Have you seen "Jerry Dunphy visits the Carpenters"?

[Mark Rudolph]

Video of this TV show is on youtube. Check it out if have not already. Such an interesting way to see K&R at home when they were so young and really starting to take off. So great to see Karen at that age. Just a sweet and charming person.

 

[song4u]

Video of this TV show is on youtube. Check it out if have not already. Such an interesting way to see K&R at home when they were so young and really starting to take off. So great to see Karen at that age. Just a sweet and charming person.

Thanks for pointing that out. I enjoyed watching it but was only able to find parts 1 and 3.
I think Richard pronounces Carpenter differently than I've heard it pronounced by anyone else.

 

[Mark Rudolph]

It's there if you search for it. More than one person has it up so it isn't always found the same way.

 

[GaryAlan]

How about this one, I thought about this one today as the host of the show has passed on:

 

[Superstar]

Just finished watching this in its entirety. Mr. Dunphy either wasn't a very good interviewer, or interviews were different in the 70's. There were no follow up questions and he didn't ever ask for specific examples. Also, some parts seem very staged and there was a "writer" credited at the end of the interview. I don't think any of Richard or Karen's responses to questions were scripted because they oftentimes didn't really know what to say and/or their answers were not articulate. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome to see the house and to just listen to them talk.

Also, Harold's accent seems strange. Not sure if it is a combination of accents he picked up since he lived in so many different places, but his accent does not sound English to me and he speaks very slowly. I thought maybe that was due to nerves? You can tell he isn't used to attention. Anyone who met him confirm he usually spoke this slow?

 

[newvillefan]

Also, Harold's accent seems strange. Not sure if it is a combination of accents he picked up since he lived in so many different places, but his accent does not sound English to me and he speaks very slowly. I thought maybe that was due to nerves? You can tell he isn't used to attention. Anyone who met him confirm he usually spoke this slow?

Harold always spoke like that. It was just part of his drawl.

 

[JBee]

I actually think the Dunphy interview is the best one I've seen with the Carpenters even if some of Jerry's lines were cringeworthy i.e. asking Richard how wealthy they were and asking Karen about the marriage proposals from fans (something he doesn't ask Richard). I think their personalities, how down to earth and "normal" and most of all how hard working they were really comes off. I think if the C's had done more interviews like this, personal and also talking about music (and SHOWING them doing the overdubbing which I think some people still didn't realize), they wouldn't have had to equally cringeworthy interviews with Rolling Stone (hey, we're cool.. we voted for legalized weed) or People Magazine (hey, we're not squeaky clean..neither one of us is virgins). Both R&K come off very well in the Dunphy interview. Karen looked especially good (for once I loved her outfit) and came off as super sweet and charming (just like she did in This is Your Life). It's actually a shame the Carps seems to largely avoid TV for years after their bad experiences with MYOKOM.

Jerry Dunphy also I believed anchored the news in LA when Karen's death was announced. I believe I've seen clips on Youtube, but I don't recall if he ever mentioned that he probably got one of the only full length sit-down TV interviews with the Carpenters at the height of their success just over a decade earlier.

 

[theninjarabbit]

Love love love Karen here. This just makes me long to have met her in person. Not only is her outfit adorable, she's very down-to-earth, amicable. Richard too, very modest in their accomplishments. Listening in to the famed overdubs was a favorite part. All parts of the special are on YouTube as of now.

 

[Geographer]

Jerry Dunphy was also the inspiration for Kent Brockman of Simpson's fame.

 

[Nancy J. Limauro]

I remember that show..I also remember when they were on This Is Your Life...Herb did a great job getting them in the studio...