The Dick Cavett Show: John & Yoko Collection
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C+ Episodes: B
In its time, The Dick Cavett Show was the
intelligent alternative to the usual talk shows the way Charlie Rose is
now, though it was not as talk-only. It
did not have the ratings of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) and no other show (despite a peak of such
attempts in the 1970s) did. However,
Cavett’s work endures and has been slowly coming out on DVD from Shout! Factory. The latest release is the double DVD John
& Yoko Collection, which offers the amazing and ever-appreciating
occasion of John Lennon & Yoko Ono showing up on a talk show. On any talk show.
What would have been just a memorable appearance for just
about any other star turned out to be a cultural event, one that threw the
censors for a loop, and had the U.S. Government watching very closely. They were not happy, as unbeknownst to the
people who made the series possible, a file was being compiled on The Lennons
to try and get them out of the U.S. due to their anti-Vietnam
involvements. They also audited
everyone who made the show from that point until its cancellation. John was already explaining the problems he
was having in court with them to stay in The States, while the efforts to cause
him trouble were more outrageous than anyone but darker power interests could
know. This was from 1971 – 1972 TV
season, before Watergate and other scandals broke out.
They do not do any music initially, though Yoko shows her Mrs.
Lennon promotional film and the now-famous promo film for Imagine is
also shown. When they do perform much
later, it is of his controversial classic Woman Is The Ni@$#r Of The World,
for which Cavett actually does a disclaimer.
For the first show, they are the sole guests, the second show has the
great Stan Freberg and Robert Citron, and the final show has Shirley MacLaine,
who discusses her own troubles in finding work for being political. All of it is the usual intelligent talk the
show became known for, which was a bit more racy, political and even
intellectual than Carson’s always smart and witty show always was. This was one of its peaks and a terrific set
long overdue for release. It is one of
American TV’s greatest moments!
The 1.33 X 1 image is a bit disappointing with detail
troubles at the edges from a strange transfer of the analog professional NTSC
tape source. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
is a little weaker than expected, owing in part to the low TV audio standards
of the time. It is still very
enjoyable, but a little more flawed than expected. Extras include intros by Cavett as he reflects on the shows, a
featurette called Cavett & The Lennons, a thin booklet with text
inside the Digipak foldout and optional configurations of how to watch al the
footage.
- Nicholas Sheffo
