These are the late-night Monday–Friday schedules on the three networks for each calendar season, beginning September 1956. All times are Eastern and Pacific.
Talk shows are highlighted in yellow, local programming is white.
Schedule 11:00 PM11:30 PM12:00 AM12:30 AM1:00 AM1:30 AM2:00 AM2:30 AM3:00 AM3:30 AM4:00 AM4:30 PM5:00 AM5:30 AMABClocal programming or sign-offCBSlocal programming or sign-offNBCFall11:15 PM: Tonight Starring Steve Allen*local programming or sign-offWinter11:15 PM: Tonight! America After Darklocal programming or sign-offSpring11:15 PM: Tonight! America After Darklocal programming or sign-offSummer11:15 PM: The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar
Beginning in October, due to Steve Allen's commitment on his Sunday night NBC variety show, Ernie Kovacs became the host of The Tonight Show on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Sources
Brooks & Marsh, The Complete Directory To Prime-Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.), Ballantine, 1984 Castleman & Podrazik, The TV Schedule Book, McGraw-Hill Paperbacks, 1984 TV schedules, The New York Times, September 1956–September 1957 (microfilm)