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40 unusual facts about The Tonight Show


Alan Kendall

With the Bee Gees, Kendall appeared on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, a Command Performance for the Queen of the United Kingdom, as well as numerous other live performances.

Antonio Pontarelli

In February 2006 his performances from the red carpet of the 48th Annual Grammy Awards were featured on "The Tonight Show", CNN, TV Guide and E! .

Betty Young

In September 2005, she led the Lessons for Leno National Tour, which culminated in a meeting with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.

Canada After Dark

Executive producer Alex Frame and producer Bob Ennis decided to try a show that would be comparable to The Tonight Show instead, changing the name of the show to Canada After Dark and replacing host Peter Gzowski with veteran comedic actor Soles.

Carlene LeFevre

In addition to their appearance on Ripley's, the LeFevres have also appeared on The Tonight Show, a buffet contest on the Travel Channel, the Donny & Marie Osmond Talk Show, The View and the BBC Worldservice's "Outlook" programme.

David Brenner

After making his national television debut on the The Tonight Show he became the show's most frequent guest with 158 appearances.

Diana Weynand

Television shows like “Sixty Minutes,” “The David Letterman Show,” and “The Tonight Show” have all updated and trained their staff with Weynand’s support.

Getzen

No longer a family-owned business, the company continued to follow the same business model, expanding its visibility through an association with trumpeter Carl “Doc” Severinsen of The Tonight Show fame.

Hal Gurnee

Gurnee also directed The Tonight Show during the Jack Paar era, along with Paar's later primetime show, The Jack Paar Program, and has directed episodes of The Man Show.

Helen Kushnick

Leno had been performing stand-up comedy in a variety of venues when she found him, and afterwards, Kushnick was with him all the way to his role hosting The Tonight Show.

A 1996 HBO TV movie called The Late Shift (based on Bill Carter's New York Times bestselling book of the same title) was about the network politics that occurred after the retirement of Johnny Carson from the The Tonight Show on NBC.

Herb Sargent

Herbert Sargent (July 15, 1923 – May 6, 2005) was an American television writer, a producer for such comedy shows as The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live, and a screenwriter (Bye Bye Braverman).

Howard J. Buss

As he neared high school graduation, Buss was recruited as a trombonist into the nationally known group, the Tijuana Brats. In the 3 years he performed with the band he appeared numerous times on national television programs including The Tonight Show, The Mike Douglas Show (multiple times), and The Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Jerry Merrick

Following this he moved his family away from New York City and teamed up briefly with fellow Mercury artist Kenny Rankin to appear on The Tonight Show, and open for Flip Wilson in various venues throughout the US.

Jimbo Mathus

Over the years they also performed on television programs, including The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in 1998.

Julie Krone

She would go on to make appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the issue of May 22, 1989, one of only eight jockeys so recognized (the others are Willie Shoemaker, Bill Hartack, Eddie Arcaro, Johnny Longden, John Sellers, Robyn Smith and Steve Cauthen).

Khonani

The main plot regarding the two janitors—Subhas and Khonani—battling for the late-night shift at 11:30 p.m. closely mirrored the feud between television hosts Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien over the hosting job of The Tonight Show.

Kiss cam

On The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, O'Brien parodied the Kiss Cam in comedy sketches, focussing on unlikely couples, such as a hunter and a bear.

Leroy Griffith

In 1954 it became home to the original version of The Tonight Show with host Steve Allen.

Lexington Legends

The event received coverate on various television programs including NBC's The Tonight Show, ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter, and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Lion Brand

In 1992 Johnny Carson interviewed Vanna White on The Tonight Show where she disclosed her favorite hobby was crocheting.

Midway State Park

Several notable people have visited the park since its opening, including Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., Lucille Ball, and Jack Paar, former host of NBC’s The Tonight Show.

Moosehead Brewery

In his autobiography Lucky Man, he said that as a guest on The Tonight Show he told Jay Leno that he did not like American beer, describing it as 'too watery' and that he instead would drink Moosehead Ale.

No Strings

As related by Geoffrey Block, Rodgers got the idea for casting a black actress in the star role after viewing Diahann Carroll on The Tonight Show.

Nola Ochs

She even earned a spot on The Tonight Show one week after she graduated, sharing a laugh with Jay Leno.

Roe River

In 1988 Students Molly A. Petersen and future NFL football player Dallas Neil put in an appearance on The Tonight Show as part of this effort.

Sándor Fábry

He was chosen by Kristóf Kovács, who previously worked for The Tonight Show in the USA and returned to Hungary in 1997.

Shem von Schroeck

Through Kenny Loggins, he knew Vicki Randle, a regular vocalist on The Tonight Show, who would frequently invite Schroeck to join the band as a backup vocalist.

Sunbeam Television

On April 2, 2009, WHDH in Boston announced that it would not join other NBC affiliates in airing a new hour-long program fronted by outgoing Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

Sweepstakes

The American Family Publishers sweepstakes traditionally used paid advertisements during NBC's The Tonight Show to announce its grand prize winners (for many years, its celebrity spokesman was Ed McMahon).

The Best Burger in New York

This is allusion to Johnny Carson's skit "The Great Carnak" on The Tonight Show.

