Jack Paar, a pioneer in late night television, brought conversation, comedy, and wit to millions of Americans who tuned in nightly to watch Jack, his celebrated guests, and their antics. This exciting, two-hour documentary takes the viewer on a journey through the life and career of this TV originator; from his early days in radio, in the army, to his pre-Tonight Show years in Hollywood, through the golden era of the late 1950's and 60's when television was live and unrehearsed.
Includes rare, vintage television clips with Judy Garland, John F. Kennedy, and Jonathan Winters, the comedy of Paar guests Bill Cosby, Godfrey Cambridge, and Woody Allen, as well as many insights, provocative and original segments, including Paar's famous walk-off incident from The Tonight Show following being censored (and the disc includes the audio clip of the "W.C." story that caused the incident).
"Forty years ago, an ordinary looking guy from Jackson, Mich., walked onto a small stage in a Manhattan NBC studio and almost single-handedly created the astonishingly successful genre of late-night television. Before Jack Paar, there were various variety shows doing the midnight watch. He simplified the format into a talk show, complete with the sofa-and-desk set that remains a fixture. His secret? Interesting guests, far more so than the celebrity hordes working on product plugs today, and an uncanny ability to listen carefully and actually engage in clever and often witty conversation."
- John Occonnor, New Yrok Times
