11/28/18

           For almost 65 years, people across America have been staying up past their bedtimes in order to catch a funny joke, entertaining interview, or crazy stunt before they drift off to sleep. It wasn’t always this way. In fact, in the early days of television, all a bleary-eyed insomniac could hope to find broadcasting at night were old B-movies or foreign films—and that’s if stations were broadcasting at all1. So how did this curious trend of late-night TV come about? How has the institution been able to survive 11 presidents, 5 wars, and almost 5 generations? Why, unlike almost any other type of TV programming, is it beloved by young and old alike? The answers to these questions have to do with a few pioneering comedians and entertainers, and their understanding of how to make television interesting and fun.

           All is as it should be on a quiet night in New York City on October 7^th, 1956. You watch the street as a Greyhound bus slowly pulls over to the curb and comes to a squeaky halt. You see the bus driver push open the door and the passengers disembark… Except there’s something unusual about these particular passengers. They seem to be 4 legged creatures of the canine variety! You keep watching as 25 greyhounds bound down the bus’s steps one-by-one, parading frantically into the street. Finally, you see a dapper-looking man dressed in a suit and tie. He’s carrying a suitcase in one hand, a briefcase in the other, and his hat is slightly askew as he stumbles off the bus and looks at the dogs and then back to the camera with an incredulous expression2. The man is Stephen Allen: legendary comedian, talented musician, inventor of late-night television, and a guy who is quite allergic to dogs.

           Allen spent his childhood touring the vaudeville circuit, watching his mother, Belle Montrose, perform in comedy skits and shows of all kinds. When he was in high school, a good-hearted teacher saw Allen’s potential where other teachers had only seen a wise-cracking goof, and she decided to make him the editor of the school magazine. While writing humorous articles and sports stories for the magazine, young Allen developed an interest in journalism. He won contests and even got some of his jokes published in the Chicago Tribune. Allen went to college for journalism and while there, he took a course in radio production. More than any of his college courses, the radio course made an impact on him. In his sophomore year, Allen abandoned journalism and dropped out of college to pursue a career in radio. Of his decision, he later remarked: “while there seemed to be many brilliant men on newspapers, the radio field impressed me as one swarming with idiots3.”

           Allen was hired part-time at a radio station and worked his way up the ranks until he got his own show on a station in LA. The 15-minute show was unique and goofy and soon gained enough of a popular following to be put on a national broadcast4.

Steve: “I had a rough night last night, Wendell! I caught a bad cold and my doctor told me to drink a quart of lemonade after a hot bath”

Wendell: “Well, did you do it?”

Steve: “No! I couldn’t even finish drinking the hot bath!”

Steve Allen and Wendell Noble in Smile Time, 1946-1948 (exact date unknown)5

 

           Much of the comedic style of Steve Allen’s first hit radio program, Smile Time, involved simple jokes such as this one: a setup and a punchline. According to many philosophers6, including Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard, this is comedy in its purest form. The incongruity theory of comedy suggests that it is the shattering of an expectation which makes us laugh. To most people, the doctor’s instructions could only be interpreted one way. The play on words, as well as the unusual imagery of Steve trying to drink an entire bathtub of water, defy our expectations and make us laugh.

           A few interesting circumstances caused Steve to move past these simple jokes to create humor that was bold and new. In 1948, Smile Time’s run ended and Steve moved on to his second popular radio show: The Steve Allen Show, hitting airwaves nightly at 11pm. This show started much like Smile Time, with simple, scripted jokes. Its popularity grew, however, and station executives decided to expand Allen’s new show to a full hour. Allen realized that he couldn’t write enough scripted material to fill up an hour every day—so one night, with time to fill and nothing to fill it with, Steve on a whim took his microphone into the audience and started chatting with regular folk7. The reception was overwhelmingly positive, and Steve was surprised to find that, in his words: “audiences would laugh more readily at an ad-libbed quip, even though it might not be as funny as a prepared and polished joke8.”

Following his revelation, Steve’s style as a comedian radically changed. Soon, Allen stopped writing scripts altogether, opting instead to read and joke about newspaper articles and letters on air during his monologue9. He interacted with and talked directly to his audience in these shows, carrying the full hour with just his natural wit. Unpredictability drew listeners back night after night.

