Jack Paar: Smart Television (2003 TV Movie) User Reviews

The only problem is that it's too short

[KLH · 9/10 · 20 August 2006]

An interview with Fidel Castro in 1960. Richard Nixon plays his own piano composition in 1961. Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) in 1963 declares that he will be champion of the world in 1964 (and later does so)--and then recites a poem about himself with Liberace providing musical accompaniment. Robert Kennedy's first television appearance after his brother's assassination. Johnathan Winters and Woody Allen being brilliant, early in their careers.

Paar, for those who need the history, was the original host of what became The Tonight Show. He may have been the best. At the least, this documentary makes it clear that he could give Carson a run for his money. (Carson played more for laughs with a human undertone; Paar goes for the human and gets the laughs.) The clips just leave you wanting more, and wishing that Jay Leno had half the brain or a quarter the courage that Paar does.

Way too much "what celebrities think of Paar"

[bkengland · 1/10 · 12 October 2008]

My personal test for documentaries about entertainers is this: If the amount of time spent on other celebrities comments about the subject's "importance" vs. the amount of time showing actual clips of the subject in action is the same or greater, the documentary fails the test, and I go for rewind and eject. This documentary failed the test within the first ten minutes.

I suspect that documentary producers do this to save money they would otherwise have to pay in royalties for the clips. Otherwise, I can't imagine what compels them to use such a format.

In the case of Jack Paar, if his talents are worth learning about, and, by the way, I believe that they are, let's just see his performances unbroken and uninterrupted. The only additions should be those that put his work in historical context, or that flesh out his personality and life story. In any of these cases, the additions should be brief and inserted judiciously.