I vaguely remember the Orlando Music Show, with the guy who voiced Carlton ( your doorman)
I remember watching a show with Mac Davis, but I don’t know why.
Mac Davis! I had repressed that one!
Mary with Mary Tyler Moore only lasted three episodes in 1978. It was revamped as The Marty Tyler Moore Hour, which was a variety show within a sitcom: Mary played Mary McKinnon, star of the variety show, and the show would have McKinnon doing sketches and musical numbers.
Dick van Dyke was a guest star at one point, and they commented how much Mary McKinnon looked like the woman who played his wife in his sitcom, and did a couple of sketches with Rob and Laura. At the end, McKinnon said how she nearly got a role on The Dick van Dyke Show, but at the last minute, Rose Marie got the part.
That was Rod Hull.
Britain had a lot of variety shows as well (like magician David Nixon, and singer Paul Squire), as did most other countries like Australia and New Zealand.
Why he had a show? He had a couple hit songs and a good agent.
Why you were watching? Maybe you wanted to see the guest star; maybe you just felt like watching some TV, and, hey, there weren’t that many channels.
I learned a lot from watching Mr. Hull, and now, in my grandfather years, having hand puppets attack me seldom fails to produce laughs from the younger crowd.
Dolly Parton had a syndicated variety show that was successful in the '70s. She had a network variety show in the '80s that tanked immediately.
Bobby Goldsboro also had a country variety show in the '70s that I remember watching mainly for the dog puppet.
I watched a documentary about him recently. At his height he owned (and was largely financially ruined by) a centuries old mansion, which I thought was amazing for an act that was essentially always the same. He supposedly hated Emu in his later years.
Ah, wow, the memories.
(Quietly) The memories.
(Skull begins to implode, voice gets squeaky and gassy) The memories…
Mostly what I learned from him is 1) you can get away with assault if you have a puppet on your hand when you do it, and 2) never adjust your antenna without a safety harness.
I was going to mention Mac Davis too. ISTR he would improvise songs based on suggestions from the audience.
Did Mitzi Gaynor’s yearly specials count as “variety shows”? I don’t remember them well enough to recall if there were skits and a whole lot of guest stars or not. (I just remember her “dances with 100 men” number that had every famous man on TV at the time dancing in a chorus line behind her.)
Just remembered another: The Chuck Barris Rah-Rah Show
Sure, why not? Because that allows me to mention the Star Wars Holiday Special!
Spoke “Sure, why not? Because that allows me to mention the Star Wars Holiday Special!”
You bastard!
Oh man. About 15 years ago my then-roommate acquired some recordings of the BBH somewhere (maybe on Ebay). We actually watched them. I cannot impress upon you how embarrassing they were. Robert Reed (“Mike Brady”) was all, “I can’t sing and dance! I’m an architect!” They would do these really cheesy musical skits and Barry Williams was supposed to be some kind of heartthrob. My clearest memory is the interactions they had with their guest stars, Donnie & Marie Osmond.
I think it was Eve Plumb who had the good sense to sit that one out, so they had another actor playing Jan.
That’s what’s great about the Internet. 100% information without any of that pesky knowledge getting in the way.
The only ones I remember really seeing is the Muppets and Osmonds (edited to add the Mandrells and Sha Na Na, there may have been one or two more). I’ve seen Laugh In and Smothers Brothers in rerun here and there. Marie Osmond may just have been my first celebrity crush.
After the Sonny and Cher Show, and their two solo shows, they returned to TV together in 1975, but they had divorced by then. It only lasted about one more season, though.
Indeed, and as Sullivan is best remembered as the man who brought the Beatles to America, Cosell was determined to be remembered for his pet boy band, the Bay City Rollers.
Alas, the Rollers didn’t make it quite as big as the Beatles. And Cosell’s show fell a little short of Sullivan.