The Steve Allen Show
Encyclopedia
The Steve Allen Show is an American variety show
hosted by Steve Allen
from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC
, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC
, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964.
The first three seasons aired on Sunday nights at 8:00pm Eastern Time (directly opposite The Ed Sullivan Show
), then on Mondays at 10:00pm Eastern in the 1959-60 season (as The Steve Allen Plymouth
Show). After a season's absence, the series briefly returned on Wednesdays at 7:30pm Eastern. The syndicated version aired mostly in late nights. The program, between September 1957 and June 1960 became one of the first programs to be telecast in "compatible color
"
Kinescopes of the NBC version were later rerun on Comedy Central
in the early 1990s, with new introductions by Allen.
, all of which were named after the host: Jack Paar
(1962 to 1965) and Jay Leno
(2009 to 2010
) would follow in Allen's footsteps.
The show launched the careers of cast members Don Knotts
, Tom Poston
, Louis Nye
, Pat Harrington, Jr.
and Bill Dana. The show's most popular sketch was the "Man on the street" which featured Knotts as the nervous Mr. Morrison, Poston as the man who could not remember his own name, Harrington as Italian golf player Guido Panzini, Nye as the smug Gordon Hathaway, and Dana as José Jiménez. Hathaway's greeting of "Hi Ho Steverino!" became a catchphrase as did Jimenez's "My name José Jiménez." Dayton Allen
also appeared in the sketch and spawned the catchphrase "Whyyyyy not?" Gabe Dell
, previously a member of The Bowery Boys
, was also a cast member. Gene Rayburn
was the show's announcer and Skitch Henderson
was the bandleader.
Although Allen had a personal disdain for rock and roll
, the show featured numerous rock and roll artists in their earliest TV appearances. The show presented Elvis Presley
, Fats Domino
, Jerry Lee Lewis
, Louis Jordan
& The Tympany Five
, The Treniers
, and The Collins Kids
. However, the rock 'n' roll stars often did not appear on the show as most fans would have desired. For instance, Allen smirkingly presented Elvis Presley "with a roll that looks exactly like a large roll of toilet paper with, says Allen, the 'signatures of eight thousand fans' " and he had him wear a top hat and the white tie and tails of a "high class" musician while singing "Hound Dog
" to an actual Basset Hound
, who was similarly attired.
After being cancelled by NBC in 1960, the show returned in the fall of 1961 on ABC. Nye, Poston, Harrington, Dell, and Dayton Allen returned. New cast members were Joey Forman
, Buck Henry
, The Smothers Brothers, Tim Conway
, and Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows
. The new version was cancelled after fourteen episodes.
In 1967, after trying his hand at a syndicated talk show several years earlier (see "Syndication"), Allen briefly returned on CBS with most of his old regulars for The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, a summer replacement series on Wednesdays at 10:00pm Eastern (replacing the cancelled Danny Kaye Show). This short-lived series featured the debuts of Rob Reiner
, Richard Dreyfuss
and John Byner
, and featured Ruth Buzzi, who would become famous soon after as a regular on Laugh-In.
in 1958 for its "genuine humor and frank experiments" during a year when most shows
were "conspicuously lacking" such elements.
, from 1962 to 1964. It was taped at what would later become known as The Steve Allen Playhouse
and followed Allen's original 90-minute Tonight format. Why Allen decided not to return to Tonight himself was not clear, especially considering Jack Paar
had just left the show and the position was open. He instead ended up competing against new Tonight host Johnny Carson
. Rayburn and Henderson did not return to this version (Rayburn was still under NBC contract until 1973 and Henderson opted to rejoin Tonight under Carson), instead being replaced by Johnny Jacobs
as announcer and Donn Trenner
as bandleader, respectively (in early 1964, Bill Daily
succeeded Jacobs as Steve's announcer). Among the more notable guests for this version was a young Frank Zappa
, who appeared as a "musical bicyclist
." After Allen left the show, a young Regis Philbin
briefly took over the show in its final weeks.
Several years later, in 1968, Allen returned to syndicated nightly variety-talk with another new series, this one distributed by Filmways
. Although more conversational in tone than his previous entry, it did feature the same wacky stunts that would influence David Letterman
in later years, including becoming a human hood ornament
; jumping into vats of oatmeal
and cottage cheese
; and being slathered with dog food
, allowing dogs backstage to feast on the free food. Allen also introduced Albert Brooks
and Steve Martin
for the first time to a national audience on this series, which ran until 1971.
