September 29, 1957 - March 21, 1961

Presented on "DUPONT SHOW OF THE MONTH." 
8th broadcast. 
Revamped television adaptation of Victor Herbert's 1906 operetta. Three individuals pass through a small Dutch town and are affected by the legend of the Red Mill. Harpo Marx and Evelyn Rudie were the narrators. No open or close recorded. 

HIGLIGHTS:
"Every Day Is Ladies Day"........Edward Andrews & Elaine Stritch
"Dream Love"............................Shirley Jones
"When You're Pretty"..................Donald O'Connor
"We'll Walk"...............................O'Connor, Elaine May, Mike Nichols
"Moonbeams".............................Shirley Jones
"In a Little World for Two"...........Jones, Mike Nichols, Elaine May
"Because You're You".................Mike Nichols, Elaine May
"In Old New York......................... Donald O'Connor
"I'm Ready"..................................Elaine Stritch

NOTE:
According to the review in the New York Times (April 21, 1958), this production was "the FIRST  television musical broadcast to be presented on the home screen by means of Ampex magnetic video tape technology." .90% was transmitted on tape, 10% was live. 

The original color 2" Quad Video Tape used for broadcast has been lost. 

This original audio tape, recorded direct line at the time of the original television broadcast on 1/4" reel to reel audio tape contains a superior sound track compared to the surviving B/W kinescope of this broadcast, with its less than pristine audio.                         

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. 

Opening announced by Hugh Downs. Jack Paar monologue. He recalls incident when his daughter, Randi, was invited to have breakfast with Rev. Billy Graham at the same hotel all were staying. Also, Jack reminds his audience the personalities who got their first opportunities at stardom by appearing on his show...Carol Burnett, Shelley Berman, Genevieve, Betty Johnson. Interview with Dodi Goodman, who tells Jack story of the first car she just bought even though she doesn't know know how to drive. Jack tells of his first car a model T Ford which he purchased for $15...but ashamed of it and never drove it. Rita Gardner and Kenneth Nelson sing melody by composer Jerry Herman. Marion Marlow sings "Lover I Surrender To My Heart." She talks with Jack about plans to travel to Africa.

Jack introduces Kay Thompson who discusses her play "Eloise"and star of the Playhouse 90 production, Evelyn Rudie. At seven years of age Kay describes Evelyn as "a very precocious child." 
Kay, who wrote the song, "I love a Violin" joins Jack and Dodi in a rendition...all singing together. 

Jack admits to not being comfortable talking to strangers. 

*Most of this series does not survive in any broadcast form. Kinescopes were discarded, burned, decomposed...whereabouts unknown. 2" Quadruplex Video Tape was expensive ($300 for a one hour reel), weighting 26 pounds, requiring great storage space. Video Tape could easily be erased and was used for new program recordings...retained briefly for a re-run and then erased or discarded. Legend has it that even Jack Paar himself hired a junk man to come to his home garage and paid to have JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW recordings discarded (reels of kinescopes and video tapes) that were now cluttering up his space. 

During this era in television history archiving television programming was not a primary concern or vision, and considered an arcane pursuit. 

ARCHIVAL TELEVISION AUDIO, INC. retains over 70 complete and excerpt JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW air checks (34 hours), including the complete Jack Paar's first anniversary telecast which was broadcast live from Havana Cuba (June 28, 1958). These originally recorded off the air pristine sound direct line 1/4" reel to reel audio tracks, recorded at the time of the original broadcasts, represent the only broadcast record of a "lost" visual telecast. ATA is the largest single repository (one collection), in the United Sates of Jack Paar Tonight Shows recordings. The combined archives of The Library of Congress, Paley Center for Media, and UCLA Film & Television retain a composite total of 13 hours of representative JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW broadcasts excerpts, all KINESCOPES (sound quality inferior to originally direct line 1/4" reel to reel home recordings at the time of the broadcast). No COMPLETE intact visual and audio broadcasts survive. There are no extant video taped surviving RECORDINGS of the JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW...not even an excerpt. 

