1986 - Jack Paar

Late Night with David Letterman

[@lenhummel5614]

Jack Paar was an amazingly brilliant storyteller and nervous wit. There was never anyone quite like him.

[@johnpat3622]

Not only was Jack Paar one of the greatest talk show hosts, he was also one of the greatest talk show guests.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

Jack Parr around this same time did the Johnny Carson show and it really shows how good Carson was, He let Jack Parr, talk, mainly let Jack go on and on at his own pace, Making it one of the best interviews Johnny did. check it out, and see how different interview styles can be.

[@jamesmichael3607]

Jonny’s desk didn’t have to be a foot higher either . Never was same after Carson retired. No one left could hold a candle

[@davidrice3337]

He seems more loose here -

[@BlueSky...]

There is only one Jack Paar. Brilliant.

[@herecomesforego1787]

His heyday was a bit before my time, but now I realize he reminds me a lot of Jack Lemmon

[@UncleDuTheWatchman]

Jack Paar and Judy Garland are probably the best interviewees in history. GREAT storytellers.

[@davidrice3337]

Judy ? C'mon now

[@MichaelSmith-jw8qw]

Jack Paar was unique and special--miss him a lot--loved that voice

[@rr7firefly]

The man was in a class of respectability all by himself: intelligent, urbane and wonderfully unpredictable. If he was around today could he hold an audience or would he be too esoteric?

[@MichaelSmith-jw8qw]

he would do fine

[@Bix12]

I think he's much too sophisticated for a modern viewing audience to appreciate. A modern audience is simply not intellectually equipped to understand the sophisticated banter, witty asides, or cultural references. Heaven forbid a discussion relating to subjects garnered from the classical educations of yesteryear. Imagine! The audience would be completely lost.

[@rr7firefly]

@102471376116697374135 I have to agree with you. I am an architect and industrial designer. When I speak to people at social events I get blank expressions lots of times. I am not discussing anything highly esoteric such as my Masters thesis, just talking about basic stuff that most high school graduates would know. Once at an event on March 15, I realized that it was "the Ides of March, just like in the play "Julius Caesar" People glared, and I explained, "We had to read that Shakespeare play in high school Sophomore English class." I was surprised that they felt they'd been insulted.

[@MichaelSmith-jw8qw]

no one reads anymore --I finished 150 plus books in the past 5 years--you must feed your mind or it dies

[@LenHummelChannel]

Great clip. Jack is [of course] very neurotic, ... but clearly brilliant and loves to share and converse. he was the guy who REALLY began and launched "Talk Host TV". The ONLY person to have *possibly* surpassed Jack as a talk show conversationalist was the very bright (and urbane) Dick Cavett.

[@essessessesq]

Cavett was given his start as a TV show writer by......JACK PAAR !

[@44032]

@@essessessesq He got the job by writing an introduction: "Now here they are, Jayne Mansfield!"

[@essessessesq]

thanks, did not know that!@@44032

[@norelcopc2431]

Dave's director Hal Gurnee also directed Jack Parr's Tonight Show.

[@freddylubin]

Paar knew how to tell a story.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

Parr was a storyteller, a lost art in our fast-paced world. A storyteller is not about a punchline, but more on taking the listener on a journey filled with emotion and feelings.

[@GH-oi2jf]

Freddy Lubin - But he didn’t know when to stop.

[@andrews527]

Brings tears to my eyes - I'm four years old again watching JP.

[@JSB1882]

Jack Paar was the best! Cavett and Tom Snyder captured some of what Paar had. There's a better interview with Letterman where Letterman lets Paar go. It's so sad that pretty much all the Jack Paar episodes are lost.

[@oleogabalo]

Smart, charming, elegant man. Way before my time I didn't know of him until now. I was missing out.. These guys are certainly out of print now. Pity.

[@mallorybesom1717]

Very well put. Smart, charming and elegant are three words that well and clearly define Jack Paar. He was inimitable, even though everyone after him tried to imitate him. One of the great raconteurs of the species.

[@stevemazz3121]

Jack Parr laid the foundation for the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.... Jack says Johnny took it to great heights.

[@brianherrington7226]

+Steve Mazz Paar was the innovator for sure. Check out the Jack Paar Carson post from Jacks first of two appreances on The Tonight Show with Carson in Nov of 1986 and you can see Johnny has huge respect for Jack and Jack shows no jealously or any ill feelings in fact hes quite humble in his praise for Johnny and how he built his empire.

