I kid you not: I was too young to have seen Jack Paar in his prime as host of The Tonight Show. I was born in 1957, the year Paar took over Tonight from Steve Allen and made it his own for the next five years. With the show starting around 11:15 p.m., this was
In paying tribute last week to Hugh Downs, the long-time announcer, host and newsman who passed away last week at 99, I forgot to single out another one of his accomplishments: sitcom scene stealer. Fortunately, retro-savvy reader Kevin Vahey weighed in with a link to a classic: Downs getting pulled over in an episode of
It was just like Hugh Downs to pass away right after Carl Reiner. Even at close to 100 years of age, he found a way to go quietly. The broadcaster, who died at home in Arizona July 1 at 99 years of age, was a true TV ironman logging more hours on network television than