PBS Documentary on Late Night, Sitcoms, Game Shows & Variety Shows
Interviews with: Jay Leno, Phyllis Diller, Arsenio Hall, Dick Cavett, Milton Berle, Tim Conway, Andy Williams, Mary Tyler Moore, Sid Caesar, many others
Studio: PBS Home Video 705213
Video: Enhanced for 16:9 but many images are 4:3, B&W & color
Audio: English PCM stereo
Extras: Extended interviews with the Pioneers that didn’t fit into documentary
Length: 220 minutes for the series
Rating: *****
This four-part series covered the entertainers who got TV rolling in its struggling early days, as well as some of those who continue to keep us entertained today. Nearly one hundred interviews were done especially for the series, and one hears some great stories about the ups and downs of various celebrities’ careers as well as the unbelievable challenges of producing shows for live TV. Great clips from the various shows abound. Even those of us who have lived thru most of TV’s history will gain new insights into the subject. For example I didn’t know about Arthur Godfrey’s career ending mainly due to his firing a cast member on the air, and had forgotten about Flip Phillip’s hilarious show – the first on TV by a black American.
The segment on Late Night shows interested me the most personally, since I used to be a great fan of Steve Allen but lost interest with Jack Paar. It made me want to rent some of the classic Steve Allen show DVDs to watch again. One outstanding innovator in early TV was ignored by the series, probably because he didn’t fit into any of the four categories: Ernie Kovacs.
– John Sunier
