Interview with STEVE ALLEN 1st TONIGHT SHOW host & legend! Find out why he was STILL MAD at NBC! WOW
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Exclusive interview with the "Father of Late Night TV Comedy," Steve Allen (1921-2000). His historic platform was a little show called simply, "Tonight." From its inception in 1953 through 1957, Steve Allen hosted a wild and zany array of late night regulars and guests who quickly turned what was once considered "dead air" into a lucrative money machine for the NBC network. Allen liked to put comedic twists on everything and even had Elvis Presley, in one of his earliest TV appearances, dressed in white tie and tails to sing the hit song, "Hound Dog," to a docile Basset hound on "The Steve Allen Plymouth Show," on July 1, 1956. When Allen left late night for Prime Time, he was slotted against the reigning King of Sunday nights, CBS' Ed Sullivan. He did well until his second year when an easy going gambler named "Maverick" dropped into a competing slot on ABC. In Steve Allen's amazing career, the comedian/author/composer hosted multiple variety shows, starred in movies, was a regular panelist on "I've Got a Secret" and wrote over 2,000 songs, including his own theme song, "This Must Be the Start of Something Big." When Allen went to NBC and asked for copies of his old, original "Tonight" episodes, he was shocked when told that they didn't exist. Still upset over the information, Steve joined host Rob Word from Disney's Top of the World resort in Orlando to discuss that and other amazing career highlights for this 1977 interview. WOW-04
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I loved Steve Allen......He was a remarkable person. Probably too cerebral for the union who got him taken off the air. I remember his contagious laugh and loved the live shows. You never knew what would happen. The ad-libs were priceless.
They sure were, Anne. His laugh usually turned into an uncontrollable giggle!
@@AWordonWesterns True and lit was contagious..... Some of the skits he did with Tom Poston were classic comedy.
I remember seeing his show with the cast of Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Louis Nye, Pat Harrington, Jr., & Bill Dana. It was a show I loved. Characters and routines that seemed current. I was young. I remember looking forward to it. His laugh allowed laughter, a zany, free laugh.
@@mikenaughton4298 "My name - José Jimenez!"
And don't forget Steve's high-pitched falsetto, "SHMOCK! SHMOCK!" - delivered at random moments.
Fred
I grew up in the 1950's. Steve Allen was an incredibly brilliant man of many talents! This was a pleasure to watch!
This was very interesting WayBack. Steve Allen was a marvelously articulate and thoughtful guest. You were a little more of a standard Q & A interviewer than you are now. Steve would listen to your question and respond in a clear and through manner. Rob your modern bow tie looks like a grandson of the one you were wearing in 77. However, you were, and are styling and profiling. Great episode.
I could listen to Steve Allen talk all day. One of the most erudite personalities to ever inhabit the airwaves and one of the funniest. Thanks for such a fascinating look back Rob.
Qyxl
I agree. Mr. Allen was one of the most well-spoken entertainers. One can actually learn how to speak better listening to him.
I was a teenager in the 80's when Steve was doing a TV show called "The Start of Something Big". And I can remember, even then, thinking: Why isn't this guy a bigger star? He was a laugh riot.
Thanks, Justin. Steve had a fabulous career and, yes, he should have been bigger.
What a pleasure to hear an intelligent, resonant voice. How I miss these guys!
I remember being introduced to Steve Allen many years ago by my Mother. Returning home to an otherwise dark house with the exception of our b&w tv lighting our living room and my Mother killing herself laughing out loud to the hysterical antics of Steve Allen! I sat and watched a musician, songwriter (this could be the start of something big) , talk show host, comedian, stuntman (diving into a bowl of jello), author of 50 books! In short a genius!
All these memories on Wednesday August 12th Ma’s Birthday..... she would have been 98.
So, thank you Rob Wood for a wonderful Wednesday!!♥️
If ever there was a genius on television it was Steve Allen. Brilliant talented man.
Steve Allen was a true class act of a renaissance man. Is there anything that this man can not do? All that talent seems to so casually flow off of him without one drop of pretension. What a legend.
I was in high school when Meeting of the Minds came out. It is probably why I developed a love of history. Steve Allen was a genius.
i loved that series
@ALL LIVES MATTER. As he reiterates here, it wasn't NBC; it was one dumb schlub at NBC, who had been put in charge of their "archives."
I think Steve says that when NBC found out what that guy had done, they fired him.
