Jack Paar Show


(4 stars; 3 reviews)

Paar first began his broadcasting career in radio, working first in Cleveland, Ohio and later, throughout the Midwest. After World War II, Paar tried his hand at acting and comedy, frequently appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was during an impressive stint as a guest host on Jack Benny's radio show that he caught the attention of NBC officials who eventually offered him his most well known role, host of The Tonight Show. Paar was the program's host from 1957 to 1962; after 1959 it was known as The Jack Paar Show. Audio Sourced: Jack Paar Show - Free OTR Shows

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

Reviews

Early Paar


(3 stars)

The pressure on Jack Paar must have been incredible. He was an unknown whose career had mainly consisted of making pointed personal quips at senior Army officers. He was plunked into the middle of a comedy/variety format, replacing one of the most popular shows on radio. Jack Benny fans who expected to hear something akin to the Benny show would have been disappointed. There is no "gang" here. Paar doesn't really interact with his main support, who come across as zeroes as a result. He saves his dialogue for characters, who change from week to week. However, Paar seems to have been given good reviews by critics after his show launched. Paar leaned to gentle satire--Fred Allen and Henry Morgan were more biting. On one show, Paar and announcer Hy Averback didn't so much satirise Allen's show but borrowed from it. Averback does a pretty good ersatz Claghorn. Paar had as much trouble figuring out Allen's laugh as Benny did doing impersonations on his show. The jazz trio of Page Cavanaugh, Lloyd Pratt and Al Viola, who got together during the war and afterwards landed a contract with RCA Victor, are a welcome change from band music. Paar's supporting cast is top-notch: Hans Conried, Florence Halop, Lionel Stander, even Dave Barry, Wally Maher and Walter Tetley. His writing staff was in the upper echelon, too: Larry Gelbart and his partner Larry Marks, Artie Stander, and Sid Dorfman. Below, Barry talks about Paar's eventual whining and his "poor, poor me" attitude which carried on through the rest of his career. Setting that aside, these shows are worth tuning in to hear an approach far different than the <i>Tonight</i> Show.

Jack Paar's breakthrough


(5 stars)

Jack Benny saw Jack Paar perform for servicemen in the Pacific during World War II, and was impressed with his comedy material and delivery. He advised Jack to come see him after the war was over. It wasn't until 1947 that Benny finally got in touch with Paar, and decided to give him a break very few "unknown" performers ever got on radio: Jack would become Jack's summer replacement that season. What's more, Benny's company, "Amusement Enterprises", would produce and "package" the show for his sponsor, American Tobacco [Lucky Strike], and that each of Benny's four writers- Sam Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, George Balzer and John Tackaberry- would rotate as "script consultants" during the summer, working with Paar's writers [including Jack Douglas, who later became a fixture on Paar's TV shows]. And Benny himself would turn up as a guest star (along with Dennis Day), as "insurance". Jack's confidence in Paar's ability to be as funny as Benny himself was unprecedented- and was proven correct. "THE JACK PAAR PROGRAM" became one of the most talked-about summer replacement shows of 1947. It was successful enough for American Tobacco to continue it in the fall on ABC...but low ratings, Paar's attitude towards his writing staff {according to Milt Josefsberg, some of them came and went}, and an article on his opinion toward radio comedy [Paar made the mistake of being quoted that comedians like Fred Allen were "old fashioned"] was enough to end Jack's radio show by the end of 1947. But this is history in the making...you may not care for Jack's cynical attitude in his monologues and sketches, but he WAS funny.

If you're familiar with Jack Paar......


(0 stars)

I agree he didn't create the show; but most people give him credit for it because he brought it up from what Steve Allen had done with it (and I think Allen did a great job with the show). But, if you want to give credit where credit is due, Steve Allen pretty much built upon Broadway Open House, which starred Jerry Lester some evenings (with Dagmar as a regular) and Morey Amsterdam on other evenings. I personally like Paar's old radio shows but I don't think there's enough of a body of work still in existence (that I've found, anyway) to rate it.

I kid you not


(4 stars)

X-1 but I am familiar with Jack. He didn't create the Tonight Show (that was Steve Allen) but he was one of the early hosts...and I remember his nightclub appearances and radio program real well. I give this four stars.