Tonight Starring Steve Allen

Tonight Starring Steve Allen
File:Tonight starring Steve Allen-Intertitle.jpg NBC's Tonight with Steve Allen intertitle
Presented by	Steve Allen
Starring	Skitch Henderson (1954–1957)
Narrated by	Gene Rayburn
Country of origin	United States
Production
Production locations	GE Building Studio 6B New York, New York
Running time	90 min. (with commercials)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 27, 1954 – January 25, 1957
Related
The Steve Allen Show

Tonight Starring Steve Allen is a talk show hosted by Steve Allen under The Tonight Show franchise. It was the first version of The Tonight Show but was referred to as Tonight from 1954 to 1957. It originally aired during late-night.

During its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside of the GE Building, formerly known as the Texaco Star Theatre. The same studio would also host The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

History

The first episode of Tonight aired on September 27, 1954, unlike traditional talk shows, the runtime was 90 minutes instead of 60. The announcer of the show was Gene Rayburn 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. The success of the show led Allen to get another talk show, this one would air prime-time on Sunday nights. This led Allen to share Tonight hosting duties with Ernie Kovacs for the 1956–1957 season. To give Allen time to work on his Sunday evening show, Kovacs hosted Tonight on Monday and Tuesday nights, with his own announcer and bandleader.

Allen and Kovacs Deperature

Allen and Kovacs 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 Ed Sullivan Show's dominance of the Sunday night ratings.

Tonight! America After Dark (1957)

Rather than continuing with the same format after Allen and Kovacs' departure 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. This new version of the show was not popular, resulting in a significant number of NBC affiliates dropping the show.

See Also

• List of late night network TV programs
• The Steve Allen Show, Allen's Sunday night variety show he hosted while simultaneously hosting Tonight