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Steve Allen
Steve Allen, 1980.
Steve Allen on The Tonight Show
Since I am sometimes referred to as “the father of late night television,” the record on the point must be corrected. I invented neither nighttime and lateness nor TV comedy. By 1950 stations in many parts of the country were telecasting late-night fare, though mostly on a small-time, local basis. One was likely to see, on most stations, long forgotten b- and c-grade films for which television had provided a fresh market. Pat Weaver, NBC’s chief programmer in the early 1950s, first saw an opportunity for late-night variety entertainment. The network considered a number of budding comics and finally offered ...(100 of 1316 words)