In July 1957, after the failure of Tonight! America After Dark (a news-oriented program first hosted by Jack Lescoulie and briefly by Al Collins), NBC reverted its late-night show, Tonight, to a talk/variety show format as it had been during Steve Allen's tenure as host. Jack Paar was brought in to host the reformatted Tonight. He was, at the time, working for CBS and hosting the network's The Morning Show, a morning show similar to NBC's The Today Show, before he agreed to jump networks and take over Tonight.[1][2]
Under Paar, most of the NBC affiliates that had dropped the show during the ill-fated run of America After Dark, or who had never picked it up, began airing the show once again. Paar's era began the practice of branding the series after the host, and as such the program, though officially still called Tonight, was marketed as The Jack Paar Show. A combo band conducted by Paar's Army buddy pianist José Melis filled commercial breaks and backed musical entertainers. When Paar was on vacation, guest hosts presided over the show; one of these early hosts was Johnny Carson. Other guest hosts included Jonathan Winters, Orson Bean, as well as the show's announcer, Hugh Downs.[1][2]
Starting on September 19, 1960, it was one of the first regularly scheduled shows to be videotaped in color, with the show recorded very early in the evening and broadcast from 11:15 P.M. to 1 A.M. Eastern time that night. Only a handful of complete Jack Paar "Tonight Show" episodes exist. All of them are black-and-white kinescope recordings. No color videotapes of any complete Paar "Tonight" shows are known to exist. Paar hosted the program from 1957 to 1962.
Paar's original announcer was actor Franklin Pangborn, but he was fired after only a few weeks for not showing enough "spontaneous enthusiasm". His replacement was Hugh Downs, who stayed with Paar to the end.
At first, the show was called "Tonight Starring Jack Paar"; after 1959 it was officially known as The Jack Paar Show (or The Jack Paar Tonight Show, a phrasing which led to the name "The Tonight Show," as opposed to simply "Tonight," being adopted permanently after Paar's departure). Only a few minutes of video of Paar's talk host career in color are known to exist today; NBC's policy at the time was to preserve programming on black-and-white kinescopes, but this policy only applied to live or videotaped prime time programming, and as such, the videotapes of most of Paar's Tonight Show appearances were taped over and no longer exist, a policy that continued through the first ten years of Johnny Carson's hosting of the same series.
Senator John F. Kennedy, then a candidate for president, as a Tonight Show guest, 1959.The cast in 1960 (L-R): host Jack Paar, announcer Hugh Downs and bandleader José Melis
During Paar's stint as host, The Tonight Show became an entertainment juggernaut; Paar generated the most obsessive fascination and curiosity from press and public of anyone who ever hosted the show. He strove for compelling conversation as well as humor. His guests tended to be literate raconteurs such as Peter Ustinov or intellectuals such as William F. Buckley Jr., as opposed to just actors or other performers selling their current work, while Paar earned a reputation as a superb storyteller.
He surrounded himself with a memorable group of regulars and semi-regulars, including Cliff Arquette as the homespun "Charley Weaver", author-illustrator Alexander King, Tedi Thurman (NBC's sultry "Miss Monitor") and comedy actresses Peggy Cass and Dody Goodman. Goodman was a regular from shortly after the show's debut until Paar fired her in 1958. Goodman frequently stepped on Paar's lines and was seen as an uncontrollable upstager.[3]
Paar's oft repeated expression, I kid you not (something Humphrey Bogart as Capt. Philip Queeg uttered often in The Caine Mutiny), became a national catchphrase. In 1959, Paar's gag writer Jack Douglas became a bestselling author (My Brother Was an Only Child, A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Grave: An Autobiography) after his regular appearances with Paar. Douglas' Japanese wife Reiko often appeared, as did Hungarian beauty queen Zsa Zsa Gabor, French comedian Genevieve and several British performers appeared as well. Paar enjoyed conversing with foreigners and knew their accents would spice up the proceedings.