Steve: What is your name sir?

Audience Member: George Halas: Cassopolis, Michigan

Steve: That’s a rather long name (laughter from audience) … Where are you from, Mr. Michigan?

The Steve Allen Show, date unknown.10

 

           The mechanics and content of this joke are actually not too different from the Smile Time joke referenced above. It’s just a play on words and an absurd misinterpretation of language. This joke, however, got bigger laughs. Reading it here, most people would probably pick the Smile Time joke as the funnier joke. A live performance is a different story, however. As Steve Allen found out, there is a certain fun in the ad-libbed and unrehearsed. George Halas is a real person, and the audience is listening to the comic situation unfold in real time. The trick here is that the compelling unpredictability creates a reality which is inherently funny. This is a detail that popular comic philosophy seems to have missed: the reality surrounding the joke can be just as important, or even more important than, the joke’s content. This is an idea that Allen continues to explore as his career takes a turn into a brand-new entertainment medium.

           The early 50s was an exciting time for television. The new technology had just started to gain a foothold in American popular consciousness, and bars and restaurants equipped with TV sets became popular gathering places for the vast majority of Americans who did not yet have a TV of their own11. TV executives were not yet sure what type of programming was best suited for the new format, and as a result, early television shows were experimental and borrowed heavily from their radio predecessors12. Eager for fresh talent to put up on the small screen, broadcasting companies looked to their radio divisions.

On Christmas Day, 1950 at 11:00 AM, the very first television broadcast of The Steve Allen Show premiered locally in New York City. That year, only 9% of American households owned a TV set13. The new, visual component of Steve’s show opened up the door for even more innovation on spontaneous comedy. To the delight of the audience, Steve introduced crazy stunts and live prank calls to the show. One day while broadcasting, when he heard a loud noise outside of the studio, Steve Allen opened up the back doors of the studio to investigate. Outside on the sidewalk, he found an elderly Italian man using a cement mixer. He proceeded to interview this man for a few minutes, causing uproarious laughter from the audience back in the studio14. Soon, walking out onto the street was a regular segment on the show. Years later, in an interview with David Letterman, Allen said of his on the street segments: “…you don’t really have to say anything very witty! It’s the people, the situation, the reality that’s funny15.”

Allen’s show was soon moved 12 hours back to 11pm, now broadcasting to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Similar to his radio program, his show in this time slot proved far more popular than in earlier time slots. Steve Allen noted that now, even down to the air-time, his new TV show was almost exactly like his radio show: “Only instead of a table, I now sat at a desk. All I actually required on a typical night was a piano, a couple of amusing letters from viewers, a newspaper article that had caught my fancy, an unusual toy a member of my staff had picked up, a guest or two to chat with, and an audience to interview.”

One night, Winnie: The Walking and Talking Doll, a toy doll which walks and sings “The Farmer and the Dell,” was a guest on the show. Steve wound up the doll and let her walk on the piano, then he too crawled up on top of the piano and played an impromptu game of “Will she fall off the cliff?”

Steve: (yells off camera) It’s wonderful! Who makes this?

(Winnie starts singing again)

Steve: Shut up!

(stagehand w/o mic faintly answers question)

Steve: The Advance Doll Company? Well I’d like a small advance from this doll company

Tonight Starring Steve Allen, 1954-1957 (exact date unknown)16

 

In the early 50s, Pioneering head of NBC Pat Weaver saw untapped ratings potential for early-morning and late-night time slots. He launched the Today show in 1952 and wanted to end the day's programming with another show that would be called Tonight. He originally wanted Tonight to be a news-based program like Today, but when he saw that Allen's show was already was seeing great success with the late-night time slot in the tri-state area, he realized that this "loose, fun" format would be a perfect fit for Tonight17.