For four years and eight months Jack Paar reigned supreme as host of the TONIGHT SHOW with a crew of regulars, but only two stayed with him for the entire run; announcer Hugh Downs and band leader Jose Melis, a former army buddy. Familiar faces who appeared many times with Jack included Dody Goodman, Betty Johnson, Elsa Maxwell, Alexander King, Genevieve, Jack Douglas; and wife Reiko, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hans Conreid, Peggy Cass, Cliff (Charley Weaver) Arquette, and Jonathan Winters.

 Hugh Downs substituted for Jack Paar 79 times, more than any other substitute host. There were 20 different substitute hosts for Paar over the period of the series run. Joey Bishop substituted for Paar 31 times. Arlene Francis, 30 times, Jonathan Winters, 26 times, Orson Bean, 21 times and Johnny Carson 15 times. All together there were 243 broadcasts which had substitute hosts filling in for Paar during Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW tenure. The title of the late night broadcast changed to THE JACK PAAR SHOW which took effect on February 3, 1958. The first video-taped broadcast aired on January 5, 1959. The LAST LIVE broadcast was aired July 3, 1959. "Best of Paar " Re-runs began on July 10,1959. Beginning July 20, 1959 Jack Paar began taking off Monday nights & guest hosts would substitute for him (approximately on alternate Mondays). The first color broadcast aired on September 19, 1960.
Theme music, "Everything is Coming Up Roses" was first used beginning in the Fall of 1959. 

Location broadcast telecasts of the program telecast away from the Hudson Theater in New York City occurred 14 times during this series run. 

Jan. 13-17, 1958                     Miami Beach, Florida
July 28, 1958                        Havana,Cuba           
Nov. 3-21, 1958                      Hollywood, California
March 2-20, 1959                     Hollywood, California
Nov. 10-12, 1959                  Nassau, Bahamas (Video Tape)
Nov. 30- Dec. 10, 1959               Hollywood, California
March 28-April 1, 1960            London, England (Video Tape)
Nov.9-11, 1960                    Hawaii (Video Tape) - b&w
Nov.14-24, 1960                     Hollywood, California
March 21-24, 1961                 London, England (Video Tape)
Sept. 12-14, 1961                 West Berlin (Video Tape)
Nov. 14-17, 1961                  Hollywood, California (Tape)
Nov. 21-24, 1961                  Hollywood, California (Tape)
March 13-16, 1962                 London, England (Video Tape)




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. 

Second broadcast from Hollywood, California.

Announcer, Hy Averback subs for Hugh Downs.

This was the first time that Oscar Levant appeared on television with Jack Paar. Apparently the repartee between Paar & Levant were in some questionable taste...some humor at the expense of the mentally and emotionally disturbed. Oscar Levant, having himself been in sanitariums for the mentally ill would always quip with sharp humor about conditions at these facilities as well as his own neurosis and foibles. There would be ten future guest appearances by Oscar Levant on the JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW, as well as the JACK PAAR PROGRAM and one special JACK PAAR PRESENTS. 

Those guest appearances included: (*Indicates archived by ATA). 

TONIGHT SHOW JACK PAAR
1-*November 5, 1958
2-November 12, 1958
3-March 6, 1959
4-March 13, 1959
5-April 26, 1960

JACK PAAR PRESENTS
*April 26, 1960

JACK PAAR PROGRAM
1-*December 7, 1962
2-*February 8, 1963
3-October `11, 1963
4-*April 3, 1964
5-*December 18, 1964

On the segment "It's All Relative" guest is Peter Menjou, son of Adolf Menjou.