Fred
One hell of an entertainer and if my memory serves correctly he has more copy written music than any on the planet but at 77 what would I know. Happy trails
This is a wonderful treat. Your Sunday programs are awesome but to see this interview with Steve Allen is almost unbelievable. It's just hard to imagine someone with such a diverse background in the entertainment business. Please keep shuffling through your "catalog" and bring us more. Thanks for sharing.
I loved his show with "the man on the street" interviews...Don Knotts, Louie Nye, Tom Poston...
They were always the highlight for me.
...and Dayton Allen, whom no one seems to remember...
And the "Huttly, Brickly, Nuttly, Stinkly Report."
Fred
I was just a pre-teen when his "Tonight" show was on but when I stayed all night at my older cousin's house she let me watch it and it was great.
i love how steve, a very self-aware guy, avoids falling into celeb chat and insists on making his points. a philosopher as much as a showman.
I could easily listen to another hour of this. Fascinating interview.
I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and remember him very well! I still watch him on the old What’s My Line shows on RUclips.&
What an intelligent man he was! I could listen to Steve Allen talk all day.
Bravo Rob...! Steve Allen was indeed a comic genius... and you had the very good fortune to interview him. Thanks so much for posting.
Bill Dana was also one of Steve's "man in the street" interviewees. But his Jose Jimenez character was one of the first
victims of political correctness.
I will never forget "my name is Jose Jimenez".
That was worth watching just to see Steve Allen wearing a '70s Rayon Disco Shirt.
We did out best to color correct this old video. I was blinded!
It's like Uncle Buck's hat. It angers some people
Too bad we don't have someone now of Allen's intellect and vision.
Raised quietly in England, I'd never heard of this chap. But he's so down-to-earth and funny!
I went to a live taping of Steve's show. He was sitting behind his desk, when the audience groaned at one of his jokes. In a FLASH, Steve was on his feet, grabbing a real bull-whip from under his desk, running at the audience, whipping the stage in front of him, yelling, "BACK, BACK."
That's so funny, Paul. You lucky dog! I can visualise Steverino doing that.
by chance was it his show "the Allen show" at the Vine Street theater Late 60's?
As Jayne Meadows once told me, Steve prayed for things to go wrong, rather than uneventfully by the script, because mishaps gave him a springboard for his creativity, just like they did in the example you cite.
@@stephenwilliams9923 Vine Street sounds about right. It was downtown LA 1969. While we were in line, Steve came out with a trumpet and got into a tall cherry piker. He blew a note on his trumpet and everyone yelled "Higher", so he blew a higher note and the cherry picker went up a little. This continued till he was way up in the air. That was taped for his opening.
@@ben2715 A good story Ben. Great you could meet Ms Meadows. The two of them are briefly in Casino sitting at a table and have a quick word with Joe Pesci.
Wow that was fantastic, I hate to admit it but I had forgot about Steve Allen, what a sharp guy, well spoken. Thanks for a great memory.
My father used to watch Steve Allen and so did I. I remember the "Man on the Street" routines with Don Knotts, Louie Nye, and Tom Poston. I liked when Louie Nye would greet him with "Hi ho, Steverino." It's a shame that the old programs are lost.
I always watched him on Channel 5 in L.A. Louis Nye, Gypsy Boots, Hollywood Ranch Market, and that great band.
I would hear my Mother hysterically laughing in the late evening and got up one night to see what was so outrageously funny and that was my initial introduction to the genius of Steve Allen!
I believe he did a high drive into a large pool of jello..... genius!
This could be the start of something big🎶
Loved Steveareno.❤️
He was a true genius, Vernon. I always loved his shows, especially when he would crack up and start giggling!
I remember watching him as a boy when I snuck downstairs to watch hoping my parents would not notice my presence.
Great interview Rob, It was very interesting and a pleasure to watch Steve Allen when he was still pretty much in his prime.
Who can forget "smock-smock"?
How's your bird?
I make this comment at every Steve Allen video I see here at YT. He deserves this high praise.
I grew up in the L.A. area in the 60's and 70's and attended many talk shows, and recorded show as a studio audience member, Be aware many New York based shows would do a LA based production from time to time. I saw them all. By far, Steve Allen treated his studio audience the best, even when the camera was off. He chatted with us before the taping, durning breaks and even after the show was completed. I know many other host appear to care for the audience while doing the show, but most, Johnny Carson the top of the list could care less about the people attending the show when no camera is recording. Steve Allen, R.I.P. you will forever have my respect.
It's funny when Johnny Carson negotiated his HUGE contract in 1980 he made sure HE owned the show, and he stored the tapes in a Vault in a cave in Kansas or Missouri NOT KIDDING those post 1980 shows are safe folks!
