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ULTRA RARE…FIRST “TONIGHT” SHOW, PART 1 of 2

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Eyes Of A Generation.com


ULTRA RARE…FIRST “TONIGHT” SHOW, PART 1 of 2

In Part 2, which will follow shortly, you will see the first half hour of the first ever “Tonight” show, which began at 11:30 PM EST on the NBC Television Network on September 27, 1954…BUT…

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE HERE IS, IN ESSENCE, THE FIRST 15 MINUTES OF THE FIRST EVER “TONIGHT” SHOW.

This is something most have never seen, or even knew of, because from this debut video on, till 1965, the 105 minute block of “Tonight” show programming began at 11:15. This is the first 15 minutes of the debut night of September 27, 1954.

It is a little confusing, but I’ll lay it out for you as best I can. This video is the first ever 15 minute version of “The Steve Allen Show”. It is from their new home at The Hudson Theater, where “Tonight” stayed until the show moved to Studio 6B with Jack Paar when the show went color.

For the past year or more, Allan’s show had been a 40 minute local New York show (11:20-12:00), done from the NBC studios leased from WOR at 101 West 67th Street. It was Allen’s success there that caused NBC boss Pat Weaver to create “Tonight”, with Allen as host.

As you will see on the NBC log below, in the Comment section, the 11:15-11:30 segment was officially called “The Steve Allen Show”, but in reality, it was the start of the 105 minute “Tonight” show block of programming.

Initially that portion was only seen on WNBC in New York, but over time, stations watching on network preview monitors began to ask to join at 11:15 to follow thier local newscast.

Other affiliates joined at 11:30 at the “second opening” which you will see alluded to here, and at the top of the next video in Part 2.

By early 1965, only 43 of the 190 affiliated stations carried the entire 105 minute show. After February 1965, Johnny Carson refused to appear until 11:30, and Ed McMahon “hosted” the 11:15 segment. Carson had never been happy with this 11:15 arrangement, and he finally insisted that the show’s start time be changed to 11:30. As a result, the two-opening practice was eliminated in December 1966. More to come! -Bobby Ellerbee

4 responses to “ULTRA RARE…FIRST “TONIGHT” SHOW, PART 1 of 2”

  1. Jonathan Himsel

    Could this possibly have pressed a cold shoulder to local stations to produce a full newscast instead of the typical 15:00 at the time?

  2. John Coleman

    I have seen TV listings from the 50s from several cities and some stations showed Steve Allen/Tonight starting at 11:20 and some at 11:40. This was before videotape, so they couldn’t have delayed it. They must have joined the program in the middle of it. Affiliates seem to have had pretty lenient terms with NBC for that late hour, and NBC must have had a nightmare selling ad time for the first part of the show.

  3. Barry Grauman

    The first 15 minutes were seen only in New York. Ruppert’s Knickerbocker beer continued to sponsor Steve’s local quarter-hour segment before the “national” edition of “THE TONIGHT SHOW” began at 11:30pm(et) for at least another year…..

  4. Eyesofageneration.com

    This is the NBC Operations log for the week after the “Tonight” debut…notice the “Steve Allen Show” entry at 11:15 and the “Tonight” entry at 11:30.

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