*Most of this series does not survive in any broadcast form. Kinescopes were discarded, burned, decomposed...whereabouts unknown. 2" Quadruplex Video Tape was expensive ($300 for a one hour reel), weighting 26 pounds, requiring great storage space. Video Tape could easily be erased and was used for new program recordings...retained briefly for a re-run and then erased or discarded. Legend has it that even Jack Paar himself hired a junk man to come to his home garage and paid to have JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW recordings discarded (reels of kinescopes and video tapes) that were now cluttering up his space. 

During this era in television history archiving television programming was not a primary concern or vision, and considered an arcane pursuit. 

ARCHIVAL TELEVISION AUDIO, INC. retains over 70 complete and excerpt JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW air checks (34 hours), including the complete Jack Paar's first anniversary telecast which was broadcast live from Havana Cuba (June 28, 1958). These originally recorded off the air pristine sound direct line 1/4" reel to reel audio tracks, recorded at the time of the original broadcasts, represent the only broadcast record of a "lost" visual telecast. ATA is the largest single repository (one collection), in the United Sates of Jack Paar Tonight Shows recordings. The combined archives of The Library of Congress, Paley Center for Media, and UCLA Film & Television retain a composite total of 13 hours of representative JACK PAAR TONIGHT SHOW broadcasts excerpts...none complete. 



 For four years and eight months Jack Paar reigned supreme as host of the TONIGHT SHOW with a crew of regulars, but only two stayed with him for the entire run; announcer Hugh Downs and band leader Jose Melis, a former army buddy. Familiar faces who appeared many times with Jack included Dody Goodman, Betty Johnson, Elsa Maxwell, Alexander King, Genevieve, Jack Douglas; and wife Reiko, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hans Conreid, Peggy Cass, Cliff (Charley Weaver) Arquette, and Jonathan Winters.

 Hugh Downs substituted for Jack Paar 79 times, more than any other substitute host. There were 20 different substitute hosts for Paar over the period of the series run. Joey Bishop substituted for Paar 31 times. Arlene Francis, 30 times, Jonathan Winters, 26 times, Orson Bean, 21 times and Johnny Carson 15 times. All together there were 243 broadcasts which had substitute hosts filling in for Paar during Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW tenure. The title of the late night broadcast changed to THE JACK PAAR SHOW which took effect on February 3, 1958. The first video-taped broadcast aired on January 5, 1959. "Best of Paar " Re-runs began on July 10,1959. Beginning July 20, 1959 Jack Paar began taking off Monday nights & guest hosts would substitute for him (approximately on alternate Mondays). The first color broadcast aired on September 19, 1960.
Theme music, "Everything is Coming Up Roses" was first used beginning in the Fall of 1959. 

Location broadcast telecasts of the program telecast away from the Hudson Theater in New York City occurred 14 times during this series run. 

Jan. 13-17, 1958                     Miami Beach, Florida
July 28, 1958                        Havana,Cuba           
Nov. 3-21, 1958                      Hollywood, California
March 2-20, 1959                     Hollywood, California
Nov. 10-12, 1959                  Nassau, Bahamas (Video Tape)
Nov. 30- Dec. 10, 1959               Hollywood, California
March 28-April 1, 1960            London, England (Video Tape)
Nov.9-11, 1960                    Hawaii (Video Tape) - b&w
Nov.14-24, 1960                     Hollywood, California
March 21-24, 1961                 London, England (Video Tape)
Sept. 12-14, 1961                 West Berlin (Video Tape)
Nov. 14-17, 1961                  Hollywood, California (Tape)
Nov. 21-24, 1961                  Hollywood, California (Tape)
March 13-16, 1962                 London, England (Video Tape)




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. 

   From Hollywood. In his monologue Jack Paar reiterates what occurred two nights ago between himself and Mickey Rooney who was intoxicated when he came on the program. Rooney made cracks about Paar, and Paar reciprocated by asking him to leave. 
The following day Rooney challenged Paar to come to his hotel room to duke it out. Paar decided to come. What transpired is the basis for tonight's monologue. Guest Jack Benny approaches Jack and requests that they both make up. 

