Edward R. Murrow: The Best of Person to Person (2006)

A three disc collection of celebrity interviews from the iconic 1950's talk program. The conceit of the show was an evening in the home of the featured guest, and in an era before satellite feeds this was a difficult proposition. Ed conducted his interviews from a studio in New York, with a land wire connection to the home of whoever was on to be on the program that night. There were occasional technical problems, such as during an interview with Tony Curtis and his then wife Janet Lee, Tony ended up doing most the ‘interviewing’ because for half the broadcast he couldn’t hear Mr. Murrow. (As a side note on the matter of Mr. Curtis, it was kind of fascinating how many of the guest on the programs featured are still with us, like Jonathan Winters, Sid Ceaser, Kurt Douglas, Sophia Loran, and Jerry Lewis.) The program was often awkward and stilted do to the constraints of the technology, the fact that it was live and each guest only had about 15 minutes, and the fact that’s just how people can get when their trying too hard to impress. Parading the stars children on TV, often with especially young children being kept up late to appear, didn’t always work as hoped. DVD release followed on the heels of George Clooney’s Oscar nominated Murrow pic Good Night and Good Luck. The Liberace interview by the way is truly disturbing, not just him but his whole family seemed off.