In 1959, Paar was criticized for his interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro; Paar's on-location interview was the last time any American late-night show filmed in Cuba until Conan O'Brien, who himself briefly hosted Tonight, visited the country in 2015 for an episode of his show, Conan.[4]
On December 1, 1959, Paar again made news by asking an apparently inebriated Mickey Rooney to leave the program, remarking "It's a shame, he was such a great talent."[5] Rooney and Paar quickly reconciled.[6]
Paar was often unpredictable and emotional. The most notorious example of this kind of on-screen behavior was demonstrated on the February 10, 1960, show, when one of his jokes was cut from a broadcast by studio censors. The joke in question involved a woman writing to a vacation resort and inquiring about the availability of a "W.C." The woman used that term to mean "water closet" (i.e., bathroom), but the gentleman who received the letter misunderstood "W.C." to mean "wayside chapel" (i.e., church). The full text of the joke[10] is:
An English lady is visiting Switzerland. She asks about the location of the "W.C." The Swiss, thinking she is referring to the "Wayside Chapel", leaves 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."
NBC censors replaced that section of the show with news coverage and failed to inform Paar of their decision. On February 11, 1960, Jack Paar quit the show. As he left his desk in the middle of the program, he said:
I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this. There's a way of entertaining people without being constantly involved in some form of controversy which is on me all the time. It's rough on my wife and child, and I don't need it. I like the National Broadcasting Company, they've been swell to me. And I've been pretty wonderful to them. I took over a show with 60 stations. There is now 158. This show is sold out. It's the highest, I think, money producer for this network. And I believe I was let down by this network at a time when I could have used their help. You have been peachy to me always.[11]
Although Paar had earlier told his announcer Hugh Downs of his intention to quit the show, Downs at first thought Paar was joking. He expected the host to return to the stage,[8] but the abrupt departure left Downs to finish the broadcast himself.[12] While Paar traveled outside the country, his disappearance became a national news event.[8] The entire broadcast of this episode exists on audio tape from WMCT in Memphis.[11]
Urged to return to the show by his friend Jonathan Winters,[8] Paar reappeared on March 7, 1960, strolled on stage, struck a pose, and said, "As I was saying before I was interrupted...". After the audience erupted in applause, Paar continued, "I believe my last words were that there must be a better way of making a living than this. Well, I've looked... and there isn't." That line produced a burst of laughter from the audience. He then went on to explain his departure with typical frankness: "Leaving the show was a childish and perhaps emotional thing. I have been guilty of such action in the past and will perhaps be again. I'm totally unable to hide what I feel. It is not an asset in show business, but I shall do the best I can to amuse and entertain you and let other people speak freely, as I have in the past."[10]
Paar's departure
Jack Paar left the show on March 30, 1962, citing the fact that he could no longer handle the load of putting on an hour and forty-five minute show a night, five nights a week. Over the course of its run, Paar was given more time off so that most Mondays featured a guest host, and all Friday shows were "Best Of Paar" repeats, giving Paar only three nights of material to fill. To fulfill the rest of his NBC contract after leaving Tonight, Paar hosted a prime-time variety series, The Jack Paar Program and aired weekly, on Friday nights, through 1965.
As for Tonight, Johnny Carson was chosen as Paar's successor. At the time, Carson was host of the weekday afternoon quiz show Who Do You Trust? on ABC. Because Carson was under contract to Trust through September, he could not take over as host until October 1, 1962. They held him to his contract until the day it expired, prompting him to make occasional wisecracks on Who Do You Trust? about the situation- "I'd like to welcome you to ABC...the network with a heart". The months between Paar and Carson were taken by a series of guest hosts, including Groucho Marx, Jerry Lewis, Jack Carter and Mort Sahl. The show was broadcast under the title The Tonight Show during this interregnum.
Much like Paar, Carson too became weary of the show's length and struggled to fill so much airtime. As late local newscasts expanded, Tonight was shortened to 90 minutes, and then to the current 60 minutes after Carson renegotiated his contract in 1980. Carson also arranged for the use of guest hosts and reruns during the week so that he only had to appear three times per week and sometimes during sweeps, four times a week, a practice that has since been abandoned in the Leno, O'Brien and Fallon hosting runs, due to increased competition. By 1982, Carson had 180 minutes of airtime to fill a week, compared to the 525 minutes Paar was filling at the beginning of his run, reducing the work load by nearly two thirds.
John William Carson was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992). Carson received six Primetime Emmy Awards, the Television Academy's 1980 Governor's Award and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.
