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Steve Allen Said The 1950s Sitcoms Never Showed Real American Family Life
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Steve Allen (1921–2000) was a legendary American television personality, musician, and polymath best known as the first host and creator of The Tonight Show. I interviewed him for my television series on the 1960s in 1989.
He is widely credited with inventing the late-night talk show format as we know it today, introducing several staples of the genre:
Allen established the tradition of the host coming out to deliver a series of jokes to the audience.
He popularized spontaneous comedy by taking cameras out to interview ordinary people.
The physical layout of a host behind a desk interviewing guests on a nearby couch originated during his tenure.
Allen was famous for wacky segments, such as jumping into a vat of gelatin or covering himself in tea bags to become a "giant tea bag."
He was also an accomplished jazz pianist and a record-breaking songwriter, reportedly composing over 8,500 songs (including the classic "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"). He authored more than 50 books, ranging from memoirs to murder mysteries and serious critiques of American culture. He played the title role in The Benny Goodman Story (1956) and later created the award-winning PBS series Meeting of Minds, which featured "interviews" with historical figures played by actors.
The word "hippie" is derived from the term "hip" (or its variant "hep"), which originated in the early 20th century to describe someone who was "in the know" or "aware". While its ultimate etymology is debated—with some theories suggesting it comes from the West African Wolof word hipi ("to open one's eyes")—the term became a staple of African-American jazz culture in the 1930s and 40s.
The first recorded use of the diminutive "hippy" or "hippie" appeared in jazz slang as a way to refer to "hipsters". For example, in a 1945 radio recording, musician Stan Kenton can be heard calling pianist Harry "the Hipster" Gibson "Hippy". At the time, it was often used derisively by black jazz musicians to describe white fans who they felt were trying too hard to emulate their culture.
One of the earliest appearances of "hippie" in print was in a 1952 novel by George Mandel titled Flee the Angry Strangers, where it referred to drug culture "hangers-on".
The first clearly contemporary use of the term to describe the 60s counterculture movement is widely credited to San Francisco journalist Michael Fallon. In a September 5, 1965, article for the San Francisco Examiner titled "A New Paradise for Beatniks," Fallon used "hippie" to describe the new generation of bohemians moving into the Haight-Ashbury district.
He is widely credited with inventing the late-night talk show format as we know it today, introducing several staples of the genre:
Allen established the tradition of the host coming out to deliver a series of jokes to the audience.
He popularized spontaneous comedy by taking cameras out to interview ordinary people.
The physical layout of a host behind a desk interviewing guests on a nearby couch originated during his tenure.
Allen was famous for wacky segments, such as jumping into a vat of gelatin or covering himself in tea bags to become a "giant tea bag."
He was also an accomplished jazz pianist and a record-breaking songwriter, reportedly composing over 8,500 songs (including the classic "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"). He authored more than 50 books, ranging from memoirs to murder mysteries and serious critiques of American culture. He played the title role in The Benny Goodman Story (1956) and later created the award-winning PBS series Meeting of Minds, which featured "interviews" with historical figures played by actors.
The word "hippie" is derived from the term "hip" (or its variant "hep"), which originated in the early 20th century to describe someone who was "in the know" or "aware". While its ultimate etymology is debated—with some theories suggesting it comes from the West African Wolof word hipi ("to open one's eyes")—the term became a staple of African-American jazz culture in the 1930s and 40s.
The first recorded use of the diminutive "hippy" or "hippie" appeared in jazz slang as a way to refer to "hipsters". For example, in a 1945 radio recording, musician Stan Kenton can be heard calling pianist Harry "the Hipster" Gibson "Hippy". At the time, it was often used derisively by black jazz musicians to describe white fans who they felt were trying too hard to emulate their culture.
One of the earliest appearances of "hippie" in print was in a 1952 novel by George Mandel titled Flee the Angry Strangers, where it referred to drug culture "hangers-on".
The first clearly contemporary use of the term to describe the 60s counterculture movement is widely credited to San Francisco journalist Michael Fallon. In a September 5, 1965, article for the San Francisco Examiner titled "A New Paradise for Beatniks," Fallon used "hippie" to describe the new generation of bohemians moving into the Haight-Ashbury district.