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Tune In to Some ‘Tonight Show’ Trivia

Test your knowledge of TV’s longest-running talk show


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Pictured: (left to right) Actor Bob Newhart during an interview with host Johnny Carson.
Chris Haston/ NBCUniversal /Getty Images

NBC’s The Tonight Show, the longest-running talk show of all time, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, so we put together this quiz to see if you have stayed awake or have been sleeping through it! 

Question 1 of 10

True or false: The Tonight Show has always been called The Tonight Show.

When The Tonight Show premiered in 1954, it was known simply as Tonight. That’s because creator Pat Weaver envisioned it as a late-night sibling to NBC’s popular morning show Today, which he created in 1952. The show didn’t become The Tonight Show until 1962. The show’s title has continued to morph slightly with each of its hosts. Under Jay Leno, for example, it was The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, and under Jimmy Fallon it’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Question 2 of 10

The first host of The Tonight Show, Steve Allen, had a second career as what?

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The Tonight Show’s first host was radio personality Steve Allen, who began helming his own TV show on New York’s WNBT-TV in 1953. The local show was so popular that it went national on NBC in 1954. So began The Tonight Show, which Allen helmed from 1954 until 1957. But Allen wasn’t just a talented talk show host. He also was a prolific composer: Before his death in 2000, he’d written more than 8,500 songs by some counts — at one time earning him a spot in The Guinness Book of Records.

Question 3 of 10

Which controversial historical figure did Jack Paar famously interview on The Tonight Show?

Radio announcer, actor and comedian Jack Paar took over for Steve Allen as the host of The Tonight Show in 1957 and helmed the program until 1962. During his five years in late-night TV, Paar changed the format of the show to focus more on interviews with guests, who included not only entertainers like Carol Burnett, Liza Minelli and Bob Hope but also political figures — including Cuba’s newly installed communist leader Fidel Castro, whom he interviewed on location in Cuba in 1959.

Question 4 of 10

True or false: John F. Kennedy was the first U.S. president to be a guest on The Tonight Show.

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NBCUniversal/Getty Images

Politicians have often appeared alongside celebrities as guests on The Tonight Show. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton sat down with Johnny Carson when they were governors. George W. Bush talked with Jay Leno after leaving office. And Barack Obama famously did “Slow Jam the News” with Jimmy Fallon twice while he was president. The first president to appear on The Tonight Show, however — and late-night TV in general — was JFK, when he did an interview with Jack Paar in 1960.

Question 5 of 10

Which beloved late-night sidekick hosted his own successful TV show while he was announcer of The Tonight Show?

The Tonight Show’s announcers have been almost as pivotal to its success as its hosts. Among them: John Melendez for Jay Leno, Andy Richter for Conan O’Brien and Steve Higgins for Jimmy Fallon. The show’s most beloved announcer, however, was probably Marine Corps veteran Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s trusty sidekick from 1962 to 1992. Known for his iconic introduction — “Heeeere’s Johnny!” — McMahon was a celebrity in his own right as host of the hit TV talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995.

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Question 6 of 10

Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is known for collecting what?

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Luke Sharrett for The Washington Post/Getty Images

Jay Leno took over as host of The Tonight Show when Johnny Carson retired in 1992, becoming the program’s fourth host. To this day, he’s known not only for his long tenure on late-night television but also for his car collection. In fact, Leno is such a motorhead that he had his own show devoted to celebrating and driving unique vehicles, Jay Leno’s Garage, on CNBC from 2015 until 2022. Leno’s actual garage in Burbank, California, contains more than 181 cars and 160 motorcycles.

Question 7 of 10

What is the name of the house band that accompanies Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon?

Late-night hosts and bandleaders go together like peanut butter and jelly. But bandleaders are often accomplished in their own right. None more so than Questlove, drummer and founding member of the Roots, a Philly-born rap group that’s been backing Jimmy Fallon since his Tonight Show debut in 2014. Along with six Grammy awards — including one for best musical theater album for coproducing the Hamilton original cast recording — Questlove has an Oscar for the 2021 documentary Summer of Soul.

Question 8 of 10

Which famous comedian got their first big break on The Tonight Show?

During his 29 years helming The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson was known for hosting up-and-coming stand-up comedians, many of whom later called their appearance on The Tonight Show a turning point in their career because of the national exposure it gave them. Among the many comics who got big breaks on The Tonight Show were Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Carrey, Louie Anderson, Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld.

Question 9 of 10

On Jimmy Fallon’s first night hosting The Tonight Show in 2014, a parade of celebrities famously settled a $100 wager with him about what?

Jimmy Fallon took over The Tonight Show in 2014, and on his very first show, he said, “To my buddy who said that I’d never be the host of The Tonight Show — and you know who you are — you owe me $100, Buddy.” Then a parade of celebrities trotted across the stage to hand Fallon $100. Among them: Robert De Niro, Mariah Carey, Tina Fey, Mike Tyson, Lady Gaga and Stephen Colbert, who settled his bet with a bucket of pennies.

Question 10 of 10

True or false: The Tonight Show is currently filmed live in Los Angeles.

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Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty Images

The Tonight Show originally was filmed in New York City. Johnny Carson moved it to Los Angeles — specifically, Burbank, California — in 1972, and it stayed there until 2014, when Jimmy Fallon took the reins from Jay Leno and moved the show back to New York. Now the show is filmed in Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Although the show airs at 11:35 p.m. ET, it’s typically filmed at 5 p.m. ET.

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