Eric Haynes Are they on RUclips or still in the cave? Is there a man who owns the cave, a caveman?
I loved Steve's late night TV show and watched it almost every week night. A genius.
The early recordings were done on acetate stock. It is very flammable; that's why they got rid of not just this great man's work. Carson was upset 6 years later when he discovered that NBC had decided to "reuse" the video tape of Carson's (and everybody else's) show. That's why the only really old skit we saw on the anniversary shows was the hatchet throw.
Steve is brilliant. Great , entertaining interview.
Thanks, Stu. I always liked Steverino and certainly enjoyed talking to him. Funny, smart guy.
Comedic genius!
In that first early pic of Steve Allen without his glasses he looks like Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory"
Thank you so much for uploading this. Steve Allen was a class act and a man of many interests and talents. I'm happy you had the privilege of meeting him.
And on a side note, I appreciate all your videos - they make this difficult time and little more bearable :)
Glad you enjoyed it, DL.
Remember him as a kid. Pure genius,laughed more than he talked.
Steve was also a terrific panelist on What's My Line for a year whilst doing the Tonight Show and returning ever so often throughout the rest of the 17 year run. You can find those on the What's My Line Channel here on YT.
The BBC junked a lot of old shows too. They wiped the tapes and reused them
Your voice is deeper now. I always thought Steve was an amazingly intelligent man.
DUMONT T.V. dumped their Kinescopes in the Lake. - Some Hollywood Movie companies did the same things. I heard that FOX lost its early material to an accident or so I've heard but may have been to save money from Storage cost. Apparently, NBC actually was following a tradition that many used assuming that what had been created (shows and movies) had little value to be gained saving film or shows.
Those hilarious but sometimes comfortable clothes of the 70s; and Allen's hair sticking out in back. I'd like to have heard him commenting about men's clothes from the 50s onwards. Oe, his asking the Man On The Street about them. He and his were so funny.
Love the Tonto Candy Bar sketch with Steve Allen, Andy Griffith, Imogene Coca and Elvis Presley.
What a show that was!
I grew up in the 1950's and remember watching Steve Allen. He was mesmerizing to audiences. He was always able to change depending on audience reaction and his humor was totally amazing. Probably the funniest and best late night TV host until Craig Ferguson arrived in America.
Truest statement here
wow, look at young Rob...great interview with Steve Allen, who I always enjoyed! 👍👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Wow is right, Rob. I am jealous of you getting to talk to all these brilliant people. What a dream job. Steve Allen was a genius. Never missed his shows as a kid. The man on the street interviews with Knotts, Nye and Poston were hilarious. Never missed Steve late night either. As a matter of fact, got a marriage proposal from my husband while watching Steve. Schmock ! Schmock! in the background...very romantic!
Thanks, KK. I love romantic stories with happy endings.
Steve Allen: The father of "The Tonight Show"! Hail, Hail to Mr. Allen.
His comments about the American view of talent vs. success are spot on and still relevant today unfortunately
Great interview. Steve Allen is the LEGEND.
Oh geez, I loved to see Steve Allen get tickled. He had the most infectious laugh......would love to see reruns of his talk shows......
Thank you for this interview with this intelligent, innovative, funny man! We owe a lot to him and his brand of comedy.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Idiots also destroyed most of the tapes of Carson’s show
Great interview with Steve! Always enjoy your interviews!
Thanks, Chris. I was lucky to have saved this interview. Steve was a brilliant man and kept (young) me on my toes.
Thank you Rob.
That was enjoyable. And I'm glad you talked about the Benny Goodman Story.
One of my favorites besides Allens performance is the fact that the actual band was in it.
👍
Steve was right, the music played by Benny and other legends, was toe-tappin' great! He said the movie only ran about "an hour and 10 minutes," but it was just under 2 hours.
It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World
In 1962, 63 & 64 - Steve had a 90 minute 5 nights a week show often called the "Westinghouse" show - it was on the same time as Johnny Carson Tonight Show and had the greatest musical guests & comedians. He'd start every show with a crazy "stunt" (human tea bag, playing volleyball in the street with local "beauty queens", playing piano 400 feet in the air, etc). Many of those shows are archived at UCLA film archives, but they won't syndicate them & we'll probably never seem although a few are "out there."
Would love to see some of those again. Thanks, dept2
Brilliant interview with a true television legend. You really showed your knowledge when you asked about the Kinescope from those old shows, and you seemed to connect quite well with Steve.
WOW...thanks a million, Rob!
I loved him, too. I was watching one of those Hollywood cemetery tours recently. He is buried in an unmarked grave - I would bet there is a story there.
