30 years ago and it still cringes

Jack Paar: Rona Barrett vs. Clement Freud

I've wanted to share some of this "Live Tv at it's best" so you might get an idea of Youtube's potential as a sort of museum of broadcasting history. And here is an important TV moment, since it certainly captures Jack Paar's anguish about ever becoming a TV talk show host.

It's 1973! I can't explain why it's black and white, or even why Jack Paar is on, since he'd long before given up the Tonight Show to Johnny.

The wit of Clement Freud (grandson of Sigmund, member of parliament) may be on some rough road here, dealing with the "new power in Hollywood", Rona Barett, but in my opinion he rightly puts her to shame.

This was supposed to be typical Hedda Hopper type gossip but Barrett starts off by telling the nation that Bobby Riggs "picks up chickens" and was recently robbed and "plucked" but that's "what happens when you are a woman beater."

Whoa! We were expecting some lighter fare here, like who is Elizabeth Taylor marrying next?

What to do? I'm not sure, but if you know Jack Paar, he must have decided to retire for good after this evening.

Part 1



Part 2 is found here.