In 1982, a brash young former weatherman from Indianapolis changed the face of wee-hours television forever. Taking over the 12:30 am time slot, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN" awoke the world with the wacky antics of Stupid Pet Tricks, Paul Shaffer, Larry Bud Melman, and of course, Dave himself. The first season was the most offbeat. In later years, the show became full of celebrity guests. However, the first year was full of hilarious antics like elevator races, visits with local New York merchants like the Mattress King and the Sturgeon King. This show is David Letterman at his best! The two guests on this show are comedian Robert Klein and The Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

He's the voice of CNN and Darth Vader, the booming baritone who lends credibility to numerous TV commercials, and the hearty laugh that rumbles from the memorable characters he's created in films from Claudine to Field of Dreams to A Family Thing. He's "the voice," James Earl Jones, the once shy, stuttering child who overcame his affliction through poetry, public speaking, and acting. Peter Graves narrates this straightforward, uncomplicated documentary, which benefits greatly from numerous interviews with the personable actor himself. Jones struggles in off-Broadway productions, participates in his fledgling Shakespeare in the Park project, and makes his big-screen debut in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, but his career finally takes off with the lead role in the daring Broadway production of The Great White Hope (which he reprised, along with costar Jane Alexander, in the 1970 film version). No stranger to controversy, Jones embarks on the one-man show Paul Robeson, a labor of love swirled in controversy before opening to rave reviews. And the rest, as they say, is history. Like most of the A&E Biography productions, this doesn't scratch far beneath the surface of his career, but Jones talks candidly about facing racism as a child and an adult and his struggling relationship with his absent father. The video also includes interviews with costars George C. Scott, Jane Alexander, Kevin Conway, Dianne Wiess, and Harrison Ford, director Phil Alden Robinson, and generous clips from his most memorable performances. [+]

You know how it goes. You hear about what a sensation someone like Josephine Baker was in her prime (in her case, the 1920s and '30s), how she pushed boundaries in such delicate areas as race and sex, how she both thrilled and scandalized Paris with her exotic dancing and personal behavior. You have all these loose strands of legend and random fact, your curiosity is running high, and then you hear that a feature film is being made about the very subject. You watch, and then wonder: what was the big deal about Josephine Baker? The problem with this 1991 TV movie is the same as with a number of HBO films from the 1980s and early '90s: it isn't particularly well written, the production looks rushed, and the entire point is obscured in a whirl of biographical material that doesn't sufficiently develop into insightful, organic unity. What The Josephine Baker Story does do, however, is provide a reference point from which to begin an appreciation of Baker's life. A poor, African American girl from St. Louis, Baker found fame and wealth in Europe as a dancer whose partially nude, unbridled performances invoked wit, sexual liberation, and passion-without, somehow, seeming vulgar or obscene. As Baker, Lynn Whitfield gets into the uninhibited spirit of things, free with her body and enthusiastic about re-creating many of her character's performances (yes, the famed Banana Dance is a highlight). The film superficially suggests that Baker was celebrated as an expressive artist, a healthy force of nature rather than a lewd exhibitionist, but it doesn't go far enough down that road to tell us why she matters. Somewhat better is the script's contrasting emphasis on Baker's celebrity overseas and her second-class status as a black woman in America. [+]

This program was filmed at three riotous sold out concerts ay the Hammersmith Odeon in 1985. The king of soul performs Please, Please, Please, It's a Funky Good Time, Cold Sweat Parts 1 & 2, Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Give it Up to Turn it Loose, It's Too Funky in Here, Get Up Offa That Thing, Try Me, Prisoner of Love, (I Got You) I Feel Good, It's a Man's World, and Sex Machine. SONY Video LP, Virgin Music; 56 minutes.

All hail the queen! Not long after graduating from high school, Queen Latifah shot to stardom with a new attitude toward rap and the strength, presence, and charisma to assure her starring roles in film and on TV. How did she make it? This Intimate Portrait chronicles the young Dana Owens (the name on her birth certificate) growing up in New Jersey in an incredibly loving and supportive family, rapping in a friend's basement, and her meteoric rise to success after Tommy Boy's discovery of her. Interviews with family and friends, old photos, and concert footage give the viewer a royal picture of this beacon of positivity. Whether you're a fan or not, Queen Latifah is a symbol of hope, fortitude, and courage, and her Intimate Portrait gives insight into a remarkable woman. -Rob Lightner.

2 complete films on 2 separate tapes.

Two Friends Bill Cosby and Sammy Davis, Jr. filmed live at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, NV, on November 15-20, 1983. For several years weeks in 1988, Bill Cosby and Sammy Davis, Jr. collaborated in live performances on Broadway and on tour in selected theaters across the country. Their lifelong friendship forms the basis of an unforgettable concert performance.

From an early age, Josephine Baker knew what she wanted and did whatever it took to get it. Whether building her career or her family, Baker heeded no one's advice but her own, becoming one of the world's highest-paid performers, adopting 12 children into her "Rainbow Tribe," losing her fortune, then returning triumphantly to the stage just days before her death in 1975. Intimate Portrait: Josephine Baker, narrated by Arsenio Hall, captures Baker's sex appeal, energy, determination, and the important legacy she left behind for women performers in all media. Blending rarely seen dance clips, archived interview footage, and commentary by choreographer Debbie Allen, actress Lynn Whitfield (who portrayed Baker in The Josephine Baker Story), and two of Baker's sons, this exquisitely choreographed video reveals more sides to Baker's life than one would have thought possible in an hour. -Larisa Lomacky Moore.