The
Carpenters TV Documentaries
Here
we take a closer look at some selected TV show documentaries
that profiled the Carpenters.
Please
note, as far as I know most of these Carpenters TV shows have
never been officially released to the general public either
on video or on DVD. The only way to see some of these Carpenters
Television show documentaries, is to trade with individuals
who have some home recordings of them.
As many of you know, you can sometimes purchase "bootleg"
copies of these Carpenters TV Shows and documentaries from
places like eBay, but technically they're not legal. I'm hoping,
like many of you, that over time, more of these TV documentary
shows will be released to the general public either on video
or DVD. So many other wonderful "classic" TV shows
and documentaries are being released all the time. So there's
always hope.
Close
To You: Remembering The Carpenters
1997
In
my opinion this is the best TV show documentary ever made
about the Carpenters. I have to admit I'm a bit biased because
it was this documentary that rekindled my appreciation for
the Carpenters music. It also rekindled an appreciation and
caring for Both Richard and Karen Carpenter as individuals
and thus, was an inspiration for this very website. Watching
this documentary was literally the first time that I can recall
actually seeing Richard and Karen Carpenter on TV. I knew
thier wonderful music and album covers, but to finally match
a "live-action" face to the great songs was really
special. I like the fact that this documentary showcases many
of the Carpenters songs by playing a generous amount of each
song for the TV audience. This helps someone, who has never
heard of the Carpenters, get a real sense for their music.
Most Carpenters documentaries play very little of the Carpenters
music. This documentary includes interview segments with Herb
Alpert, Paul Williams, Petula Clark, and many others. It's
also wonderful to just listen to Richard Carpenter tell a
lot of the story behind "The Carpenters". I'm so
glad that you can "officially" get this documentary
on VHS or DVD. If I could only choose one Carpenters documentary
to get, it would be this one.
VH1:
Carpenters - Behind The Music
1998
The
VH1 Behind the Music documentary about the Carpenters is actually
pretty good. I think I originally expected more of a negative
"tabloid-like" presentation from VH1, but it's actually
done in a fairly straight-forward way. Richard Carpenter is
interviewed, and gives the show a nice "moral base"
for the entire documentary. Olivia Newton-John, Herb Alpert
and others are interviewed. It's nice to see them talk about
their friendship and relationship with the Carpenters. We
also get to see Richard's children learning how to play the
piano and sing. I don't think you can actually purchase this
VH1 Carpenters documentary on video, but it is good enough
to be on VHS or DVD.
A&E
Biography: The Carpenters: Harmony And Heartbreak
1998
In
my opinion the A&E Biography is just slightly "tabloidish"
for my taste. Not that it's a bad documentary, it's a good
TV show documentary, it just has a few moments that hype the
"problems" & "tragedies" of the Carpenters.
But overall, it's not too bad. Richard Carpenter also appears
in this documentary. I do like the the fact that the biography
in this show talks a bit about Richard and Karen Carpenter's
parents and grandparents. For some strange reason this Carpenters
documentary can't be bought from A&E's Biography website,
while you can purchase just about every other A&E Biography
TV show ever made - very strange.
The
Carpenters Television:
Timeline
- Specials -
Documentaries - Shows