Genius. But his comedy was silly and hilarious. But not the juvenile silliness like Jerry Lewis. Underrated in the history of television.
I agree 100% especially in regards to Jerry Lewis. Lewis was not funny at all.
His shirt might has well said "1977" right on it. You can almost pin '70s fashion right down to the month!
You must hear this constantly, but you age quite well! Thanks for this. Hope you have more oldies!
Thanks, Ub. One day this age thing is gonna catch up to me all at once! Glad you're enjoying our programs.
At the time as was the same at the BBC, which has almost nothing prior to 1970. They didn't see any future value. In the case of the BBC it was for cost saving, because of the cost of 2" Quad tapes. The BBC has been able to track down and continues to track down telecine prints that were made for the overseas sales department. Many of these 16mm prints have been found in very strange places.
Thanks, sc. Those kinescopes have helped preserve a lot of lost history.
Does the burning of the Great Library Of Alexandria come to mind? RIP Steve...schmock, schmock!
Hmmm, what about Jack Paar? I truly think Steve Allen was incredible! I know more about him than most. But Jack was there. Almost forgot, Schmock! Schmock!
Just stumbled across this with Steve Allen who I watched as a kid and loved his show. He fits in perfectly with your great western programs because he was a true pioneer in television.
Love it! Thanks.
Excellent Rob you have been around for awhile
I was 5 yrs. old when the Tonight Show with Mr. Allen ended, yet I can remember Don Knotts' Nervous Guy skits and Louis Nye ect. Funny thing is, because of this short documentary, I finally found out why Tom Poston came into my lost memory bank every time I saw him on other shows i.e. Newhart ect. Steve Allen, pretty cool guy.
Can you believe they were burning newscasts? They were burning hustory!
Well, no kidding Steve. You should be alive today. The cancel culture would impress you.
What a great zany show Steve had way back then. I wouldn't miss it , and surely enjoyed the show. Many many new entertainers had their start on the Steve Allen Show, as well as the other Tonight Shows did. The guy that destroyed the films, lost a great time in history. R.I.P. Steve .
I'm afraid that NBC Tv wasn't the only tv network that destroyed alot of their collection of kinnie and videos prints of their tv shows...The other networks CBS,ABC,Dumount and the local tv stations destroyed their own tv histories.
Hi ho Steverino! Steve Allen was hilarious. Just ask Johnny Carson and David Letterman, who both ripped him off
mercilessly .
Steverino set the stage for them both. Thanks, Jack, for all your comments and interest.
true, but at least Letterman admitted it and said Steve was his idol....Carson did it with NO acknowledgement of Steve....to my knowledge, Carson never had Steve Allen on his show ever....Carson also vetoed NBC boss Silverman's idea to give Steve the new Late Night show in 1980.....Carson probably scared Steve's show would be funnier
Meeting of the Minds as an example - there is a streak of middlebrow intellectual mediocrity about Allen that annoyed me throughtout his career. That and his extraordinarily beautiful wife who almost always over dressed horribly, over made up and wore terrible jewelry.
Steve & Dick Cavett together would just about cover all interview angles!
What a great interview you did with Steve! I, too, was fortunate to interview him 20 years later at his office in Van Nuys, and that led to wonderful support from him and later, his family, for my 2005 book, "Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen and the Original Tonight Show." They generously connected me to over 30 of Steve's colleagues, including Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Don Knotts, Steve & Eydie, Eartha Kitt, Tim Conway, bandleader Skitch Henderson, and others. In 1997, Steve was still heartbroken by the needless destruction of most of his "Tonight"-era kinescopes. For someone so accomplished, he didn't get the full credit that he deserved for inventing late night, an original American art form. Love the wonderful, rare photos inserted into your video. Thanks for sharing this video treasure!
ben2715 Thank you, Dan. Boy, it sure sounds like you hit the Mother Lode with your interviews. I’ve just ordered your book and can’t wait to dig in. The genius of Steverino can never be overlooked.
@@AWordonWesterns I can't thank the Allen family enough for their support. Hope you'll enjoy my book. It expands on all of the topics you covered in the 1977 interview and examines his television career through the eyes of friends and colleagues who worked with him. Such a gifted, funny, and talented man, and a great humanitarian as well.
I grew up watching Steve Allen in the late 50's early 60's in addition to the movies and specials he starred in. He helped warp my sense of humor and I've been grateful ever since.
It was a sad day when he died.
agree with you 100%, his offbeat and wacky gags and comments were also often very smart....he was an iconoclast....we greatly LACK iconoclasts now.