Interesting interview with Sterling Hayden who defied the courts taking seven children and 13 adults and absconding materialistic Hollywood on his vessel to points unknown in the Pacific. 

Jack engages in a short funny exchange with child actress Evelyn Rudie.                                                                                                

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. 

 Jack Paar describes guest Mickey Rooney who was drunk, and who Paar asked to leave the show two nights ago (Dec. 1, 1959).  
Jack Benny urges Jack to "make up."

NOTE:
So, why did Mickey show up drunk on Jack Paar’s The Tonight Show? Rooney was still lit from staying up to celebrate his wedding anniversary the night before when he arrived for the broadcast. When asked what Ava Gardner was really like, a belligerent Rooney replied, “Well, Mr. Paar, may I say this, she is more woman than you will ever know.” After a few thick-tongued utterances from his guest, Paar observed, “I think you’re loaded.”

Rooney then proceeded to express disdain over the previous night’s show. “Do you enjoy it tonight?” Paar asked. “Not necessarily,” Rooney grumbled. Before Paar could finish asking “Would you care to leave?” Mickey had up and walked out. The next day Rooney responded to the headlines with, “A man would have to be drunk to appear on that show. Paar is the dregs of television.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Jack Paar accepted Mickey Rooney's invitation to meet with him in his hotel room. Paar relates the details of this meeting in his monologue.


Guest Sterling Hayden comments on sailing away in June 1959 with his four children, 7 9, 10 & 11 years of age, and thirteen adults, from Los Angeles, to the South Pacific, defying a court order. 

Haunted by the friends he’d betrayed, fed up with the subpar movies he was making (cast in westerns, he “couldn’t ride worth a goddamn” and was “the slowest draw west of the Rhine”), flat broke and waging a custody battle with his ex-wife, Hayden escaped into the arms of his first love. In defiance of a court order, he loaded up his four children on a schooner called Wanderer and set sail for the South Seas. Hayden describes his adventure with Paar. 

At the top of the show, a brief interview by Paar with child actress Evelyn Rudie who describes the following moment in her life. 

In 1959, at age 9, I disappeared from my Los Angeles home and was feared kidnapped. But it turned out I had booked a flight to Washington, D.C., on my own, and boarded the airplane unaccompanied. When I was taken off the plane at Baltimore, I told the authorities that I wanted to visit First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, whom I had met previously, at the White House. I wanted to ask her if she could  help me get a part in a TV series.

NOTE: THE COMPLETE STORY WAS SHARED BY  EVELYN RUDIE TO PHIL GRIES  AND CAN BE READ IN THE ATA TESTIMONIAL LINK.
 
 For four years and eight months, Jack Paar reigned supreme as host of the Tonight Show with a crew of regulars, but only two stayed with him for the entire run; announcer Hugh Downs and band leader Jose Melies, a former army buddy. Familiar faces who appeared many times with Jack included Dody Goodman, Betty Johnson, Elsa Maxwell, Alexander King, Genevieve, Jack Douglas; and wife Reiko, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hans Conried, Peggy Cass, Cliff (Charley Weaver) Arquette, and Johnathan Winters. Hugh Downs substituted for Jack Paar 79 times, more than any other substitute host there were 20 different performers over the period of the series run. Joey Bishop substituted for Paar 31 times. Arlene Francis, 30 times, Jonathan Winters, 26 times, Orson Bean, 21 times, and Johnny Carson 15 times. Altogether there were 243 broadcasts that had substitute hosts filling in for Paar during Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW tenure. The title of the late-night broadcast changed to THE JACK PAAR SHOW which took effect on February 3, 1958. The first videotaped broadcast aired on January 5, 1959. "Best of Paar " Re-runs began on July 10, 1959. The first color broadcast aired on September 19, news bulletin on the "Explorer I"  satellite, launched today.