Jack Benny was voted the most beloved comedian of the first half of the 20th Century. Steve Allen was the most beloved comedian of the second half. He was both a gentleman and a naturally hilarious person.
I just finished a book about Steve Allen and he had so many talents that most people never new. The greatest moments of his Tonight Show creation was never saved for all of us to see. A great talent.
Got a chance to meet Steve Allen in 1973 at LMU in L.A... What a great individual and inspiration to everyone who had a chance to attend a great guest series course in the college of communication arts...
Well, only because Johnny couldn't have his first choice- John Scott Trotter- to front the band. Skitch did a great job from 1962 through '66 (recording some Columbia albums with the band, on the side), then stepped aside, as Carson wanted some changes....
By the time I was old enough to watch television (and know what I was watching), Steve Allen had long left The Tonight Show, even though I saw him on various other shows into my college years. But after seeing this clip, I wish I had seen him on Tonight. What a talented man!
Unfortunately, I was born in '58 & missed the Tonite Show with him. But my grandma was such a big fan, she insisted on naming me after him & she won. So I've always had a soft spot for Mr. Allen. I actually got to meet him & Audrey Meadows at a concert in No.Calif. back in the 90's. When I told them about my name origin, Audrey told us that at almost every show someone comes up who was named after 'Steve Allen'. That was funny in itself, as popular as he was, of course it's a common name.
Steve Allen and Johnny Carson are the two best and entertaining talkshow hosts ever.Ibelieve the only person that could possibly compare if he had a talkshow would be Bill Murry.I think he might work.
Steve Allen was a natural born teacher and that was the hallmark of his style. He also wote dozens of books, one of which I actually remember: "Mark It And Strike It".
@junedeon - No offense against Conan. Anybody that makes the world laugh with genuine humor is a treasure. But Steve Allen, by the fact that he is featured all over YT, is FAR from dead. He lives through the memory of those who saw him work, and through his work surviving through YT and other media. I doubt that, if YT lasts 50 years from now, that anybody will remember Conan. But Steve Allen will still be "not dead."
The group of guys and gals that I hung out with used to rush home even on date night so we would not miss his show. We picked up his lines and antics and to this day I still will recall them when doing public speaking. If you listen to Rush you will hear Steve in some of his quips. Where has all the fun in life gone? Ramubay's got it right, late is not worth staying up for.
Leno's stuff is so rehearsed its boring and Letterman basically quit any improv after he lost the Tonight Show to Leno. Kimmel is a bit too slow and lazy. Conan is the closest to doing this type of off-script humor (but for some reason a lot of people just don't like him, maybe he should play the guitar more). Chevy Chase tried to do this but he stunk, he just didn't have the quick wit. Find someone that can do something like this today and I think it would blow everyone else out of the water.
I don't know much about the clip, frankly. I got it off of a DVD of odds & ends that Bill Morrison sent me and I guess Bill got it directly from Steve. That's my understanding, anyway. There was no info on it and Bill didn't have the details.
Conan O'Brien routinely channels Steve Allen in every show he does. Same sense of humor. Same delivery. Same timing. Everything except piano skills, songwriting, and Jayne Meadows.
on tape I have his last show. I didn't sleep much at the time as a kid, so I couldn't wait for Steve to come on. He makes the tonight show look like crap now. Letterman has nothing on Steve...v
I wish these shows would be released to DVD, especially those with Don Knotts, assuming the kinescopes still exist. Hey Bill, how about it? What are you waiting for?
I have a record of John Coltrane doing this song. I haven't heard anyone else do it until now. By the way, Steve wrote 8,000 songs but only one truly good one (This Could Be the Start of Something).
And I suppose you've heard the other 7999? I actually have heard hundreds of them and I can say with authority that Steve wrote songs with beautiful melodies, any one of which could have been a hit. He actually put most of them away in an archive once he had them transcribed. At the same time he was doing this he was also writing his 50+ books, creating his award-winning TV shows and scores of other things. In my opinion, Steve's problem was too much talent and not enough time.