[@essessessesq]

Just as an aside, the TV talk show format was created by the first host of "Tonight!" from '54 to '57, Steve Alllen: he created the set with desk, microphone, guest's chair, the monologue, the band, the skits, going into the audience to ask questions, the "man on the street camera" etc....all Steve Allen....he left Tonight to do a prime time weekly show for more $$ and less work!

[@JJJBRICE]

@@brianherrington7226 I agree with your points .

[@Milkman4279]

Jack Paar is always wonderful and a class act. What is Dave's problem? He's the one that needs to relax and settle down.

[@waynej2608]

I thought they were both real 'on'. Great interplay there, from two bright, engaging fellas.

[@kalipress4338]

Jack Paar was wonderful!!

[@j3e125]

The first king of Late Night, Jack Paar is amazing! Only Johnny Carson would be worthy of taking the throne.

[@essessessesq]

well, Paar was good, but Steve Allen started the Tonight show and did the first 3 years.

[@rsr789]

He would live for another 18 years.

[@coffeehigh420]

damn right !

[@seattlegolfer]

Dave and Johnny both had very authentic laughs. This is an obvious dig to Fallon.

[@ssnoc]

Paar was like a hummingbird - he would flutter at 1000mph

[@simplehuman1798]

The man had the balls to quit when he was told something ridiculous by his bosses. He rules...

[@bneale]

Yeah, he really showed them. Idiot.

[@simplehuman1798]

@@bneale ??????????? Brave much???

[@rr7firefly]

Class and style were the norms in the days of the Jack Paar Show. Not only did people dress up for television shows (onstage and audience) but they also dressed up to travel on trains and airplanes. Now people fly Southwest Airlines in t-shirts and flip flops.

[@Bix12]

I just had a "discussion" with someone who called me an old, arthritic geezer who was up past my bedtime because I voiced the opinion that, compared to Jack Paar (or anyone for that matter), Jay Leno had the charm & intelligence of a baboon. I also informed him that JP was an intelligent and sophisticated host who possessed an acerbic, subtle wit, which, to me, the viewer, was vastly more satisfying than the moronic and juvenile antics of Jay Leno. And now we are witnessing the next wave of late night hosts who continue in this quest to lower the bar, and suck any remaining vestiges of intelligence from the room. It's a stark testimonial to just how far we, as a (once) cultured society, have fallen in the span of 50 years. I can still recall riveting conversations with people such as Peter Ustinov, Orson Welles, Richard Burton & Jonathan Miller, etc., etc., etc. Now...it's a dismal and depressing wasteland.

[@rr7firefly]

***** To satisfy my curiosity I have sampled some of "today's fare" (although not often, as I like to get my sleep). These hosts play really inane games with their guests (guessing celebrities through each other's impersonations, lip-synching popular songs, etc). Everything is a joke; serious discussion is not allowed. Is this to attract viewers among people who flunked out of middle school? Or people with impaired attention spans?

[@Bix12]

Noe Berengena Yes to both questions. But it's also for those people who didn't flunk out of middle school. Our education system is nothing more than a training ground designed to turn out gullible, brain washed consumers. We don't teach critical thinking skills in our classrooms, as, say, Finland or Sweden does. No, we teach using short term memory exercises. This technique has created a vast population of extremely gullible, moronic adults...and more are on their way. They are nothing more than worker drones programmed to purchase crap they don't need. A perfect consumer. Look no further than the last election for proof that millions and millions of Americans are nothing more than gullible fools. Trained chimpanzees, if you will. And they need their simple-minded distractions and amusements (if they suddenly realized what they were, say Instant Intelligence were to strike them in their brain, the sudden shock of who/what they actually were would so great, they'd kill themselves)...but they're not very bright at all, hence Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert etc., etc.

[@steveconn]

Well said. While I disagree with the Colbert estimation (he's actually a decent interviewer), that basically sums up the decline of American thought in the twentieth century.

[@rr7firefly]

***** The great opiates -- mindless television and rabid consumerism (to name just two). The Christmas season is particularly sad -- drones (as you brilliantly call them) rushing into stores to fight over unnecessary purchases. They've been trained to vie for the officially sanctioned prizes that placate their desperate grab for some kind of validation. That's all they want because that's all they know. Anything challenging would cause them to examine the setup and realize the hoax.

