# Who is the best host of The Tonight Show?

> Seven decades behind one desk: a couple of pioneers who invented the format, a man who owned it for nearly thirty years, and the modern crew who inherited the chair and its feuds. Pick the one you'd stay up for.

*By YPB Team · Published November 10, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-host-of-the-tonight-show*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Johnny Carson** — score 1000/1000
   Hosted The Tonight Show for nearly 30 years, from October 1962 to May 1992, the longest run of any host.
2. **Jay Leno** — score 742/1000
   Took over The Tonight Show in 1992 and hosted it until 2009, then again from 2010 to February 2014.
3. **Jack Paar** — score 548/1000
   Hosted The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962, famously walking off the set in February 1960 over a censored joke.
4. **Jimmy Fallon** — score 392/1000
   Has hosted The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon from New York since February 2014.
5. **Steve Allen** — score 183/1000
   The original host of NBC's The Tonight Show, from its September 1954 debut until January 1957.
6. **Conan O'Brien** — score 183/1000
   Hosted The Tonight Show from June 2009 to January 2010 before leaving NBC in a dispute over its time slot.

Tags: tv shows, comedy, talk shows, nbc, late night, tonight show