Jack Paar Show June 1, 1947 Disagreement in the Shade

Jack Paar (1918-2004) became one of the most popular television personalities of the 1950s and the second host of the popular Tonight Show. Few remember that he got his start on radio. In the 1930s Paar worked as announcer and humorous disc jockey on various stations in the Great Lakes region. During World War II he served with a USO troupe that toured the Pacific Theater of War. While serving with the military Paar's biting satire got him in trouble more than once. This would become a common occurence during his television career. After the war Paar got his biggest break when he hosted a summer replacement series in the Jack Benny time slot. Paar's show was very popular and the radio show for NBC was one of the main reasons he got the slot on the Tonight Show. "My life," said Paar, "seems to be one big obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle." Paar chafed under the network system and he felt particularly irritated by censorship. In 1960 when a joke was censored on the Tonight Show Paar said, on the air, "I'm leaving the Tonight Show. There must be a better way to make a living." He stayed away from the show for more than a month and when he returned his first line was "As I was saying before I was interrupted..." Here is the first of his summer series on NBC. Jack Paar is joined by Trudy Irwin, "The All Girl Singer" and Dennis Day, in a very funny routine.