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The Pioneer of Late Night Television
Multi-talented Steve Allen hosted “The Tonight Show” nearly seventy years ago
The world’s longest-running television entertainment series, The Tonight Show, has been on the NBC television network since 1954. Hosted today by Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show was the springboard for a handful of regular hosts, none more celebrated than Johnny Carson, who captained the program for almost thirty years, from October 1962 to May 1992.
But the guy who started late night television was a multi-talented personality by the name of Steve Allen.
Allen’s early television career
Steve Allen first honed his broadcast skills on local radio stations in the 1940s. Allen eventually landed a spot on Mutual Broadcasting Company’s Smile Time, a comedy show that ran five days a week. He then hosted a music show on the CBS radio station affiliate in Los Angeles.
A natural ad-libber, Allen turned his music show into a talk and entertainment program with guests and a live studio audience. It was the most popular nighttime show in the history of Los Angeles radio and an early incarnation of what was to ultimately become television’s The Tonight Show.
