The show began in 1953 as a local show on WNBT-TV, the NBC station in New York City. "Tonight!" began in 1954 when Sylvester L. Weaver Jr., the president of NBC, decided to expand the network's programming past the 11:00 p.m. local news. Weaver wanted his night-time entry to be something along the lines of Today (1952): some news and light features with interviews. Steve Allen was the original host and he remained with the show when it became a national show on September 27, 1954. The show aired live every night.
Steve Allen's high-energy wit and appreciation for the emerging medium lent itself to spontaneous, original humor. He put cameras on the street and tried to find unscripted comedy in random interviews with passersby. He was a comedy adventurer, jumping into vats of funny stuff like Jell-O, or dressing up in a suit of tea bags and lowering himself into a giant cup of hot water.
On 11 August 2009 the US Postal Service issued a pane of 20 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs. A booklet with 20 picture postal cards was also issued. The stamp honoring "The Tonight Show" pictured Steve Allen, host of the first incarnation of the program, when it was called simply Tonight! (1953). Other shows honored in the Early TV Memories issue were: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Alfred Hitchcock présente (1955), The Dinah Shore Show (1951), Badge 714 (1951), "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally titled Toast of the Town (1948)), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), Hopalong Cassidy (1952), The Honeymooners (1955), "The Howdy Doody Show" (original title: Puppet Playhouse (1947)), I Love Lucy (1951), Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), Lassie (1954), The Lone Ranger (1949), Perry Mason (1957), The Phil Silvers Show (1955), The Red Skelton Show (1951), "Texaco Star Theater" (titled Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle (1948), 1954-1956), La quatrième dimension (1959), and You Bet Your Life (1950).
NBC removed Steve Allen from the show because the network wanted him to focus on The Steve Allen Show (1956), which was losing to Toast of the Town (1948) in the ratings.