Skitch Henderson was indeed Steve's bandleader on the original "TONIGHT SHOW" (1954-'57), and later appeared on his Sunday evening NBC variety show {opposite Ed Sullivan} through the end of the '50s.
Wonderful. Thanks. Brilliant Mr Allen came to Seattle a few years back and did his not so routine routine in a small jazz club. Lucky me to see his first night 2 shows with only a handfull in the crowd. Talk about working that audience! I could not catch a breath and tried to choke it in. Always the most entertaining man for my sence of humor. GREAT! ...and I am a Letterman fan as you might suspect. R
Love Steve Allen! My eldest brother was so much like him when I was growing up... lol, looks like him as he got older too :) But, it was thanks to my brother that I became a fan of Steve Allen... Would love to get the dvd of the Tonight Show with Steve Allen...(hint hint to my kids?!) Anyway, really enjoying these video posts! Thankyou! :) (By the way...did you know that Steve wrote over 8,000 songs? There's Trivia for ya! :)
thanks for sharing this show - i remember seeing steve late nights when my dad was up 'cause he couldn't sleep or something, anyway, i would lay on the floor and laughed my ass off - which became a problem later on in life
Not many know Mr. Allen was the Tonight Show's original host. This late night format was aired with many doubts about its future on television. Many years later, with Johnny Carson's reign, it is now network TV standard programming.
Wow...a blast from the past..big time! Steve Allen was one of the great pioneers of late night talk; and a master at comedy! I remember his interviews with the "man on the street" with a young Don Knotts who acted real nervous!! LOL!
I remember his broadcasts on Sunday nights in the 1950s. My favorite segments of his show were his "Crazy Shots" (10 second sight gags)and his "Poetry Corner" (Steve would take the top song of the day, and read it with a straight face as "poetry" - songs such as Hound Dog). Funny guy!
That would be Skitch w/o a beard, yes. This is invaluable. So much of Steve's Tonight run was lost, just about all, but I guess he saved certain sketches on kinescope. Invaluable, thanks for posting!
The multi-talented Steve Allen! As a young boy in high school late 1950"s my friends and I loved to watch his show I remember the police whistle, when it was a raid, the word "Smock!" his run around the block where they where filming, stopping off at the all night grocer and getting an apple, him diving into a swimming pool full of Jell-o. What an entertainer, he was married to June Taylor of Jackie Gleason Show(Trixie I believe) nothing like his ilk nowadays, RIP Steve we love you!
Steve invented "The Man On the Street" great ad libs, snappy comments
I'm no Steve Allen but JERRY RIO is a new "Man On The Street"
The streets of NYC have never been funnier! LOOK FOR JERRY RIO!...a little Woody....a little Larry David....not exactly!......I'm JERRY RIO!
A new "Man On The Street"....a must see for the perpetually sarcastic!
MrJerryRio 1 month ago
Jack Benny was voted the most beloved comedian of the first half of the 20th Century. Steve Allen was the most beloved comedian of the second half. He was both a gentleman and a naturally hilarious person.
AndersonDE7 4 months ago
I just finished a book about Steve Allen and he had so many talents that most people never new. The greatest moments of his Tonight Show creation was never saved for all of us to see. A great talent.
A008292 4 months ago
Got a chance to meet Steve Allen in 1973 at LMU in L.A... What a great individual and inspiration to everyone who had a chance to attend a great guest series course in the college of communication arts...
alto100 4 months ago
bock bock fern dok....dove into a pool of jello , Chatty Cathy dates c 1959 so this must be 1959-1962
IExposeMormonism 6 months ago
Yep, it's Skitch Henderson, before he had his trademark mustache and goatee.
n0tyham 7 months ago
Well, only because Johnny couldn't have his first choice- John Scott Trotter- to front the band. Skitch did a great job from 1962 through '66 (recording some Columbia albums with the band, on the side), then stepped aside, as Carson wanted some changes....
fromthesidelines 11 months ago
By the time I was old enough to watch television (and know what I was watching), Steve Allen had long left The Tonight Show, even though I saw him on various other shows into my college years. But after seeing this clip, I wish I had seen him on Tonight. What a talented man!
