Destined to remain the single most comprehensive record of Judy Garland's latter-day career, “The Judy Garland Show” is an astonishing treasure of great lasting value. Garland's rarely seen CBS-TV variety show from 1963-64 offers a wealth of performances. For anyone with only a cursory awareness of Garland's skill as an interpreter of great songs, this shows will be a dynamic revelation.

Here, after all, is a mature performer at the peak of her song-styling craft, and “The Judy Garland Show” gathers many of her finest performances, her amazing range and her penchant for melancholy, introspective tunes of loneliness and sorrow, brilliantly combined with trademark showstoppers. Judy shares the stage with such luminaries as Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Lena Horne, Mickey Rooney, and many others, including her 17-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli, who was then on the cusp of her own stardom.

This was not the most stable time in Judy Garland's life, and she makes mistakes here and there--a show-biz great who'd falter occasionally, only to recover in grand style. But what's most evident is the sheer power of Judy Garland's talent, showcased by the finest musical and backstage talent that TV had to offer.