The Godfather of Green Bay

Joe makes a last-ditch effort to save his career by traveling to a small, fictional Wisconsin town where a scout for The Tonight Show is in the audience at "Rocktoberfest".

The Samples

The success included television performances on The Tonight Show and House of Blues.

Universal City, California

NBC moved The Tonight Show from Burbank to the Stage One lot at Universal Studios when Conan O'Brien took over hosting duties upon Jay Leno's exit from the program in 2009, but then shifted the show back to Burbank when Leno re-assumed hosting duties in 2010.

Vicki Spencer

Other bands Spencer toured and recorded with were the Rottin Kids (who appeared on The Tonight Show), the Fabulous Fakes, and Horatio.

W. Dean Eastman

In 1991 Eastman was featured on NBC's Today Show for his work with homeless students, and was introduced on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Walkaway Joe

After a performance on The Tonight Show, Yearwood met Don Henley of the Eagles and, after being invited to sing on her second album, he traveled to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded background vocals for the song.

Watersmeet Township, Michigan

The ads were so popular that the team, its coach, and octogenarian fan Dale Jenkins, all of whom were featured on the commercials, appeared on The Tonight Show on March 15, 2004.

Wayne Cotter

After college, he became a comedian and made appearances on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Politically Incorrect.

Your Screen Test

His series of choice was Nighttime with Mr. Hollywood, a late-night talk show along the same lines as The Tonight Show and Late Show with David Letterman.


Amarillo Slim

Following his WSOP victory he appeared on several talk shows, including The Tonight Show, and had a bit part in the 1974 Robert Altman movie California Split.

Brad Posey

In response to a prominent interview with Simon Rex that appeared in TV Guide, Jay Leno included references in his The Tonight Show monologue to Mr. Posey's provocative work with Rex.

Brídín Brennan

Over the next seven years she gained a wealth of musical experience as she accompanied Clannad on tours throughout the world, took part in recording on some of their most successful albums and appeared with sister Moya on worldwide shows, Later... with Jools Holland in the UK and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the United States among them.

Ellen Peck

She later wrote several more books on parenthood and was, for a time, a rather prominent childfree advocate, even appearing on The Tonight Show where she exchanged views with Joe Namath.

Evelyn Rudie

During the late 1950s, she acted on other leading television shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, Lawman, The Red Skelton Show and Wagon Train, along with seven appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.

John Mayer Trio

The Trio reunited on June 4, 2009 to play the song "California Dreamin'" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

Julian Goodman

While working for NBC, he negotiated a $1 million deal to retain Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show.

Maurice Hines

Their father joined them and "Hines, Hines & Dad" performed on a regular basis in New York, Las Vegas, and throughout Europe and on many television shows, including The Pearl Bailey Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Tonight Show.

Maury Muehleisen

The resulting commercial success of the music launched Croce and Muehleisen on 18 months of frequent touring, both in the United States and abroad; seven national television appearances, including The Tonight Show, American Bandstand, The Dick Cavett Show, and the Helen Reddy Show; as an opening act for Randy Newman, Woody Allen, and Loggins and Messina; and numerous radio interviews.

Murray Kane

Through his work with The McGuire Sisters, Kane also worked with The Kane Triplets, who later performed on The Jack Benny Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Perry Como Show and The Tonight Show.

NS Savannah

The Johnny Carson "Tonight" TV show featured Nuclear Week In New York on two programs.

Richard Mitchell

Although its circulation was limited, The Underground Grammarian was highly regarded, and, in addition to its academic audience, had a following outside academia that included George Will, Edwin Newman, and Johnny Carson, on whose The Tonight Show Mitchell appeared many times.

Spivey's Corner, North Carolina

Contestants from the contest have appeared on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and the Late Show with David Letterman.

The Jackie Gleason Show

Gleason also occasionally portrayed Stanley R. Sogg, a late-night movie pitchman for Mother Fletcher's products ("No-Cal Chicken Fat"), similar to the later Art Fern character played by Johnny Carson in his "Tea Time Movie" skits on The Tonight Show.

The John Kerwin Show

In August, 2007, Kerwin and show producer Rob Baker met with NBC's head of late night and prime time programming Rick Ludwin to campaign for the position then to be vacated by Conan O'Brien in 2009 as he left NBC's "Late Night" to host The Tonight Show.

For the May, 2008 episode featuring guests Ed Asner, Kevin Sorbo and Keaton Simons, a special monologue was prepared featuring comedy contributed by writers from each former Tonight Show host: Bill Dana (Steve Allen), Dick Cavett (Jack Paar), Tony DeSena (Johnny Carson) and Marvin Silbermintz (Jay Leno).

Tony Mottola

Mottola also played with Doc Severinsen's Orchestra on The Tonight Show and composed music for the films Running on Empty and Violated (1953) as well as the 1950s television series Danger, which starred Yul Brynner.

Veronica Hamel

She was the model in the last cigarette commercial televised in the U.S. (for Virginia Slims, aired at 11:59 p.m. on New Year's Day 1971 on The Tonight Show).

Zendeko

Motion picture and television credits include The Tonight Show with rock band, Korn, MTV VMA's, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Kanye West, and an appearance in Sony Pictures motion picture Charlie's Angels (film).