I will never forget the summer when he filled in (?) for the Tonight Show. EVERY KID ON THE BLOCK was shrieking "SCHMOCK SCHMOCK!" all day long! Sooo funny, so talented, I loved Steve Allen! (Anybody remember when he read the lyrics of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" as 'straight-speak' on his TV show? Talk about drop dead laughing!!!)

If I remember correctly (and I am not so sure that I do), wasn't Steve Allen the ORIGINAL host of the "Tonight Show" that eventually landed Johnny Carson?

I think you're right, Steverino! And where does Jack Paar fit in with all these early geniuses of television?

Oh, maybe it WAS Jack Paar, not Steve Allen.....I can't seem to remember.....anyone else out there who can fill in the blanks?

Cathy probably can. She knows EVERYTHING that happened before she was born! Or we can always try that newfangled contraption called GOOGLE!

HERE IS THE ANSWER: WE BOTH HAD PART OF IT:

(Copied from Wikipedia with some minor editing to shorten the entire article)

Steve Allen created the grand daddy of all Late Night talk shows, the Tonight show, and was its first host. The announcer was Gene Rayburn. The show's orchestra was first conducted by Bobby Byrne and then Skitch Henderson.

Steve Allen hosted the Tonight Show from 1954-1957, when he turned the reins over to Jack Paar so he could focus on his new hit primetime comedy hour, “The Steve Allen Show,” also on NBC.

On September 27, 1954, the show moved to the Hudson Theatre at 44th and Broadway and was broadcast for the first time over the full NBC network. It ran, at that time five nights a week, one hour and forty-five minutes each night, with national airing beginning at 11:30 pm, after 15 minutes of local production just for the original New York fans.

Among the regular features that became classics were Steve’s Man-on-the-Street interviews, his passionate readings of “Letters to the Editor,” and his adlib interviews of his audience.

"When we first started the show, I had no writers at all; none were needed. Occasionally I would write a comic monologue or a simple sketch for a guest and myself, but all I actually required on a typical night was a piano, a couple of amusing letters form viewers, a newspaper article that had caught my fancy, an unusual toy that a member of my staff had picked up, a guest or two to chat with, and an audience to interview."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mickeymantle,

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