Bishop was part of the legendary 1960s entertainment phenomenon "the Rat Pack", and other members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford occasionally appeared on his show, sometimes as unbilled surprises, though Frank Sinatra never did.

Famously, sidekick/announcer Regis Philbin walked off the program as a result of the continuous drubbing he had been receiving from critics, stating that the network never wanted him and he feared that he was injuring the series,[3] but he soon returned.

[5] The program was shown five nights a week, Monday through Friday, with Carson as competition on NBC and, briefly, The Las Vegas Show hosted by Bill Dana on the short-lived U/United Network, and Merv Griffin also hosting a talk show on CBS, all in the same time slot, from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am.

Jack Paar appeared on one of the early broadcasts as a kind of co-host as a favor to Bishop.

[7] Within two years, Bishop was once again a regular guest host on The Tonight Show.