[@garymcaleer6112]

The man who started it all (along with Steve Allen).

[@danielmaler4722]

Letterman is around the age today that Jack Paar was in this interview.

[@coffeehigh420]

Daniel Maler and Letterman looks 10 years older

[@MJDHX]

What an incredible life at such a young age.

[@djmcnerney]

There was a reviewer who once said of Paar, “you dare not look away from him for fear of missing a spontaneous nervous breakdown.” I’m paraphrasing the reviewer and I can’t remember the his name. But it’s a story Dick Cavett tells.

[@arthowardatnight]

Amazing people today are barely aware of who Johnny Carson was, and probably really don't know anything about Jack Paar. I've got his autobiography "I Kid You Not." One of the original kings of late night!

[@larrywax3638]

Where it all started.

[@CapnBlood]

That guy had class. What a wit Jack Paar (o^-^)b

[@conserve1energy]

The great Jack Paar was such a charismatic person, and he wore his emotions on his sleeve. Well, it would appear that maybe Jack was a bit put-off that David kept on cutting him off to interject with either a question of a comment, and thus not letting him relax to tell his stories or jokes in peace. I think Jack wanted to be shown more respect, to be listened to fully without interruption. Well, he definitely deserved that because, after all, Jack was the one who started it all !!!

[@anatole69]

conserve1energy David got much better at giving space to the guests who could tell a joke or a funny story, he used Johnny as his model for it.

[@Jolar70]

Letterman seemed to have an almost allergic reaction to warmed-over Hollywood anecdotes if there was nothing spontaneous left in them, and the young audience was always on Letterman's side, they could smell it. I think Carson got Letterman's style right away (very different eras but they had similarities in background and personality) but some older stars who came on, treating Late Night like it was 1972, recanting their rehearsed party stories could REALLY die up there! And Letterman would start taking the piss out of their air-tight sets. I don't think Dave was being cruel or disrespectful, I just think he knew what worked on his own show. Paar certainly wasn't bombing (and he'd aged really well), it just seems like Dave was fighting for a truly present interview instead of a package of rehearsed stories.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

@@anatole69 totally agree Johnny did an interview with Jack about the same time, The way Johnny gave loose reins on Jack made for one of the best interviews seen, Check it out here on You Tube

[@ComedyJakob]

Dave did respect Jack Paar very much, I think that's why he was asked on the show a few times. And Steve Allen started it all!!!

[@mikestevenson576]

Conflict was sort of the format of Dave's show for the 2nd half of the 1980s.

[@assfuckedbyelephant]

what an interesting personality this man had and david had and has such too :)

[@browsertab]

I can see how Letterman might think that way. Paar seems very aloof.

[@PatriciaMarie100]

Jack Parr is adorable

[@delawareweatherguy8893]

Classic Storyteller.

[@jackreacher.]

My homeboy grew up watching Jack Parr he acts and speaks just like him. Homeboy's little brother watched David Letterman and he imitates Letterman. With copycats everywhere. Who did Jack Parr Copy?

[@RossRossiter]

Tonight's show is sponsored by the colour grey

[@xy9394]

Glad to get to know Jack through these online shows...Great Guy

[@paulsaul2487]

That was a great story. Really was.

[@steveconn]

These appearances must have meant a great deal to Dave, getting to interview one of his childhood hosting idols and influences.

[@alanshadastrokeanddiedinho2897]

He didn't let Parr talk.

[@MrGoogster]

@@alanshadastrokeanddiedinho2897 He wouldn't let him digress to the point of incoherence.

[@justinbrockshus8483]

"Of ALL the young people.....".

[@davidrice3337]

This dude and Jack Benny , Groucho Marks, Bing Crosby , Cary Grant would get together , smoke weed and watch Alice kooper in concert!

[@pronemanoldbutyoung5548]

Jack has some great stories to tell, but what a pain in the ass guest to have for Dave or anybody else. Just look at Paar interview JFK or somebody else. Jack obviously loves one person and one person only, and that is Jack Paar.

[@miketheyunggod2534]

The original late nite talk show host.

[@MrKimedmundson]

smart guy Jack...loved his show ....JFK assassination show

[@googoo-gjoob]

imagine the worlds change...Jack took over the Tonight Show while Eisenhower was POTUS.

