Steve Allen & The Hudson Theater 1954
Steve Allen & The Hudson Theater
In 1954, ‘The Tonight Show’ debuted on the NBC Television Network and was broadcast from The Hudson Theater. Before ‘The Tonight Show’, WNBT had originated ‘The Steve Allen Show’ from there for local NYC audiences. In 1957, Jack Paar took over as host and I’m pretty sure that’s when the show moved into Studio 6B at 30 Rock. In 1956, ‘The Price Is Right’ debuted from The Hudson and that same year, Steve Allen began hosting ‘The Steve Allen Show’ on the NBC network from The Hudson on Sunday nights against Ed Sullivan. When ‘Tonight’ began it was broadcast live, but on January 12, 1959, the show began to be videotaped for broadcast later on the same day, although initially the Thursday night programs were kept live for some reason. Color broadcasts began on September 19, 1960 during Jack Parr’s tenure as host.
My husband loved Steve Allen.
There was a break of at least a year between Allen and Parr. Another shot took Tonight’s place but it failed.
I’ve stayed in the past at the Millennium Broadway Hotel, which includes the adjacent Hudson Theatre as part of its complex (for social and conference events). “The First Wives Club” (starring Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton) was filming a party scene in there during my hotel stay. Interesting trivia: The theatre was originally built in 1903 by theatrical producer Henry B. Harris, who later died on the RMS Titanic when it sank in 1912.
“Inventing Late Night”, the story of the birth of Steve’s “Tonight Show” is a must-read! Superb!
A bit of trivia: In Houston, I grew up watching The Tonight Show on the CBS affiliate. For whatever reason, KPRC didn’t start clearing the show until the early sixties.
Tonight shared 6B with Play Your Hunch until 1963 and had the studio to itself until moving to Burbank in 1972.
Hard to believe NBC didn’t air Paar in color until 1960, when you consider NBC O&Os were airing local color shows in the mid 50s.
The Hudson Theater was the first theater in NYC built from the ground up with electricity. The owner drowned after the Titanic sank, but his wife survived, and continued to run the Hudson. One of the starving actors she hired was Barbara Stanwick, who went on to make a movie about the Titanic with Clifton Webb.