Tune In to Some ‘Tonight Show’ Trivia

When The Tonight Show premiered in 1954, it was known simply as Tonight. That’s because creator Pat Weaver envisioned it as a late-night sibling to NBC’s popular morning show Today, which he created in 1952. The show didn’t become The Tonight Show until 1962. The show’s title has continued to morph slightly with each of its hosts. Under Jay Leno, for example, it was The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, and under Jimmy Fallon it’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Tonight Show’s first host was radio personality Steve Allen, who began helming his own TV show on New York’s WNBT-TV in 1953. The local show was so popular that it went national on NBC in 1954. So began The Tonight Show, which Allen helmed from 1954 until 1957. But Allen wasn’t just a talented talk show host. He also was a prolific composer: Before his death in 2000, he’d written more than 8,500 songs by some counts — at one time earning him a spot in The Guinness Book of Records.

Radio announcer, actor and comedian Jack Paar took over for Steve Allen as the host of The Tonight Show in 1957 and helmed the program until 1962. During his five years in late-night TV, Paar changed the format of the show to focus more on interviews with guests, who included not only entertainers like Carol Burnett, Liza Minelli and Bob Hope but also political figures — including Cuba’s newly installed communist leader Fidel Castro, whom he interviewed on location in Cuba in 1959.

Politicians have often appeared alongside celebrities as guests on The Tonight Show. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton sat down with Johnny Carson when they were governors. George W. Bush talked with Jay Leno after leaving office. And Barack Obama famously did “Slow Jam the News” with Jimmy Fallon twice while he was president. The first president to appear on The Tonight Show, however — and late-night TV in general — was JFK, when he did an interview with Jack Paar in 1960.

The Tonight Show’s announcers have been almost as pivotal to its success as its hosts. Among them: John Melendez for Jay Leno, Andy Richter for Conan O’Brien and Steve Higgins for Jimmy Fallon. The show’s most beloved announcer, however, was probably Marine Corps veteran Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s trusty sidekick from 1962 to 1992. Known for his iconic introduction — “Heeeere’s Johnny!” — McMahon was a celebrity in his own right as host of the hit TV talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995.