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, Conan O'Brien (2009–2010), and Jimmy Fallon (2014–present). Besides the main hosts, a number of regular "guest hosts" have been used, notably Ernie Kovacs, who hosted two nights per week during 1956–1957, and a number of guests used by Carson, who curtailed his own hosting duties back to three nights per week by the 1980s. Among Carson's regular guest hosts were Joey Bishop, McLean Stevenson, David Letterman, David Brenner, Joan Rivers, and Jay Leno, although the practice has been mostly abandoned since hosts currently prefer reruns to showcasing potential rivals.
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and comic actor. Known for his raunchy material, heavy appearance, and thick New York accent, his best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man (1962), Benjy Benjamin in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Tennessee Steinmetz in The Love Bug (1968), and the voice of Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (1989). He was also a frequent guest on TV game shows and variety shows.
Jack Harold Paar 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's obituary of Paar reported wryly, "His fans would remember him as the fellow who split talk show history into two eras: Before Paar and Below Paar."
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of The Tonight Show. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, replacing The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and was replaced by The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. The show returned from March 1, 2010 to February 6, 2014, replacing The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and was replaced by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Orson Bean was an American film, television, and stage actor and comedian. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small theater scene." He appeared frequently on several televised game shows from the 1960s through the 1980s and was a longtime panelist on the television game show To Tell the Truth. "A storyteller par excellence", he was a favorite of Johnny Carson, appearing on The Tonight Show more than 200 times.
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb, known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/variety show host, then later hosted a late-night talk show with Regis Philbin as his young sidekick on ABC. He also was a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. He is listed as the 96th entry on Comedy Central's list of 100 greatest comedians.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the third installment of The Tonight Show. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing Tonight Starring Jack Paar and was replaced by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ed McMahon served as Carson's sidekick and the show's announcer.
A guest host is a host, usually of a talk show, that hosts the program in lieu of the regular host if they fall ill, have another project or commitment, or are unable to host for some other reason.
The Tomorrow Show is an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder that aired on NBC in first-run form from October 1973 to December 1981, at which point its reruns continued until late January 1982.
The Joey Bishop Show is an American talk show that had its first broadcast on ABC on April 17, 1967, hosted by Joey Bishop and featuring Regis Philbin in his first ongoing role with national television exposure, as Bishop's sidekick/announcer. Created to challenge The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the show lasted 33 months, with the last show airing on December 26, 1969.
Late Night is an American late-night talk and variety show airing on NBC since 1982. Four men have hosted Late Night: David Letterman (1982–1993), Conan O'Brien (1993–2009), Jimmy Fallon (2009–2014), and Seth Meyers (2014–present). Each iteration of the show was built around its host, and maintained distinct identities aside from the title, time slot, and network. The longest-serving host to date was O'Brien, who hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien for almost 16 years, from September 1993 to February 2009.
A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is characterized by spontaneous conversation, and for an effect of immediacy and intimacy as if the host were speaking directly to each member of the watching audience. Late-night talk shows are also fundamentally shaped by the personality of the host.
The Tonight Show Band refers to the house band on the American television variety show The Tonight Show, which has created an important showcase for jazz on American television. The Tonight Show Band has changed in form and composition since the program first aired in 1954. The Roots have been The Tonight Show Band since 2014 for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Tonight Starring Steve Allen is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of The Tonight Show. Hosted by Steve Allen, 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.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incarnation of NBC's long-running Tonight Show franchise, with Fallon serving as the sixth host. The show also stars sidekick and announcer Steve Higgins and house band The Roots. The Tonight Show is produced by Katie Hockmeyer and executive-produced by Lorne Michaels. The show records from Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center, New York City, which is the same studio in which Tonight Starring Jack Paar and then The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson were produced from 1957 until 1972.
The untitled debut episode of American late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is the first episode to air in 2014, and the first episode of the series overall. The debut episode originally aired in the United States on February 17, 2014 on NBC.
Jerry Lester was an American comedian, singer and performer on radio, television and the stage, known for playing the father of the main characters, Mike Firpo, in the comedy Odds and Evens and who hosted the first network late night television program as host of Broadway Open House on NBC, a vaudeville-esque combination of comedy and music, whose success demonstrated the potential for late-night television and led to the creation of the Tonight Show.
Here's Johnny: Magic Moments from the Tonight Show is a live double album commemorating 25 years of The Tonight Show, released by Casablanca Records in 1974. The album features an array of performers with never before available performances on record. The album included a 25th anniversary poster summarizing the history of the show.
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