[@mikefolknation2851]

Only Paar and Harvey Pekar could tell Letterman to shut up.

[@Whatsnormal637]

3:00 🤺💐

[@flubblert]

The guy really was just a nervous emotional wreck wasn't he? I guess that's what made him so interesting.

[@CaptainSpalding72]

Paar was one the types that has to prove to you how smart he is.

[@d.e.b.b5788]

And you see right here, the problem with Letterman (and Leno, and Fallon, and Kimmel); they can't keep themselves from interrupting their guests. Only Colbert seems to have learned from Carson, that they are there to make the guest look good.

[@cactaceous]

It seems as if Paar is not interrupted he can talk without breathing for days. Look at his 1983 appearance on Late Night. I barely remember Letterman speaking a full sentence.

[@MrGoogster]

@@cactaceous If Dave didn't intercede, Paar would have gone down the nearest rabbit hole and disappeared entirely.

[@miketheyunggod2534]

😆 🤣. 9:12.

[@rucksackzen8802]

Before you praise Jack Paar, read his homophobia in his own words. He was a closeted egocentric who only cared about Jack Paar, according to those who knew him.

[@Mulder25j]

Jack Paar, who was before my time, is a poor interview. He is no Johnny Carson.

[@Hot80s]

I love Jack at this age running laps around young, cocky dave

[@CusterFlux]

Paar's actually really nervous - so he's trying a little too hard: understandable.

[@michaelmcgarry7701]

He was a great talk show host... much better than Carson...

[@essessessesq]

Paar's show was much more intellectual than Steve Allen's Tonight Show before him, or Carson's Tonight Show after him.....Paar was sophisticated talk with guests, instead of clowning around------

[@HardRockMiner]

Paar sets off my gaydar.

[@VideoAmericanStyle]

Definitely in some sort of closet. He would often make jokes about gays in various interviews, too, which seemed a bit too on the mind to be truly random.

[@steveconn]

Yeah, get that sense.

[@akrenwinkle]

@@steveconn Paar was, imo and not mine only, influenced by the very successful actor, singer, monologist, and master of ceremonies, Frank Fay. Fay was witty, glib, and very fey. Some of Fay's ancient work is up on YT and you can see for yourself. The first husband of Barbara Stanwyck, it's generally acknowledged he was gay. He went out on a limb for Barbara and used his influence to make her a star. Many rightfully believe that "A Star Is Born" is based on Frank and Barbara. Fay and Paar appeared in a film "Love Nest" and likely met. Gay men were an easy, acceptable target of jokes in the 50s and 60s and you could count on jokes about them throughout the night, more as the evening got later. But Paar went way, way over the top, not just as a way of snookering the audience, but I think as a home-brewed conversion therapy. Good luck with that.

[@tyroniousyrownshoolacez2347]

Ouch. 🤮

[@palmharbor6317]

Letterman is a "stiff".

[@Kram6298]

Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson all very gifted and professional. Letterman was and is mainly just a goofball.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

One thing I really respected about Steve Allen, he treated the audience well, even when the camera wasn't on. Living in LA, I often went to tapings of these shows. some hosts sorry to say Carson is one of them hardly acknowledge there is an audience except when on camera, Sure loved Carson as a viewer from TV, but being in the live studio, not so much. Steve Allen ranks up to one of the nices, caring people you could ever meet, inside or outside of show business.

[@essessessesq]

@@photomanwilliams4147 Loved watching Steve Allen---witty, funny, silly, all in one!

[@7beers]

Jeez, what a massive ego.

[@syourke3]

Letterman couldn’t just shit his yap and let Parr tell his stories. Letterman was a lousy interviewer and he wasn’t even very funny. Carson and Paar always supported their guests, let them shine; Letterman, an egoist, always has to grab the spotlight.

[@tomsckay7point0]

I agree, and he's anal retentive. Everything on his show existed for the purpose of his own protection. Other hosts like Cavett let things happen more and put themselves on the line almost as much as their guests. On Letterman you don't get much more than Letterman.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Paar was an almost forgotten legend for NBC and made the rounds at this point. Paar was a monologist and storyteller first and foremost. Letterman has to wrangle him this night lol

[@KenLieck]

I like how he was so soft spoken with gentle Carson but had no trouble snarking right back at snarky Letterman!