The Jack Paar Collection
May 2004 Reviewed by: Marc Mickelson Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

It is indisputable that Jack Paar, who died in January of this year, was a television pioneer. So, why is he virtually unknown to people of my early-40s generation? Easy. His run as one of the most successful TV personalities ended in 1962, when he walked away from five fruitful years as the king of late-night programming. His time in the spotlight was short, but his influence was profound. He virtually created the format for late-night talk shows. He hosted burgeoning major talents such as Bill Cosby and Jonathan Winters. You can see his charm in Johnny Carson and his irreverence in David Letterman. He took chances with guests, often booking those with no connection to each other for the same show, then putting them together to see what happened. His monologues were often funny and sometimes brilliant, and he always seemed like a good friend you had never met.

How do I know all of this? I've watched over six hours of programming on The Jack Paar Collection, a dynamic three-disc retrospective in which Paar's unique talent speaks for itself via many clips and full-length episodes of The Tonight Show and its successor, The Jack Paar Show. In essence, The Jack Paar Collection is a PBS documentary with over two discs’ worth of supplementary materials. The documentary, Jack Paar: Smart Television, leads off and gives those of us who know little about its subject some necessary background before tackling the rest of the first disc, a series of clips with famous guests, and the two discs that follow. Highlights include Richard Nixon playing piano; Robert Kennedy in his first public appearance after his brother's assassination; Cassius Clay on the eve of his fight with Sonny Liston, reciting poetry accompanied by Liberace; and Judy Garland dueting with Robert Goulet while Paar plays practical joker by mixing up their cue cards.

Paar is the ringleader of this circus, and he presides by giving his show over to his guests, whom he encourages to be utterly themselves. Paar gets his time in the spotlight with his monologues, which often mix jokes (a good many of which are groan inducing by today's more crude standards), observations from his domestic life, and those current events that vex his curious mind. Curiosity informs Jack Paar's being, and his being is a blend of warmth, sincerity, wit, and intelligence. We have some fine (and many not-so-fine) talk-show hosts plying their trade today, but none that I know offers Jack Paar's mix of abilities.

The mostly black-and-white picture and mono sound of this DVD set are limited by the technology of early TV, but this does not hinder the enjoyment of the clips and complete shows therein. Some night when there is nothing on the 114 cable channels you receive, pop in The Jack Paar Collection. It's the original must-see TV.

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