Tonight Starring Steve Allen premiered on September 27^th, 1954. The show had a new studio (the 900+ seat Hudson Theater in NYC), larger budget, and was broadcasted nationally, but otherwise it remained relatively unchanged from Allen’s previous program. During the first Tonight show, Allen famously said “I wanted to give you the bad news first: This program is going to go on for-ever.” Of course, Allen was referring to the fact that his show would go all the way from 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM, but he was right in more ways than he knew. That particular phrase has become something of legend among late-night fans given the fact that Tonight remains popular 64 years later. In 1954, Allen quickly became a national star, proving once and for all the viability of late-night programming on TV.

Steve: (flags down taxi-cab in front of Hudson Theater)

Taxi-cab Driver: Where to, chief?

Steve: (hurls a giant salami into backseat)

Just take this to Grand Central, and HURRY!

(driver speeds away)

Tonight Starring Steve Allen, 1954-1957 (exact date unknown)18

 

           “We never heard from the driver after the show, and I have often wondered why he shot off down the street following such an insane order,” Steve recalled of that particular stunt19.

           Within a few years, Allen had become so big that NBC decided to put him up against CBS’s popular Ed Sullivan Show in an 8pm prime-time slot on Sunday nights. This next iteration of The Steve Allen Show started in 1956, and for a time Allen, with his two shows combined, was on 6 nights per week. This, of course, was not sustainable in the long term, and within a year Allen decided to leave Tonight to focus on his prime-time program20. Allen continued to thrive and innovate with this show until 1964, after which he hosted a variety of other shows and became a popular author, writing a large number of books21.

           Steve Allen’s story is also the story of how late-night came to be, and his brilliance continues to shine through in the format. Allen’s successors, however, have also contributed much to the late-night format as it exists today.

           In 1957, Jack Paar took over Tonight and created a completely different late-night show. This new show had no stunts and few skits, focusing almost entirely on a conversation with guests22. Paar added a couch next to the desk, and late-night became a talk show rather than a variety show23. One similarity Paar’s Tonight had to Allen’s, however, was an air of unpredictability that brought viewers back night after night. Paar was never afraid to be candid or speak his mind, which made for compelling and hard-hitting interviews.

           After a few years, Jack Paar “had had enough” and decided to leave Tonight24, making room for a then up-and-coming TV comedian from Nebraska: Johnny Carson. Carson’s Tonight took selectively from what had come before it, combining Allen's love of the absurd with Jack Parr's compelling interviews. Carson was a logic major in college, making him a perfect fit for the role of TV’s comic straight-man25. Carson’s show was a more formal affair than what had come before, more structured and scripted but still fun, and that formula made for a show that was reliably popular. Some came for the comedy, some came for the interviews, and some came for both. Carson struck gold with this innovation, creating a show that was sustainable for the full 30 years that he was on air.

           Modern late-night stars have continued to innovate on Steve Allen’s model. From Tonight came Late Night, airing every night after Johnny Carson. Host David Letterman was known for eschewing the class and poise of Carson’s show, opting for a more irreverent version of late-night. Observed Conan O’Brien, “Carson was THE show, Dave created the anti-show26.” Philosopher Northrop Frye would call Dave a cynic, playfully mocking Carson’s formal nature by bringing back the sense of unpredictability that originally brought viewers to late-night27.

           In the early 90s after Carson’s retirement, Letterman left Late Night for a new show on CBS, creating ever-more opportunity for fresh, innovative hosts. Former Simpsons and SNL writer Conan O’Brien filled Letterman’s vacancy on Late Night, adding his trademark self-deprecatory style to the format. In 2005, yet another shake-up came in the form of Craig Ferguson, hired to star in a show which aired on CBS after Letterman’s time slot. In Frye’s terms, if Letterman was late-night’s cynic, Ferguson was its carnival, breaking every rule and custom that late-night had picked up over the years28.

           That brings us to today. Part of the reason that late-night became and remains so popular for young and old alike is the versatility of the format. Each subsequent host added something special and new to Steve Allen’s original conception, exploring different areas of comic philosophy and sometimes rewriting that philosophy altogether. The format has also inspired new genres, most notably sketch-based programs such as SNL and political comedy programs such as The Daily Show. Even today, with the rise of online content and the decline of network television, late-night remains relevant for all ages. Here’s to another 65 years.