On May 29, Jay Leno Hands Over the tonight show to Conan O'Brien, ending a 17-year run behind one of the most hallowed desks in show business—on a program that has barely changed since its debut more than 50 years ago. In 1951, when most stations either went off the air at Ⅱ p.m. or turned to B movies for late-night filler, NBC started a comedy series called Broadway Open House. The program lasted only a year, but it paved the way for The Tonight Show. Created as a 90-minute catchall variety show in 1954, The Tonight Show formed a template for late-night TV that everyone from Arsenio Hall to Jimmy Kimmel has since followed: witty banter, famous guests and eccentric sidekicks. Its first M.C., talk-show veteran Steve Allen, gave way just three years later to the unpredictable Jack Paar. In 1962, Paar left the show in the hands of a 36-year-old game-show host, Johnny Carson, who turned The Tonight Show from a success into a legend. (At one point, it accounted for 17% of NBC's revenue.) Carson's affable charm helped snag top-notch guests like Nelson Rockefeller, although his highest ratings came when 40 million people saw ukulele player Tiny Tim marry a 17-year-old fan on the air in 1969.
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