Steve Allen was funny to the end. We saw him do a show in Milwaukee which was some music & off the cuff humor & he was terrific! He was in his 70s. Still sharp as ever!
the day feels a little fuller when watching your programs, thank you Word
Happy to hear that!
To quote Oliver Twist, ‘please, sir, can I have some more’?
WOW! Thanks Rob! Great choice of topic and theirs none better than Steve Allen.
Thank you Rob Word 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you
Thought you were a Cowboy guy, boy is this interview strange for you/And Steve Allen's Shirt, what a throw back..Great One
I'm not always in the saddle, Bob. Sometime I get bucked off and land in other genres.
Everything Steve Allen did had an intelligence to it. He really should be given as much credit for "The Tonight Show" as Jack Paar. I think the problem with both men is that there really isn't much left from their shows. It's sad because we really have no more interview format shows anymore like Cavett or Tom Snyder
Really cool, Rob.
Home movies for me!
One of the best videos on YT !!! This is fantastic stuff!
Wow, thanks!
It's interesting to hear from Steve Allen on how the tonight show was created. The government did not create this job, instead men with wits made it happen.
Don't know what to say other then keep them coming.
I met Benny Goodman once when I was a young doorman at the Gideon Putnam hotel in Saratoga NY. I parked his small green sports car for him and as he was leaving he tried to stiff me on a tip. I managed to get 25 cents out of him. What a cheap character he was. Later on after moving into New York City I heard stories about his cheapness so it was not just my personal experience with him but also with others.
I've heard that about him, too. Thanks.
Rob, best interview with Steve I’ve ever had the opportunity to see! What a great talent and talent master! He always managed to bring incredible people together! Great editing also!💫
Thanks, Larry. He sure makes it look easy and was kind to let (young) me "bother" him that day.
So cool to hear this bright legend speak on himself and what he witnessed in the film industry.
Hind sight when he said tgat the guy who burned those films is probably running a network now
Hah!
What about the process of it being America’s history
Do they have a independence on what to do with some film that was not or is not seen at one time or another not as important
With this threat of cyber space (EMP) ?
Who makes the details in preserving all film?
I so love your interviews
Such an impact !
Great work....
Hearing it from the Horses Mouth
Hey?!!!
Wow, Alice. Thanks. Preservation usually boils down to financing the restoration and storage, plus...how to get a return on the investment.
Rob? You dont age. Woee. Great interview
My hair got longer....
I LOVE your bow tie! The concept of putting a bow at the top of your body that u present to the world makes me smile. Steve Allen was always really funny & a ray of sunshine. He was an excellent musician & an intelligent, innovative, kind man. His format was copied by late nite talk shows & is still the model today. Rest in peace Stevo, ya did good.
Thanks, Francis. I've still got a drawer full of bow ties!
I really enjoyed this show . I lived in the boondocks of Oklahoma and we didn't get TV until 1953. I remember watching Steve Allen and many more. These shows bring a pleasant feeling of a great childhood back that I enjoy very much. Thank You Mr Word.
Mr Allen is a name familiar to me, but it wasn’t until your interview that I learnt who he was. I congratulate you for your interview, but have to ask, how could you see him over that bow tie? Mr Allen’s orange shirt and white flairs were better suited to BW TV lol. Here in Australia we had an icon of both radio and TV and his name was Graham Kennedy. Graham was a supreme ad libber and he had an off sider who was just as good by the name of Bert Newton ( Bert is still alive today and is an icon in his own right ). Thanks for another terrific interview Rob, from Down Under.
Thanks, Robert. I guess both Steve and I were in our sartorial splendor that day.
Miss Steve Allen. Thank you.
Meanwhile Johnny Carson buried His Shows in an Underground Cave! His Shows never gotten burned as a result!
The only reason Carson put so much effort into preserving his Tonight Shows was because he discovered that he was also a victim of NBC's carelessness - just as Allen was.
Most of Carson's tapes from 1962 to 1970 were reused by the network to save expenses - which is why there's only a small amount of his New York years available anymore. Carson was livid when he found out, and worked it into his contract that every episode was to be saved - so virtually everything from 1971 forward was preserved. I think it was sometime in the 1980s that Carson acquired the underground salt mine space to keep them in, where they're still archived now.
6:30 - Kind a makes you wonder if the Universal warehouse fire was an "accident." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Universal_Studios_fire
I noticed at
as the interview ended Steve folded his arms and tucked in his hands.......not a hand shaker I'm guessing? Nice interview.
yes, very defensive