Series like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

A series shortlist from the cached Film Atlas engine. The interactive map may include more titles or newer results. These are similarity matches, not a guarantee of age suitability.

1. 

   01

   Tonight Starring Steve Allen

   Same creator

   1954 · 100 min · Talk

   Read synopsis

   Tonight Starring Steve Allen is a talk show hosted by Steve Allen. It was the first version of what eventually became known as The Tonight Show. Tonight was the first late-night talk show, as well as the first late night television series of any time to achieve long-term success. Allen's run as host of the show lasted for two and a half seasons, beginning in fall 1954 and ending with Allen's dismissal in January 1957. During its run it originated from the Hudson Theatre in New York City.

   Why it connects

   • the same creator
   • strong genre and series-style overlap

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2. 

   02

   Tonight Starring Jack Paar

   Similar atmosphere

   1957 · 105 min · Talk

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   Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.

   Why it connects

   • strong genre and series-style overlap
   • shared theme: talk show

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3. 

   03

   Tomorrow

   Similar atmosphere

   1973 · 60 min · Talk

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   Tomorrow is an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder. The show aired on NBC from 1973 to 1982 and featured many prominent guests, including Paul McCartney, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Ayn Rand, John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, Ken Kesey, Charles Manson, The Clash, Johnny Rotten, Ramones, and U2. Los Angeles news anchor Kelly Lange, a good friend of Snyder, was the regular substitute guest host.

   Why it connects

   • strong genre and series-style overlap
   • shared theme: talk show

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4. 

   04

   The Dick Cavett Show

   Similar atmosphere

   1968 · 90 min · Talk

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   The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

   Why it connects

   • strong genre and series-style overlap

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5. 

   05

   The Ed Sullivan Show

   Genre overlap

   1948 · 60 min · Comedy · Talk

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   The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

   Why it connects

   • substantial genre overlap

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6. 

   06

   Late Night with David Letterman

   Shared themes

   1982 · 60 min · Comedy · Talk

   Read synopsis

   Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night with Conan O'Brien then filled the time slot. As of March 2, 2009, the slot has been filled by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It will be filled by Seth Meyers in the spring of 2014, after Fallon becomes host of The Tonight Show.

   Why it connects

   • shared themes: late-night show and talk show
   • substantial genre overlap
   • shared network: NBC Productions, Carson Productions

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7. 

   07

   The Phil Donahue Show

   Similar atmosphere

   1967 · 60 min · Talk

   Read synopsis

   The Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, was an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, and it was broadcast nationwide between 1970 and 1996. In 2002, Donahue was ranked twenty-ninth on TV Guide magazine's list of the fifty greatest television shows of all-time.

   Why it connects

   • strong genre and series-style overlap
   • shared theme: talk show

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8. 

   08

   Get Smart

   Strong series match

   1965 · 25 min · Comedy · Sci-Fi & Fantasy

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   Maxwell Smart, a hilariously inept and maladroit secret agent for CONTROL, battles the nefarious—though equally incompetent—KAOS.

   Why it connects

   • strong recommendation signals

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9. 

   09

   The Johnny Cash Show

   Similar atmosphere

   1969 · 60 min · Talk

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   The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970. Cash opened each show, and its regulars included members of his touring troupe, June Carter Cash and the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and The Tennessee Three, with Australian-born musical director-arranger-conductor Bill Walker. The Statler Brothers performed brief comic interludes. It featured many folk-country musicians, such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Merle Haggard, James Taylor and Tammy Wynette. It also featured other musicians such as jazz great Louis Armstrong, who died eight months after appearing on the show.

   Why it connects

   • strong genre and series-style overlap

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10. 

    10

    The Carol Burnett Show

    Strong series match

    1967 · 54 min · Comedy · Family

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    The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."

    Why it connects

    • strong recommendation signals

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