Video: 'The Television Talk Show: Jack Paar (The Tonight Show 1957-1962)'

(Monday, July 29, 1957, 11:15 p.m. EDT) — The new version of Tonight, starring Jack Paar, debuted tonight on NBC television with guests Helen O’Connell, Johnny Johnston, Stanley Holloway and Franklin Pangborn from Studio 6B at the RCA Building in New York.

The New York Times would call the debut broadcast a “very ragged affair.”

A combo band conducted by Paar’s Army buddy pianist José Melis filled commercial breaks and backed musical entertainers.