Jack Paar

Cranky Cantoninte Jack Paar left the Tonight Show on this date in 1962.  About six months later, Johnny Carson took over the show.  Here's a sampling of some interesting videos from Paar's career.

-Paar did a special in 1986 with clips from his 1957-62 run on "Tonight" (and his subsequent 1962-65 prime time show).  The special is here, and his appearance with David Letterman to promote that is here.  He also promoted it with Johnny Carson here, Paar's first appearance on the Tonight Show after 1962 (he would return just once more, in 1987).  Incidentally, I remember reading that Paar kept many kinescopes (films) of shows for years, then started throwing them out a few at a time since he wasn't sure they had any value.  He tossed them piecemeal because he did not want to put out several huge boxes at once.  His trashman would occasionally report back that he had watched (and enjoyed) some of the films.  I cannot remember this entire story, and I have no idea if it's true, but it seems a shame that this one sanitation expert was the last person to see the shows.
-Three clips: Elsa Maxwell, Robert Kennedy and then a snippet of his infamous 1960 walk-out (and return).  This appears to be taken from one of the two 1980s specials.  And here's an audio recording of the walkout.
-About 10 minutes from a 1963 show with Jonathan Winters.
-Paar and Regis visit Charles Grodin in the 1990s.
-The Tonight Show, September 21, 1960
-One of Paar's most entertaining guests, Oscar Levant, as seen in a series of clips from the 2003 PBS documentary, Smart Television.  The 1997 American Masters documentary, As I Was Saying, is not currently online... but is supposed to be more comprehensive.
-An interesting review of the DVD set, The Jack Paar Collection.
-The only clip I have ever seen of Paar's one-season-wonder 1973 ABC show: Rona Barrett and Sir Clement Freud have a row.

Harry the Hat on Cheers

"Cheers" may not be have been a show for kids back-in-the-day, but it's positively quaint compared to today.  Here's a brilliant scene from season 1 with Harry the Hat (aka Harry Anderson) fooling Cliff.  You may want to to skip ahead to about :33 seconds so as not to bore the kids.

#SNL4kidz

All Systems Family Guy

This may not be that funny to kids, unless they know the Air Supply discography (US albums, not UK).


#SNL4kidz

Family Guy: Are we there yet?

Chris Griffin gets impatient...



#SNL4kidz

Larry David discovers hotels

I don't recall this scene for some reason, but when I stumbled on it on YouTube, I enjoyed it as much as when he goes out for coffee.
#SNL4kidz

Stewie Griffin is ruined

Many people know of Stew Griffin's odd pronunciation of "Cool Whip," but what of the word "ruined"?  I prefer Larry David's take on it, saying "rooned."


#SNL4kidz

Jack Benny, Johnny Carson and Mel Blanc

This clip comes and goes from YouTube every so often, which is too bad since it is a classic.  Jack Benny and Mel Blanc discuss and recreate some legendary bits from their career.  This aired January 23, 1974 and may be the last time Blanc and Benny appeared together.  It's Benny's second-to-last appearance with Carson (and after that, he'd be on once more with guest host Rich Little).  This is textbook comic structure. #SNL4kidz

Lionel Richie v. Adele v. Peter Griffin and Family Guy: "Hello"

Here's Peter Griffin being transported by Lionel Richie's "Hello" (the original video of which is here).  I'm not actually going to link Adele's song. #SNL4kidz

The Great American Dream Machine

Following on yesterday's post about the Videofreex, here's a look at the other side of "underground" video (if you can call it that) from the early 1970s... the Great American Dream Machine, a PBS comedy/reality(?) show.  Highlights from the program have been out on DVD for some time, so I'm not sure if this gem is on there: an earnest musical number featuring Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat and Tears (and The Blues Project).  A compilation of GADM work is here.  And somewhere out there is possibly the best-remembered segment, featuring Albert Brooks' Famous Comedians School.  Other contributors included Marshall Efron, Chevy Chase and Andy Rooney.

The Videofreex

A new documentary profiles the late 1960s/early 1970s work of the Videofreex, a collective of journalists, filmmakers and actors based in New York.  Unlike today's iPhones (which fit in your pocket and shoot HD-broadcast quality video), the Videofreex used large, cumbersome reel-to-reel video machines (known as EIAJ format), which were black-and-white, low resolution, cost thousands of dollars, and were obviously far less technologically advanced than what we have today.  Plus, EIAJ could only make calls within your area code (kidding).
Here's an older documentary of their work: