The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the context of "Burbank, California"

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⭐ Core Definition: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of The Tonight Show. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing Tonight Starring Jack Paar and was replaced by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Ed McMahon served as Carson's sidekick and the show's announcer.

For its first decade, Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show was based at the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, with some episodes recorded at NBC Studios in Burbank, California; on May 1, 1972, the show moved to Burbank as its main venue with extended returns to New York for several weeks over the next 12 months. After May 1973, however, the show remained in Burbank exclusively until Carson's retirement. The show's house band, the NBC Orchestra, was led by Skitch Henderson, until 1966 when Milton Delugg took over, who was succeeded by Doc Severinsen less than a year later.

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👉 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the context of Burbank, California

Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located 7 miles (11 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a population of 105,833 as of 2025. The city was named after David Burbank, who established a sheep ranch there in 1867. Burbank consists of two distinct areas: a downtown/foothill section, in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains, and the flatland section.

Numerous media and entertainment companies are headquartered or have significant production facilities in Burbank—often called the "Media Capital of the World" and only six miles northeast of Hollywood—including Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon Animation Studio, The Burbank Studios, and Cartoon Network. Universal plays a key role in attractions and entertainment in Burbank, with its theme park Universal Studios Hollywood and the NBCUniversal building. The broadcast network The CW is also headquartered in Burbank. "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" was stated often as a joke on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as both shows were taped at NBC's former studios. The Hollywood Burbank Airport was the location of Lockheed's Skunk Works, which produced some of the most secret and technologically advanced airplanes, including the U-2 spy planes. The city contains the largest IKEA in the U.S.

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the context of Late-night talk show

A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is characterized by spontaneous conversation, and for an effect of immediacy and intimacy as if the host were speaking directly to each member of the watching audience. Late-night talk shows are also fundamentally shaped by the personality of the host.

The late-night talk show format was popularized by Johnny Carson and his sidekick Ed McMahon with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC. Typically, the show's host conducts interviews from behind a desk, while a guest(s) is seated on a couch. Many late-night talk shows feature a house band which generally performs cover songs for the studio audience during commercial breaks and occasionally will back up a guest artist.

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