Jack Paar was just that - Par Excellence as a talk show host. I quit watching when Johnnie Carson took over. What made Paar fun was that he NEVER, ever shut anyone off. If Johnny Winters got wound up one night, Jack would egg him on for an hour and half if he could. Other scheduled guests could either wait or come on another night. And no one seemed to be offended by that. And he was a master at getting Winters or Jack E Leonard started. I remember one night Leonard was on and fumbled for a cigarette. Jack offered him a Winston - one of the loyal sponsors - no thanks, said Leonard and pulled out his pack of Kents. There was a few seconds of banter over the quality of the brands and finally Leonard snapped, Well, at least MINE doesn't look like it was DIPPED in something.....
Alas, we are told that of all those hours and hours of fun, NBC claims not to have saved any of it. And so I guess we can only dream of having a 3 or 5 DVD set of highlights. His later programs, which are on one set at least, never measured up to the old Tonight Show.
Alas, we are told that of all those hours and hours of fun, NBC claims not to have saved any of it. And so I guess we can only dream of having a 3 or 5 DVD set of highlights. His later programs, which are on one set at least, never measured up to the old Tonight Show.