WSenator1 11 months ago
This clip is wonderful!
MabelNormand 11 months ago
Everything on tv back then was live. The recorder camera had not been invented yet. Steve was ahead of his time, showing things others would not.
SusDgs 1 year ago
PRICELESS STUFF !!!!
ksjoyjespeace 1 year ago
Unfortunately, I was born in '58 & missed the Tonite Show with him. But my grandma was such a big fan, she insisted on naming me after him & she won. So I've always had a soft spot for Mr. Allen. I actually got to meet him & Audrey Meadows at a concert in No.Calif. back in the 90's. When I told them about my name origin, Audrey told us that at almost every show someone comes up who was named after 'Steve Allen'. That was funny in itself, as popular as he was, of course it's a common name.
StevieB1362 1 year ago
@StevieB1362
Steve was married to Audrey's sister Jane. Audrey played Alice Kramden on the Honeymooners.
windowsy39 11 months ago
Yes, that's Skitch Henderson
brengf 1 year ago
Steve Allen was so witty.
coolmamac 1 year ago
"Steverino" and Johnny...the only "legitimate hosts of The Tonight Show!
barrymore 1 year ago
How cool. I did not realize there was a Tonight show before Johnny Carson. I just assumed he was the first. Steve Allen is pretty funny. :)
Thanks for sharing!!!
TheLonersManual 1 year ago
@TheLonersManual and also before Carson was Jack Parr.
laughingface1 1 year ago
I CANT HEAR IT
mavivirgie 1 year ago
I didn't know Clark Kent hosted The Tonight Show!
hallj100 2 years ago
@hallj100 - Clark Kent indeed - without even taking the glasses off, he became a Superman of Late-Night Television
WSenator1 1 year ago
Steve Allen and Johnny Carson are the two best and entertaining talkshow hosts ever.Ibelieve the only person that could possibly compare if he had a talkshow would be Bill Murry.I think he might work.
icut1 2 years ago
Yes, Skitch Henderson conducted the Tonight Show band under both Steve Allen and (briefly) Johnny Carson.
Carycomic 2 years ago
The original host of The Tonight Show -- just-like-that. Love. Life. Truth. Glove. Knife. Tooth.
RaintreeLDS 2 years ago
Steve Allen was one of the funniest men around. His was, what few I able to see where Wonderful. He has a great laugh too.
lostinmindseye46 2 years ago 5
This comment has received too many negative votes show
wow your probably around 40 years old and your lurking youtube...learn how to play an instrument or something...
Littlemc444
signing my name like a douchebag
littlemc444 2 years ago
big daddy is probably eighty years old
littlemc444 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
"BIg Daddy is probably 80 years old!"
Are you sure he also isn't a JEW!!
or even worse...
...a NEGRO???!!!??
haha
Big Daddy
Toying w/Conan Fans...Not that hard.
LOL!!
BigDaddy1968 2 years ago
Steve Allen was a natural born teacher and that was the hallmark of his style. He also wote dozens of books, one of which I actually remember: "Mark It And Strike It".
alexalex3131 2 years ago
Steve Allen - sings, writes, teaches, plays piano, lectures, tells jokes.
Conan - tells jokes.
Big Daddy
Making it plain...
BigDaddy1968 2 years ago
Conan - writes (has an Emmy for it), plays guitar, graduated from Harvard, tells jokes.
Steve Allen - Dead.
How's that for plain?
junedeon 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
President Bush graduated from Harvard
Shakespeare - Dead
As for your post...
How's that for STUPID.
haha
Big Daddy
Even Allen's Fans PUNK out Conan's
Whooooooooooo!
BigDaddy1968 2 years ago
Bush is a Yale grad - not that they are bragging about it.
