Since my book's release in paperback in 1992, Mel Torme has re-released his book with a new introduction, rather defensively mentioning Rainbow's End (though not by name) in trying to defend his book, which is riddled with chronological errors, self-serving bending of facts and incidents and, above all, his "take" on Judy, which remains largely negative and not only unsympathetic, but untruthful in the telling. I say this because the overwhelming reaction to the nearly 100 people I interviewed for the book squarely came out on Judy's side --although I did not write the book with any agenda. Certainly, I wanted to the book to reflect Judy in a positive manner, but I also approached the task from a journalist's point of view. I was prepared to "go with" whatever the final mix came out to be. It is clear in my research that Mel didn't protect Judy or the series; he was looking out for himself. 

Happily, Judy Garland was (largely) vindicated by my interviews (and research of things written at the time), particularly going against the Torme perspective that Judy didn't care, didn't work, didn't try, or didn't ATTEND. She was, in fact, THERE, in more than just the literal sense of being at CBS Television City. She worked very hard to make the series work, and in the process was in constant battle with the network, certain CBS executives, and her managers, most notably the notorious David Begelman. Her personal problems contributed to the demise of the series, to be sure, but her problems were not THE reason for the failure of the series; they were a small but contributing factor. They were, for the most part, "manageable," the word used by her first executive producer, George Schlatter. 

And what makes the shows even more significant, historically, is that they do present Judy's last sustained effort in her career. More importantly, they capture the last moments of Judy near her zenith and, as I wrote then, in complete control of her resources. And critical response to the shows (even in limited release to date) continues to be overwhelmingly positive; many current-day reviews note they didn't remember Judy "being that good." Well, of course, WE always knew. The rest of the world is now catching up in terms of how (largely) first-rate Judy was on these programs.

So, if I can answer any lingering questions you have from reading the book, please ask. And if you have a thought or an opinion about Judy relating to the shows or other aspects of the book, feel free to share them here as well. A final note: I have only been online for about two months now and when I signed on I was truly overwhelmed, bombarded, really, by the outpouring of reaction and positive response to the book when it became known that I was on the Net. The book was such a personal labor of love to be sure, but after seven years, in some ways I had thought that, while the book might have made a bit of a splash at the time (in revisionist terms of what it had to say about Judy in a positive sense vs. the Torme memoirs), I really had thought Rainbow's End had been forgotten in time; John Fricke's "World's Greatest Entertainer" is probably the best all-around book ever written about her in my mind. 
 
 

The first five episodes are Judy #1. The Schlatter hours: Judy's hair is more relaxed, curled, more subtle makeup, attractively gowned, but (except for #2 Basie) not dazzling in theatricality.(#1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - #5)

Judy #2: Jewison hour #6 (Lawrence); rested from hiatus; looks great. (Unique look to this show only in make up and hair.)

Judy #3: Jewison #7 (O'Connor); Jewison #8 (Maharis) - Jewison #9 (Barbra): 

Judy #4 - Shorter hair style, which she had done while in Manhattan during brief production break -- Jewison #10 (Bolger) - Jewison #11 (Allen) 

Judy #5 - #12 (Damone) and #13 (Peggy Lee) [This is the beginning of the teased "Jackie Kennedy" hairstyles she would maintain for duration of the series.] Particularly in show #12 and somewhat for #13, Judy also looks less rested and more drawn than in previous shows; not coinidentally, this is during the period she had a series of intensive production meetings with CBS president Aubrey in New York about the course and fate of the series; Judy wanted Schlatter back, as Jewison was leaving after show #13. No wonder the turmoil shows, though not in performance. 

Judy #6: Colleran #14 (Darin); #15 (Christmas); #16 (Merman); #17 (Damone); #18 (Raye). Show #14 marks the introduction of the basic hair style she would more or less keep for the remainder of the series; also from show #14 on, her make--up became more pronounced, more theatrical. Judy's performances (particularly #16-#18) were somewhat looser during this cycle.

Judy #7: the concert/semi-concert installments (shows #20 - #21 - #22 - #23 - #24 - #25 - #26).

One more Judy than I thought; this is very important. If we go into another paperback printing, I'll have to demand a correction! I wrote "six" -- what was I thinking!

But, of course, wouldn't the best way, the most logical way, was Norman Jewison's suggestion that, like Andy Williams, Perry Como and others, that Judy only do one a month, and rotate with other specials. That would have been perfect. Given her time to rest, rehearse, make it more of an event, and still a constant money source for her. A shame it was never considered, but that didn't seem to fit into CMA's blueprint.

Q2: Will the episodes ever be available to the public? I recorded the Judy, Liza, Barbra and Ethel off of Disney, but that's the only one I've ever seen.  Submitted by: Tracy

There is an excellent chance that at least some of the lesser (or some of never at all) material will see the light of day soon. I just spoke to Sid Luft about this very recently. He has a major deal pending, but at this point it is only for 50 audio tracks; he is investigating deals which would allow for simultaneous video compilations. He even asked me last week if "there was a market" for releasing all 26 episodes as is. While I know that WE here would like that, from a pure marketing point of view, I honestly don't know whether that would work. Perhaps release the strongest shows in full one-hour form and then edit some of the lesser entries; in some of them, like the Basie and the Merman programs (not lesser entries, but uneven), Judy is virtually not seen for the first half, except for the opening number.

I suggested that perhaps one way to go in releasing all 26 shows (via TV, direct market or catalog, perhaps not retail) would be to charge a bit more for each tape, but put two episodes, and not just one, on the tape and put a lesser show with a strong one, say Barbra with Donald O'Connor; I'm not saying do that, but that's just my example. That way, the casual fan gets the prized one (Barbra) and the collector gets both. So, that's a possibility.