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
hosted by Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964.
The first three seasons aired on Sunday nights at 8:00pm Eastern Time (directly opposite The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
), then on Mondays at 10:00pm Eastern in the 1959-60 season (as The Steve Allen Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
Show). After a season's absence, the series briefly returned on Wednesdays at 7:30pm Eastern. The syndicated version aired mostly in late nights. The program, between September 1957 and June 1960 became one of the first programs to be telecast in "compatible color
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
"
Kinescopes of the NBC version were later rerun on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the early 1990s, with new introductions by Allen.
Overview
The show was the first in a series of prime time spin-offs from The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, all of which were named after the host: Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
(1962 to 1965) and Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
(2009 to 2010
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
) would follow in Allen's footsteps.
The show launched the careers of cast members Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
, Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
, Louis Nye
Louis Nye
Louis Nye was an American comedy actor.-Early years:He was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Neistat and Jennie Sherman . His sister was Rose Neistat...
, Pat Harrington, Jr.
Pat Harrington, Jr.
Pat Harrington, Jr., is an American voice, stage, and television actor most popularly known for his role as building superintendent "Schneider" on the CBS sitcom One Day At A Time. He is the son of Pat Harrington, Sr.- Biography :...
and Bill Dana. The show's most popular sketch was the "Man on the street" which featured Knotts as the nervous Mr. Morrison, Poston as the man who could not remember his own name, Harrington as Italian golf player Guido Panzini, Nye as the smug Gordon Hathaway, and Dana as José Jiménez. Hathaway's greeting of "Hi Ho Steverino!" became a catchphrase as did Jimenez's "My name José Jiménez." Dayton Allen
Dayton Allen
Dayton Allen was a comedian and voice actor. He was one of the "men in the street" on the '"The Steve Allen Show."' His catchphrase was "Why not, Bubbe?"...
also appeared in the sketch and spawned the catchphrase "Whyyyyy not?" Gabe Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
, previously a member of The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
, was also a cast member. Gene Rayburn
Gene Rayburn
Gene Rayburn was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the popular American television game show Match Game for over two decades....
was the show's announcer and Skitch Henderson
Skitch Henderson
Lyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.- Biography :...
was the bandleader.
Although Allen had a personal disdain for rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, the show featured numerous rock and roll artists in their earliest TV appearances. The show presented Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
& The Tympany Five
Tympany Five
Tympany Five was a successful rhythm and blues and jazz dance band founded by Louis Jordan in 1938. The group was composed of a horn section of three to five different pieces and also drums, double bass, guitar and piano. After playing in Chicago at the Capitol Lounge in 1941, Jordan and his band...
, The Treniers
The Treniers
The Treniers were an American R&B and jump blues musical group, led by identical twins Cliff and Claude Trenier. Their Gene Gilbeaux Orchestra included Don Hill on saxophone, Shifty Henry and later James Johnson on bass, Henry Green on drums and Gene Gilbeaux on piano, with the Treniers Twins and...
, and The Collins Kids
The Collins Kids
The Collins Kids are an American rockabilly duo featuring siblings Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins and her younger brother Lawrence "Larry" Collins . Their hits in the 1950s as youngsters, such as "Hop, Skip and Jump", "Beetle Bug Bop" and "Hoy Hoy", were geared towards children, but their infectious...
. However, the rock 'n' roll stars often did not appear on the show as most fans would have desired. For instance, Allen smirkingly presented Elvis Presley "with a roll that looks exactly like a large roll of toilet paper with, says Allen, the 'signatures of eight thousand fans' " and he had him wear a top hat and the white tie and tails of a "high class" musician while singing "Hound Dog
Hound Dog (song)
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952. Other early versions illustrate the differences among blues, country, and rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The 1956 remake by Elvis Presley is the best-known...
" to an actual Basset Hound
Basset Hound
The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog of the hound family. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt rabbits and hare by scent. Their sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the Bloodhound....
, who was similarly attired.