JudithIN410 2 years ago
@junedeon - No offense against Conan. Anybody that makes the world laugh with genuine humor is a treasure. But Steve Allen, by the fact that he is featured all over YT, is FAR from dead. He lives through the memory of those who saw him work, and through his work surviving through YT and other media. I doubt that, if YT lasts 50 years from now, that anybody will remember Conan. But Steve Allen will still be "not dead."
WSenator1 1 year ago
Conan sings, plays guitar, tells and WRITES jokes.
gusgreen84 2 years ago
The group of guys and gals that I hung out with used to rush home even on date night so we would not miss his show. We picked up his lines and antics and to this day I still will recall them when doing public speaking. If you listen to Rush you will hear Steve in some of his quips. Where has all the fun in life gone? Ramubay's got it right, late is not worth staying up for.
be013fc 2 years ago
Leno's stuff is so rehearsed its boring and Letterman basically quit any improv after he lost the Tonight Show to Leno. Kimmel is a bit too slow and lazy. Conan is the closest to doing this type of off-script humor (but for some reason a lot of people just don't like him, maybe he should play the guitar more). Chevy Chase tried to do this but he stunk, he just didn't have the quick wit. Find someone that can do something like this today and I think it would blow everyone else out of the water.
Ramubay 3 years ago 3
As a comedian, TV personality, lead in a major motion picture, author, musician, etc., he was truly the "king of all media."
thomashoag 3 years ago
SMOK! SMOK!
ikmarchini 3 years ago
Appreciate the info, but, no date?
chalomirof63 3 years ago
I don't know much about the clip, frankly. I got it off of a DVD of odds & ends that Bill Morrison sent me and I guess Bill got it directly from Steve. That's my understanding, anyway. There was no info on it and Bill didn't have the details.
philmfan 2 years ago
"philmfan": LOL! No problem. I'm a pain when it comes to dates, timelines, etc. But a great memory. Thanks.
chalomirof63 2 years ago
Remembering Steve Allen 8 years after his death.
tefisher1984 3 years ago
Conan O'Brien routinely channels Steve Allen in every show he does. Same sense of humor. Same delivery. Same timing. Everything except piano skills, songwriting, and Jayne Meadows.
wandawong 3 years ago
No offence but Conan could'nt even "shine Stevarino's shoes"...Steve was a thousand times more clever in my opinion
zu0832 3 years ago 11
Conan has no-where near the expertise, character or talent of Steve Allen. Conan is more like the idiot Jerry Lewis.
9aspengold5 3 years ago
I know this was made 2 months ago but I think I should reply to this.
Conan owns.
Joe402 2 years ago
on tape I have his last show. I didn't sleep much at the time as a kid, so I couldn't wait for Steve to come on. He makes the tonight show look like crap now. Letterman has nothing on Steve...v
buscemivj 3 years ago 3
I wish these shows would be released to DVD, especially those with Don Knotts, assuming the kinescopes still exist. Hey Bill, how about it? What are you waiting for?
bachkirche 3 years ago 2
Steve was the best late night host. He was quick, funny and talented plus his show was live.
Gamparick 3 years ago 10
Steve once bet a guy he could write 300 songs over the weekend, and he did. The bet didn't say they had to be GOOD songs.
Rockinghorserider1 4 years ago
I have a record of John Coltrane doing this song. I haven't heard anyone else do it until now. By the way, Steve wrote 8,000 songs but only one truly good one (This Could Be the Start of Something).
retrorex 4 years ago
Yeah, but he probably thought all 8,000 were better than anything from the last 50 years. He had that kind of mentality.
Gerkinstock 4 years ago
And I suppose you've heard the other 7999? I actually have heard hundreds of them and I can say with authority that Steve wrote songs with beautiful melodies, any one of which could have been a hit. He actually put most of them away in an archive once he had them transcribed. At the same time he was doing this he was also writing his 50+ books, creating his award-winning TV shows and scores of other things. In my opinion, Steve's problem was too much talent and not enough time.
Pianojanna 3 years ago 2
Steve was married to Jayne Meadows. Audrey Meadows was her sister and played Alice on the Honeymooners.
