The Tonight Show is a long-running American late-night television talk show. Airing since 1954 on NBC, it is the standard against which others of its genre are judged. The show has won multiple Emmy Awards.

Except for a brief (and unpopular) switch to a magazine-type news program in 1957, the show’s format has been remarkably consistent throughout its history. In many ways resembling a variety show, The Tonight Show combines a nightly monologue by the host, comedy sketches, musical guests, and celebrity interviews, all permeated by the signature style and persona of the show’s host, thus creating a nightly topical entertainment program with a pop-culture focus.

 The program has had six principal hosts in its history—Steve Allen (1954–57), Jack Paar (1957–62), Johnny Carson (1962–92), Jay Leno (1992–2009, 2010–14), Conan O’Brien (2009–10), and Jimmy Fallon (2014– )—as well as numerous guest hosts and sidekicks or cohosts, the most significant of whom was Ed McMahon, Carson’s longtime partner. Each host brought his strengths and talents to the show: Allen was known primarily as a gifted comedian with improvisational and musical skills, whereas Paar was praised more for his conversational skills. Carson brought a completely different tone and style, returning the show to its comic roots, moving it from New York City to Burbank, California, and becoming one of the most beloved figures in American television history during his nearly 30-year tenure as the “king of late night.”

The series has been ranked as one of the greatest TV shows of all time in polls from both 2002 and 2013.