For its first decade , Johnny Carson 's `` The Tonight Show '' was based at Thirty 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 was moved exclusively to Burbank .
For its first ten years , Johnny Carson 's `` The Tonight Show '' was based at Thirty Rockefeller Plaza in New York City , on May 1 , 1972 , the show was moved to Burbank , California .