Long before the likes of old Jay “Lantern Jaw” Leno or even Johnny Carson and Jack Paar, there was STEVE ALLEN, the original host and creator of television’s TONIGHT SHOW. In 1954, comedian and radio personality Allen was given the task of entertaining America’s insomniacs with his decidedly offbeat and mischievious brand of wacked-out humor. Before long Americans (as well as the denizens of Dewey’s Trailer Park) were hooked and ol’ Stevereeno was on his way to becoming a household name.

That same year, 1954, Steve was a featured panelist on the ridiculously popular TV game show I’VE GOT A SECRET. On this particular installment, Steve was hard pressed to guess the identity of the evening’s surprise special guest—his very own beautiful new bride, Jayne Meadows!

By the summer of 1956 THE TONIGHT SHOW had become a hugely successful phenomenon; so much so that Steve was given his own Sunday night prime time entertainment show, going head to head with Ed Sullivan, the stone-faced fixture who had dominated his time slot over on CBS for nearly a decade. Here Stevereeno plays host to the old hipslinger himself—Elvis Presley!

In 1957 Steve abandoned THE TONIGHT SHOW to devote full attention to his Sunday night variety hour, which was now not only going up against Sullivan, but the new hit western MAVERICK as well. Steve’s amazing, hand-picked ensemble now included the likes of Tom Posten, Louis Nye, Don Knotts and Pat Harrington, Jr. Here they are, joined by Stevereeno, hot songbird Jo Stafford and comic genius Tony Randall doing a raucous version of “Cocktails For Two.”

The STEVE ALLEN SHOW now boasted the zaniest and most creative group of comedians working on television. Week after week the hilarity reached a fever pitch with skits that have now become legendary. Here they are, in one of the show’s most famous bits, as the be-bop jazz ensemble The Unidentified Flying Objects. Folks here at Dewey’s Trailer Park have been cracking up over this one for the past fifty years!

As well as this classic show-biz spoof called “Opening Night Reviews” featuring Pat Harrington, Jr and the incredible Louis Nye.

Harrington and former Bowery Boy Gabe Dell are seen here in the hilarious skit called The Wonderful World of Violence.

Steve wasn’t merely content being the ringmaster of TV’s wackiest ensemble. An accomplished musician and composer, he was responsible for scores of tunes, some of which have become standards. Here’s the late, great Bobby Darin belting out Stevereeno’s most famous song, “This Could Be The Start of Something Big.”

By the late 50s Steve was boldly going where very few on network television were capable of going. Playing off his reputation as a jazz hound and all-purpose hipster, Steve was the only guy on the tube with the balls to book sick comic and Trailer Park legend Lenny Bruce on his prime time show. The results were predictably hilarious.

Taking his hipster street cred even a step further, Stevereeno might have overstepped himself when he invited beat author Jack Kerouac on the show. Here, a somewhat uncomfortable Kerouac tries to explain the meaning of beat culture to a noticably befuddled Allen.

In late 1963 Steve had the foresight to book the ever enigmatic Bob Dylan on the show. Here he is singing “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” one of his strongest and most disturbing tunes.

Who else but Steve Allen would be brazen enough to open up his show to an entertainer like Miles Davis? Here’s the jazz giant and his Quintet doing “All Blues” on Steve’s show in 1964. Can you imagine this happening on The Ed Sullivan Show? Of course not.