Without going into great detail here, it should be noted that Sid only came into having the original video masters for all the shows only three years ago. Until then, he had (superior) film transfers of about 13 and 13 video-to-video copies,but they were from CBS and the Canadian Broadcasting Company, not from the original 2" masters. Now that he has the originals, they make for better duplicating and audio tracks. Plus, these tapes also have outtakes, alternate takes and the like. Which opens up a whole new door of possibilities.

A2: This may cover ground we've already discussed, but Sid Luft does now finally have the video masters to all 26 episodes. That means, the air versions (with sweetened appaluse, edits, etc.) plus the "raw" material, which includes outtakes, alternate performances, clapperboards, stops and starts (like the false start for "Be My Guest" from Streisand, the "Tea" with Steve Allen, the freeze-frame opening of show #17's "They Can't Take That Away From Me" where the girl dancers are replaced by the boy dancers in tuxes; on the tape, for example, she holds her pose while the dancers change from girl to boy; also on that same show, "By Myself" gets a prolonged standing ovation, not seen on the final air version.) Also, that means Sid has the unaired material from show #26 as well. 

To answer the other part of your question, these are indeed the actual "CBS" tapes and Sid has all the material. Now that all shows exist on video, there is an entirely new market for them, since they are so far superior to the film transfers; they also lend themselves much better to colorization, if Sid decides to take that route.

As far as Hunt Stromberg, Jr. is concerned, by all accounts, he was a very odd person. His father, of course, was a noted Hollywood producer; Judy and Sid's West Los Angeles Mapleton Drive home had, in fact, been owned by Hunt Stromberg, Sr. Hunt was universally despised by most everyone he knew; Aubrey was the only person who liked him and they seemed to forge a rather unholy bond. When Aubrey was fired in 1965, Stromberg was immediately fired as well; neither fared well after. He was a complex man, indeed; one would think that he would have appreciated Judy because of his family background. But there was also CBS infighting; Judy was caught in the middle of a power play between Hubbell Robinson and Hunt Stromberg; Hubbell was Judy's champion and was involved in the Ford Star Jubilee deal (he was also an ex-husband of Judy's friend, Margaret Whiting); Robinson and Stromberg battled for position at CBS, and with Stromberg allied with CBS president Aubrey, Stromberg prevailed. And Stromberg apparently resented the fact that Robinson made the Garland deal and brought her to CBS for the weekly series; since it was not his "baby" he seemed to want to destroy it and prove that Robinson had made a "mistake" in signing Garland. Judy was caught in the cross-fire.

I have two questions. Firstly, do you know where one may obtain commercially the outakes to the series that you document in your book. Secondly, have you considered producing a laser disc version of the television series with taped interviews of the show's guests and participants. The life of video tape and the participants to this series will not last forever. Would Sid Luft cooperate on this venture? 

Though I am a rather busy lawyer in Vancouver, Canada, I would be pleased to assist you or others in this venture, if feasible. I was born a month before the first Garland show was taped. Thank you for bringing her to life for me.   Submitted by: Grant:

As far as your question about obtaining outtakes of the series, except for some pirated copies of certain moments floating around, nothing can be obtained commercially at this point. This is certainly prized material and while I've seen some of it, I have precious little of this stuff myself. Safe to say that this material is locked away in vaults with the key held tightly by Sid Luft. 

Sid holding tight control of this material also is true of actual air versions of the shows as well; from what I can gather, Sid has two versions of each episode; as aired, and then the "raw" material comprised of performances, and -- sometimes --outtakes, flubs, clapperboards and false starts, etc. It's great stuff, to be sure. 

And then, of course, there is the mountain of unaired material from show #26. At one point, there was talk about Turner releasing a laser set of material just from #26, including "Here's to Us" and the takes from "Where is the Clown?" (itself about an hour). I was to write the notes and John Fricke would have been strongly involved as well. However, Sid's negotiations with Turner (to release a considerable amount of series material overall) stalled and that project was also dropped. Sid, however, may have now another, if less ambitious deal pending. Of course, most of the actual aired material hasn't been seen generally, so there's all of that material which would likely be released (if at all) before any alternate stuff. I would think the obvious plan would be to release certain shows as aired first; who knows if they would ever even get to unaired material. That might take the work of a producer "in the know," someone like Andrew Solt who did the "Sullivan" compilation specials. Or someone who would attempt to tackle a big-budget full-scale TV/film documentary on her life.

Funny you should mention a video version of my book. For years, I've always wanted to do a "Rainbow's End" documentary using new and existing interviews, along other materials and performance footage and outtakes. And with many people no longer with us since writing the book, it seems time is of the essence here. But nothing has ever come of it; finding a venue, finding the money to produce it and the clearance payments required by the various unions make this a daunting proposition. 

However, if you can arrange financing and want to back this project, let me know and I'll immediately arrange a meeting for us with Sid! I'm sure he'd be very interested, but remember Sid would undoubtedly want substantial financial and likely creative participation, as he is sole owner of this material.) 

You being an attorney might be very helpful in putting this together; if nothing else, I'm sure Sid could use you now, or sometime soon, to sue somebody!

Conversely, anyone attempting to try to create or produce such a program without Sid Luft's permission will be promptly faced by legal action, I can assure you!

But we can only hope that out of his deal, a great full-scale documentary might sooner than later materialize.

Steve Sanders