Snappy1943 4 years ago 2
I don´t think that was Skitch Henderson. He played the trumpet, and is identified more with Johnny Carson´s Tonight Show in later years. Am I wrong?
ruffomaldito 4 years ago
Steve was married to Jayne Meadows - "Alice."
gracefulfish26 4 years ago
AND Eatie Gourmet ...the singing foodmonster!
FreemanZee 4 years ago
Skitch Henderson was indeed Steve's bandleader on the original "TONIGHT SHOW" (1954-'57), and later appeared on his Sunday evening NBC variety show {opposite Ed Sullivan} through the end of the '50s.
fromthesidelines 4 years ago 2
@fromthesidelines - and Skitch was also Johnny Carson's bandleader on HIS early Tonight Show years.
WSenator1 11 months ago
The sound is almost inaudible. Maybe you should delete and upload again. It's almost useless.
u2b666 4 years ago
Wonderful. Thanks. Brilliant Mr Allen came to Seattle a few years back and did his not so routine routine in a small jazz club. Lucky me to see his first night 2 shows with only a handfull in the crowd. Talk about working that audience! I could not catch a breath and tried to choke it in. Always the most entertaining man for my sence of humor. GREAT! ...and I am a Letterman fan as you might suspect. R
WildCardsJazz 4 years ago 2
Love Steve Allen! My eldest brother was so much like him when I was growing up... lol, looks like him as he got older too :) But, it was thanks to my brother that I became a fan of Steve Allen... Would love to get the dvd of the Tonight Show with Steve Allen...(hint hint to my kids?!) Anyway, really enjoying these video posts! Thankyou! :) (By the way...did you know that Steve wrote over 8,000 songs? There's Trivia for ya! :)
got2duck 4 years ago
thanks for sharing this show - i remember seeing steve late nights when my dad was up 'cause he couldn't sleep or something, anyway, i would lay on the floor and laughed my ass off - which became a problem later on in life
gareof 4 years ago
yeah it was skitch henderson....
trillthenote 4 years ago
been a long time since I saw a talk show host sing.
gaIIery 4 years ago
Be sure to catch the funky piano playing later in the skit.
lenbenhear 4 years ago
And I'll second that one: HI-HO - Steve-a-rEEEnnOOO !
lenbenhear 4 years ago
Hi-Ho, Steve-a-rino!
pylgrym 4 years ago
Great clip! Thanks for sharing these glimpses of amazing talent.
RogerJack 4 years ago
Not many know Mr. Allen was the Tonight Show's original host. This late night format was aired with many doubts about its future on television. Many years later, with Johnny Carson's reign, it is now network TV standard programming.
prausch65 4 years ago
Wow...a blast from the past..big time! Steve Allen was one of the great pioneers of late night talk; and a master at comedy! I remember his interviews with the "man on the street" with a young Don Knotts who acted real nervous!! LOL!
vigilance77 4 years ago 4
I remember his broadcasts on Sunday nights in the 1950s. My favorite segments of his show were his "Crazy Shots" (10 second sight gags)and his "Poetry Corner" (Steve would take the top song of the day, and read it with a straight face as "poetry" - songs such as Hound Dog). Funny guy!
dgill1965 5 years ago
Thank you for posting this!
misstraceynolan 5 years ago
That would be Skitch w/o a beard, yes. This is invaluable. So much of Steve's Tonight run was lost, just about all, but I guess he saved certain sketches on kinescope. Invaluable, thanks for posting!
mediafunhouse 5 years ago
This is so creepy
michalklein 5 years ago
The multi-talented Steve Allen! As a young boy in high school late 1950"s my friends and I loved to watch his show I remember the police whistle, when it was a raid, the word "Smock!" his run around the block where they where filming, stopping off at the all night grocer and getting an apple, him diving into a swimming pool full of Jell-o. What an entertainer, he was married to June Taylor of Jackie Gleason Show(Trixie I believe) nothing like his ilk nowadays, RIP Steve we love you!
mescalero19 4 years ago