Yeah, Paar was the first of the late-night shows, IIRC. I was a kid then, but recall when he left, there was a lot of talk about Carson and whether he'd succeed. Uh, huh.
There was also Arthur Godfrey, but I never liked him as well as the others. And it was more of a variety show. His sitting around, playing his Ukulele never did much for me...
Paar and Steve Allen, and throw in Godfrey who I remember doing a daytime show oriented toward housewives, were clean. Carson introduced more risque humor which audiences demonstrated that they loved. Leno and Letterman and especially Conan have moved further into so-called adult humor. I like raunchy humor but can’t stand it when it’s put in front of kids, which all these guys do.
Excuse me, but the Tonight show was born with Steve Allen....the show ran as long as he wished each night, he did many more skits and funny bits and was overall the funniest of all of them.....He was followed by Jack Parr mand than Johnny Carson, with some assorted fill ins along the way.....
1 Hosting history
o 1.1 Steve Allen (1954–1957)
o 1.2 Tonight! America After Dark (1957)
o 1.3 Jack Paar (1957–1962)
o 1.4 Transition to Carson (1962)
o 1.5 Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
o 1.6 Jay Leno (1992–2009)
o 1.7 Conan O’Brien (2009–2010)