After being cancelled by NBC in 1960, the show returned in the fall of 1961 on ABC. Nye, Poston, Harrington, Dell, and Dayton Allen returned. New cast members were Joey Forman
Joey Forman
Joey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
, Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
, The Smothers Brothers, Tim Conway
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
, and Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows
-Early life:Jayne Meadows was born as Jayne Cotter in Wu-ch'ang, in Heilongjiang, China, to Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, who had married in 1915. Meadows is the older sister of the late actress Audrey Meadows. She...
. The new version was cancelled after fourteen episodes.
In 1967, after trying his hand at a syndicated talk show several years earlier (see "Syndication"), Allen briefly returned on CBS with most of his old regulars for The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, a summer replacement series on Wednesdays at 10:00pm Eastern (replacing the cancelled Danny Kaye Show). This short-lived series featured the debuts of Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
, Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
and John Byner
John Byner
John Byner is an American actor, comedian, and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and movie career. His voice work includes the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason,...
, and featured Ruth Buzzi, who would become famous soon after as a regular on Laugh-In.
Awards
The show won a Peabody AwardPeabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
in 1958 for its "genuine humor and frank experiments" during a year when most shows
1957-58 United States network television schedule
The 1957–58 United States network television schedule was for the period that began in September 1957 and ran through March 1958.As in previous seasons, both CBS and ABC continued to add Westerns to their schedule, filling prime time with as many "oaters" as possible...
were "conspicuously lacking" such elements.
Syndication
A syndicated version of The Steve Allen Show ran, through Westinghouse BroadcastingWestinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
, from 1962 to 1964. It was taped at what would later become known as The Steve Allen Playhouse
The Steve Allen Playhouse
The Steve Allen Playhouse is an old vaudeville theater in Hollywood, United States. Situated at 1228 N. Vine St on the corner with La Mirada, it was originally named the La Mirada Theatre and later the Filmarte Theatre....
and followed Allen's original 90-minute Tonight format. Why Allen decided not to return to Tonight himself was not clear, especially considering Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
had just left the show and the position was open. He instead ended up competing against new Tonight host Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
. Rayburn and Henderson did not return to this version (Rayburn was still under NBC contract until 1973 and Henderson opted to rejoin Tonight under Carson), instead being replaced by Johnny Jacobs
Johnny Jacobs
John Byron Jacobs was an American television announcer, often for Chuck Barris productions...
as announcer and Donn Trenner
Donn Trenner
Donald "Donn" Trenner is an American jazz pianist and arranger born in New Haven, Connecticut.He began his career playing with Ted Fio Rito from 1943-45, and followed this with a slot in Buddy Morrow's orchestra in 1947...
as bandleader, respectively (in early 1964, Bill Daily
Bill Daily
Bill Daily is an American comedian and dramatic actor, and a veteran of many television sitcoms. He is best known for playing astronaut Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and commercial airline navigator Howard Borden in The Bob Newhart Show.-Biography:Daily's father died when Bill was very...
succeeded Jacobs as Steve's announcer). Among the more notable guests for this version was a young Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, who appeared as a "musical bicyclist
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
." After Allen left the show, a young Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
briefly took over the show in its final weeks.
Several years later, in 1968, Allen returned to syndicated nightly variety-talk with another new series, this one distributed by Filmways
Filmways
Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958...
. Although more conversational in tone than his previous entry, it did feature the same wacky stunts that would influence David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
in later years, including becoming a human hood ornament
Hood ornament
A hood/bonnet ornament, or radiator cap, or car mascot is a specially crafted model of something which symbolizes a car company like a badge, located on the front center portion of the hood...
; jumping into vats of oatmeal
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is ground oat groats , or a porridge made from oats . Oatmeal can also be ground oat, steel-cut oats, crushed oats, or rolled oats....
and cottage cheese
Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product with a mild flavor. It is drained, but not pressed, so some whey remains and the individual curds remain loose. The curd is usually washed to remove acidity, giving sweet curd cheese. It is not aged or colored. Different styles of cottage cheese are made from...
; and being slathered with dog food
Dog food
Dog food refers to food specifically intended for consumption by dogs. Though technically omnivorous, dogs exhibit a natural carnivorous bias, have sharp, pointy teeth, and have short gastrointestinal tracts better suited for the consumption of meat...
, allowing dogs backstage to feast on the free food. Allen also introduced Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks
Albert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...
and Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
for the first time to a national audience on this series, which ran until 1971.