<P> It originally aired during late - night . For its first decade, Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show was based at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, with some episodes recorded at NBC - TV's West Coast studios in Burbank, California; on May 1, 1972, the show moved to Burbank as its main venue and remained there exclusively after May 1973 until Carson's retirement . In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked No. 12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 it was ranked No. 22 on their list of 60 Best Series . </P> <P> Johnny Carson's Tonight Show established the modern format of the late - night talk show: a monologue sprinkled with a rapid - fire series of 16 to 22 one - liners (Carson had a rule of no more than three on the same subject) was followed by sketch comedy, then moving on to guest interviews and performances by musicians and stand - up comedians . During the early years of Carson's tenure, his guests included politicians such as former U.S. Vice President (and future U.S. President) Richard M. Nixon, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, but by 1970, Carson primarily interviewed as guests people that had a book, movie, television show, or stage performance to promote . Other regulars were selected for their entertainment or information value, in contrast to those who offered more cerebral conversation; Carson refused to discuss politics on The Tonight Show out of concern it might alienate his audience . </P> <P> Carson's preference for access to Hollywood stars caused the show's move to the West Coast on May 1, 1972 . When asked about intellectual conversation on Tonight, Carson and his staff invariably cited "Carl Sagan, Paul Ehrlich, Margaret Mead, Gore Vidal, Shana Alexander, Madalyn Murray O'Hair" as guests; one television critic stated, however, "he always presented them as if they were spinach for your diet when he did (feature such names)". Family therapist Carlfred Broderick appeared on the show ten times, and psychologist Joyce Brothers was one of Carson's most frequent guests . Carson, in general, did not feature prop comedy acts (Carson was not averse to using prop comedy himself); such acts, with Gallagher being a prominent example, more commonly appeared when guest hosts helmed the program . </P> <P> Carson almost never socialized with guests before or after the show; frequent interviewee Orson Welles recalled that Tonight employees were astonished when Carson visited Welles's dressing room to say hello before a show . Unlike his avuncular counterparts Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Dick Cavett, Carson was a comparatively "cool" host who only laughed when genuinely amused and abruptly cut short monotonous or embarrassingly inept interviewees . Mort Sahl recalled, "The producer crouches just off camera and holds up a card that says,' Go to commercial .' So Carson goes to a commercial and the whole team rushes up to his desk to discuss what had gone wrong, like a pit stop at Le Mans ." Actor Robert Blake once compared being interviewed by Carson to "facing the death squad" or "Broadway on opening night ." The publicity value of appearing on Tonight was so great, however, that most guests were willing to subject themselves to the risk . </P>

Who had the most appearances on the tonight show