The Tonight Show 1962 - 1972
The Jack Paar era of the Tonight Show ended on March 29, 1962. Unfortunately NBC's chosen replacement could not start immediately, so late-night viewers experienced another 26-week temporary version of the Tonight Show. From April until September, the Tonight Show was hosted by a succession of guest hosts, usually appearing for one week at a time. Hugh Downs stayed on as the announcer, and Skitch Henderson returned to lead the band during the transition period. During this short segment, we experienced a tremendously varied parade of hosts, including Soupy Sales, Art Linkletter, Groucho Marx, Merv Griffin, and Jerry Lewis. We even saw the first woman, Arlene Francis, appear as guest-host. Though not exactly stellar, this six-month period of the Tonight Show proved more successful than the 1957 ratings disaster, Tonight: America After Dark.

Johnny Carson had originally turned down NBC's late-night offer. Luckily he reconsidered and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson premiered on October 1, 1962. Skitch Henderson stayed on as band leader, but Johnny brought Ed McMahon with him as his announcer. Ed McMahon had been Johnny's announcer on the quiz show Who Do You Trust? for the previous five years. Johnny also brought his brother, Dick Carson onboard as director. The very first guests on Johnny's new Tonight Show were Rudy Vallee, Joan Crawford, Mel Brooks, and Tony Bennett. Johnny intentionally discouraged the constant turmoil and confrontations that had been common on Jack Paar's Tonight Show. Johnny's goal was to entertain people, and no one did it better. The show opened to good reviews, and was off to a strong start in the ratings. Most of America was safely tucked in every weeknight by Johnny Carson. Bedtime schedules were set not by the clock, but by Johnny Carson's monologue.

Skitch Henderson decided to leave the show in 1966, and trumpet playing Doc Severinsen took over as bandleader in 1967. Johnny's most serious dispute with NBC also happened in 1967. Johnny honored a strike by members of AFTRA, a performers' trade union, and NBC aired reruns of Carson's shows, without his consent during his absence. Since Johnny believed this was a violation of his own contract, Johnny refused to return to the Tonight Show until the AFTRA strike was settled, and NBC had negotiated a new contract with him. As a result of this disagreement, Johnny took a much more active role in production and financial arrangements for the show. There were multiple producer changes, brother Dick Carson left the show in 1968, and Raritan Enterprises was created in 1969, with Sonny Werblin as a partner, to handle production matters for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and other Johnny Carson business ventures. The show had been broadcast remotely from the West Coast numerous times, but a business decision was made in 1972 to move the Tonight Show to Los Angeles permanently.

Johnny Carson had little competition during the 10 years that his show was located in New York. ABC's first attempt at a late-night talk show debuted in November, 1964 with Les Crane as the host. The Les Crane Show used a special "shotgun" microphone to allow audience members to talk to, and interact with, Les's guests each night. After only four months, ABC decided this format wasn't working, changed to a series of weekly guest hosts, and renamed the show, Nightlife. By early June, ABC changed the show again. They brought Les Crane back as host, assisted by Nipsey Russell, and the show featured the Elliott Lawrence Orchestra. In 1967, Joey Bishop took over the host's chair for ABC's late-night talk show. Joey's sidekick was Regis Philbin and music was provided by Johnny Mann and His Merry Men. Despite low ratings, The Joey Bishop Show lasted over two years. But in 1969, Dick Cavett stepped in to try to bolster ratings. Dick brought an announcer with him called Fred Foy. Fred was best known as the announcer for The Lone Ranger. Dick also brought a band leader he had worked with before, drummer Bobby Rosengarten. The Dick Cavett Show continued until the end of 1974. The broadcast frequency, however, faded from five nights a weeks, to three nights a week, to twice monthly, as ratings continued to slip. CBS had only one entry in the late-night race during the Tonight Show's New York years. The Merv Griffin Show was broadcast from August, 1969 to February, 1972. Merv's announcer was Arthur Treacher, and music was provided by the Mort Lindsey Orchestra.

1972 - 1992
In 1972 Johnny Carson began taping The Tonight Show from the NBC studios in Burbank. After the relocation it was much easier for Johnny to book the hottest Hollywood celebrities, and his show became the ultimate showcase for up and coming young stars. New comics were especially eager to appear on The Tonight Show. They were convinced that exposure on Johnny's show was the first step on the road to fame and fortune. Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne, and Garry Shandling are a few of the lucky chosen few who got their six minutes of fame on Johnny's show.

Johnny negotiated a new contract with NBC in 1977 that gave him plenty of money ($2M+ per year), and plenty of time off. His taping schedule included 12 weeks of 4 shows weekly, 25 weeks of taping only 3 shows a week, and 15 weeks of vacation. With that schedule, there was a tremendous increase in the number and frequency of guest hosts. The list of guest hosts who appeared regularly included such celebrities as Bob Newhart, John Davidson, David Brenner, McLean Stevenson, and Jerry Lewis. Johnny Carson acquired total ownership of the program in 1980, and trimmed the length of the show from 90 down to 60 minutes. In 1983, Joan Rivers was named as Johnny's permanent substitute host. Joan left The Tonight Show rather abruptly in 1986 after she discovered that NBC was not considering her as Johnny's permanent replacement. Garry Shandling stepped in as a frequent guest host until Jay Leno finally took over as permanent guest host.

Even though rumors had flown for years about Johnny's retirement, the audience (and the network) was shocked and surprised when he made the official announcement in May of 1991 at a network affiliate meeting in New York. He repeated the announcement that night when he appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. Johnny Carson had decided to leave The Tonight Show in May of 1992. NBC had been preparing for this day. Jay Leno, the permanent guest host, had been offered a contract with NBC long before Johnny made his announcement. That contract promised The Tonight Show to Jay Leno upon Johnny's departure. Robin Williams and Bette Midler were Johnny's last guests on May 21, 1992. But Johnny's final show featured no guests at all. Johnny, with Ed McMahon and Doc Severinsen, talked about their favorite Tonight Show memories and showed clips from previous shows to an audience estimated at 50 million viewers.

(info. courtesy of about.com)