The best of jack paar (featuring woody allen fidel castro bill cosby bette davis judy garland & more) plus some of paars greatest episodes in their entirety & his favorite monologues & interviews. Studio: Uni ... more »Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 03/30/2004 Run time: 384 minutes Rating: Nr« less
I loved Jack Paar but was very disappointed with this collection. I would have preferred to have several of his shows all the way through than to have had bits and pieces from several of his shows and only a couple of full shows. I know he was an Anglophile but not all of us are as entranced by Brits and I found the entire interview with Randolph Churchill a crashing bore; he was rude and obviously felt he was superior to Americans. Perhaps this will go to someone who will truly enjoy it; I didn't.
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Movie Reviews
AN ABSOLUTE VISUAL CATASTROPHY!!!!!!!
Fred Oberheide | Clayton, MO | 04/20/2004
(1 out of 5 stars)
"In August 1998, a VHS 2 tape release titled "As I Was Saying"
was released. It was a very well done documentary about Jack
Paar, the pioneer and first to introduce the talk show format
to the American public. While the video quality was obviously
not as clear and crisp as that offered by DVD, it neverthless
was good and made for enjoyable viewing. It remains one of the
favorites in my 300 plus collection of VHS tapes. But like
almost all collectors, I am anxious to convert my collection
entirely to DVD as the titles are released in that format. Several weeks ago, I read that "The Jack Paar Collection" was
being released on DVD, and that it contained many of the same
segments of "As I Was Saying". My order was immediately on its
way. It arrived yesterday. To say I was disappointed would be
kind. THIS 3 DISK DVD IS A TRAVISTY! No attempt, whatsoever,
has been made to restore the quality of the 35-40 year old
tapes. They are a visual CHAOS. Even the audio quality is bad.
To see and hear the GREAT Judy Garland looking the worst I have ever seen her SCREECHING out an unknown song called "Never Will
I MARRY" on a London stage is an outrage to all her fans.
There are three complete one hour shows squeezed onto one disk.
The visual quality is terrible. The shows themselves are not much better. The great actress Bette Davis is so hoarse during
her appearance, you can't understand her. And on, and on.I just read that "As I Was Saying" has just been released on
DVD. Do yourself a favor and buy it, and leave this one in the garbage can where it belongs."
HORRIBLE SET!
HH | Sherman Oaks, CA USA | 05/16/2004
(1 out of 5 stars)
"In addition to what the other person said about the lack of clips, the extras include an interview with an NBC page??? Plus NO attempt to include clips of WHEN Jack Paar walked out, nor any of the other classic segments. This is just a compilation of public domain material not copyrighted by NBC they threw on without thought. Why don't they just put on the NBC special that Jack himself hosted in the mid 90's? It had all his best clips PLUS his own commentary about them such as with the Beatles "Didn't you ever think Ringo was underpaid?"..."
Great Paar Collection, with One Problem
A. McIntyre | Philadelphia, PA United States | 04/01/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As someone who grew up with Jack Paar's Friday night program, I love this three CD set. Smart TV, the interviews with famous politicians and the monologues are all first rate. All present Paar as he was, a man from whom you could expect the unexpected.
The third disc - three full length Paar programs -- was a slight
letdown. I am disappointed that the famous Garland/Goulet show
(which Paar thought was his best) was substituted for a subpar Paar/Garland program from London. All in all, a must for anyone who enjoys great TV."
Where's the real good stuff?
J. Beers | Bronx, NY United States | 07/20/2004
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I bought this DVD hoping to recapture the 50's "Paar" experience. It didn't happen. Some short segments are very entertaining - but there aint' enough of em! Where, Oh Where, are Charlie Weaver, Genvieve, Dodie Goodman, Hans Conried, Hermione Gingold, Jack Douglas and his charming Japanese wife, Rieko? These were the "Regulars" we tuned in nightly to see interact with Jack. Jack himself would be disappointed. You 50's folks, think twice about buying this superficial compilation."
Could have been done better
David Siegfried | Chicago, IL United States | 09/10/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Being born in 1958, I never saw the Jack Paar show when it was on because I was too young, but I have always heard about the mercurial Paar. The set starts off well with a documentary featuring old footage mixed with current interviews with Paar sidekick Hugh Downs, Dick Cavett (who wrote for the show and was himself a Paar disciple) and the Smothers Brothers, among others. The second disk contains show highlights including Bobby Kennedy's first TV appearance after the assassination of his brother, the Liberace/Cassius Clay duet, Richard Nixon playing the piano, and a Billy Graham interview, which I could not suffer through.
The highlights of Disk 3 include Jonathan Winters teasing Bette Davis, who teaches everyone how to do an impression of herself (everyone smoking) and an obviously inebriated Judy Garland doing 2 songs and holding hands with Paar during the interview. Yes, Bette Davis is hoarse and Garland is way out there, but these are fascinating to watch BECAUSE of these quirks, you would never see anything like this done on TV today, it has gotten so slick and produced.
The drawbacks are: 1 Some of the clips from disk 1 are repeated on the other disks, which is maddening. 2. The great Judy Garland / Robert Goulet show is discussed, but the show is not shown, only a short clip. 3. Worst of all, where is the infamous walk-off???
I wouldn't purchase this set, but it is definitely worth renting to see the originator of the unscripted talk show format, perhaps the most copied format in all of TV. The on-line services have it available for rental."