The Steve Allen Show

The program was a prime-time offshoot of Allen's work as the original host of NBC's Tonight.^[1] Its regular performers included Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Don Knotts, Pat Harrington Jr., Bill Dana, Dayton Allen and Gabe Dell. Gene Rayburn served as announcer during most of the NBC run, while Skitch Henderson was the bandleader.^[1]

Among the show's best-known recurring features was the "Man on the Street" sketch. Knotts appeared as the nervous Mr. Morrison, Poston as a man unable to remember his own name, Harrington as Italian golfer Guido Panzini, Nye as the self-satisfied Gordon Hathaway, and Dana as José Jiménez.^[1] Nye's greeting "Hi Ho, Steverino!" became associated with the program.^[5] Dayton Allen appeared in sketches using the catchphrase "Whyyyyy not?"^[6]

The show featured numerous musical performers, including Fats Domino, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett and Elvis Presley.^[7][8][9]

Allen was skeptical of rock and roll.^[10] On July 1, 1956, Presley appeared on the program to perform "Hound Dog". Allen had him perform in white tie and tails to a basset hound wearing a top hat.^[10][11] The presentation was devised in response to controversy over Presley's television performances and concerns about his performance style.^[12] The broadcast attracted an estimated audience of 40 million viewers.^{[citation needed]}

After NBC ended the program in 1960, Allen returned to network prime time on ABC in September 1961 with The New Steve Allen Show. Nye, Poston, Harrington, Dell and Dayton Allen returned, while Joey Forman, Buck Henry, Tim Conway, The Smothers Brothers and Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows, joined the cast.^[1][13] The ABC version ended in December 1961.^[1]

In 1967, Allen reunited with several former regulars for the CBS summer series The Steve Allen Comedy Hour. It premiered on June 14 and ran through August 23, with Meadows, Nye, Dayton Allen, John Byner and Ruth Buzzi among the performers.^[14][15] The series marked early television appearances by Rob Reiner and Richard Dreyfuss.^{[citation needed]}

Westinghouse Broadcasting launched a weekday syndicated version of The Steve Allen Show in 1962. The 90-minute program was produced at Los Angeles's Fine Arts Theatre, which Westinghouse renamed the Steve Allen Playhouse.^[3] By August 1962, the program had been sold in 22 markets.^[16]

Johnny Jacobs served as announcer and Donn Trenner led the orchestra.^[17] The orchestra included guitarist Herb Ellis and trombonist Frank Rosolino.^[17] Bill Daily later succeeded Jacobs as announcer.^{[citation needed]}

The Westinghouse series retained the improvisational comedy and stunts Allen had developed on Tonight, including segments filmed outside the theater.^[17] Guests included Lenny Bruce, Peter Sellers, Miles Davis, Julius Sumner Miller and Frank Zappa.^{[citation needed]} Jackie Vernon made his first television appearance on the program.^[18]

Westinghouse declined to distribute one episode featuring Bruce while he was facing obscenity prosecutions. Footage from the program was eventually shown in a 1998 HBO documentary.^[17] A 1964 episode featured actors portraying historical figures in a round-table discussion and served as an early version of the concept Allen later developed into Meeting of Minds.^{[citation needed]}

Allen left the Westinghouse program in 1964 and Regis Philbin briefly succeeded him as host.^[17] Westinghouse subsequently launched Philbin's own syndicated late-night program.^[19] The final Westinghouse edition aired on October 2, 1964.^[2]

Allen returned to syndicated weekday television in 1968 with another Steve Allen Show, distributed by Filmways. The series ran from March 5, 1968, to November 6, 1969.^[14] It included appearances by Albert Brooks, including his ventriloquist routine "Danny and Dave".^{[citation needed]} Steve Martin also appeared on the series.^{[citation needed]}

On September 29, 1970, Allen began another version of The Steve Allen Show, produced for KTLA in Los Angeles and distributed by Golden West Broadcasters. The series ran until October 21, 1971.^[20]

Allen's approach to television comedy influenced later generations of late-night hosts. David Letterman cited Allen as a major influence and incorporated variations of several of Allen's television stunts into Late Night and the Late Show.^[21] Allen himself noted the similarities and said that Letterman regularly acknowledged their origin.^[22] Johnny Carson also credited Allen with establishing elements of the late-night television format.^[21]

The syndicated Westinghouse series was noted for improvisational comedy and elaborate stunts, some of which extended outside the studio. These included segments staged around the nearby Hollywood Ranch Market and other locations in the neighborhood.^{[citation needed]} The program also provided early television exposure to performers and musicians who later became prominent. Jackie Vernon made his television debut on the show.^[23] In 1963, a 22-year-old Frank Zappa appeared as a "musical bicyclist", producing sounds from bicycles with drumsticks, a bass bow and other techniques.^[24] Health-food advocate Gypsy Boots also became a recurring guest during the early 1960s.^[25]

Allen also used the program to develop the concept that later became Meeting of Minds. He had conceived the idea of presenting actors portraying historical figures in a talk-show format during the NBC years, but plans to use it on the program were abandoned after objections from its sponsor.^[26] Allen later presented versions of the format before it was developed into the PBS series Meeting of Minds, which premiered in 1977.^[26]

Allen returned to syndicated television in 1968 with another Steve Allen Show, distributed by Filmways. The series continued the combination of interviews, sketches and unconventional stunts associated with his earlier programs.^{[citation needed]} Albert Brooks appeared on the program in 1968 performing his ventriloquist parody "Danny and Dave"; the appearance was followed by further national television work on The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.^[27] Steve Martin also appeared on Allen's syndicated program early in his performing career.^[28]

The Steve Allen Show received a Peabody Award in 1958 for television entertainment with humor.^[29]