asner comments on whether or not the act impresses him.
- Midnight Confessions: Members of the audience tell a story about something in their life they are somewhat embarrased about Often, at the end of the confession, a product appropriate for the situation is presented to the person (often by Gilbert Gottfried)
- Wheel of Consolation: In the final weeks of American Idol, the person who gets voted off comes on the Tonight Show, and is given a chance to spin the wheel of consolation, which contains three elaborate sounding prizes. The wheel is rigged to stop on a certain item, when the contestant recieves a play-on of the item won (for example, the wheel stops on Breakfast with royalty, and the Burger King presents the contestant with a breakfast sandwich.
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. If a joke falls flat with the audience, Carnac invariably passes a comedic curse upon them (e.g., "May a bloated yak change the temperature of your jacuzzi!").
- 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 (e.g., "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. Recurring jokes included references to producer Frederick De Cordova's age, and (during the years when Ronald Reagan was president) De Cordova's involvement with Reagan's infamous movie Bedtime for Bonzo.
- 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.
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)
External links
- [NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]
- [The Tonight Show] from the Museum of Broadcast Communications website
- [Ross "the Intern" Mathews Official Website]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.