The House that Jack Built

When tearful Jack Paar bade his brave farewell to television's biggest late-nighttime audience, the silence that followed seemed merciful. The tantrums, the shaded vulgarity, the curious, hostile tension of his nightly soiree had come to an end. It has taken almost two months without Paar to illustrate how forceful each ingredient was. to sketch the enormity of the hole he left behind. Filling in until Johnny Carson takes over the Tonight show next fall, some of television's tinniest princes have presided over the show, and each has left the unmistakable mark of his inability to master Paar's charismatic tricks.

The replacement NBC feels most comfortable with is somebody named Merv Griffin, who has slopped over from daytime game shows. When Griffin is blessed with glib guests--as he was on several shows last week--he is at least innocuous and agile at keeping the conversation alive. Art Linkletter's turns at the helm suggest a scoutmaster on a field trip.

Boyish Bob Cummings, most hapless of the lot, disappeared after a week of tiresome apologies for himself. These tentative flings sputter along, propelled by weak jokes and--when needed--repeats of a Linkletter show--and the best of Art is none too good.

With the critics, most successful of these temporary Paarlor maids is Joey Bishop, who confesses that no one can do the show except Paar. "There are many things the show requires--about six things, " Bishop says. "The guest-hosts have had at most three or four. Paar had all of them." The six are, he said: curiosity, naive honesty, sense of tempo, sense of humor, pacing, and a feeling of uncertainty. "Paar superseded any of his guests," says Bishop, "whereas the rest of us depend on who the guests are."

But NBC bravely insists that the show's ratings have climbed since Paar left; such as it is, Tonight may now be seen over 184 stations, three more than Paar's last audience. But for most, the parade of tryouts was only a sad and dull reminder of the old days, when Paar filled their nights with cruel charm.

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