What is the accent with which Lawrence Welk spoke? To me, it sounds like a cross between Northern Midwestern and Jean Chretien, but surely there’s a general name for it? Or, was it unique?
According to the IMDB, he was bord in Strasburg, North Dakota. I think he may have Norwegian roots.
Oh, well, that’s it then. Thanks!
Related question: are they still making new “Lawrence Welk” shows without him? I happened to click on a listing for the show and it said it was originally aired in 2002. Was that a typo or did they continue without him after his death in 1992?
In my town, the public TV station runs the old series. I suspect you saw an “original airdate” related either to the PBS airings of the show, or your local station’s airing of the show.
The original surviving cast puts on occasional “tribute shows” that are first run episodes.
And of course PBS runs the original series.
See here for info about the cast and what they are currently doing.
Yeah, the bumpers are ©2002. On PBS they show most of an old show, replete with these rather patronizing and santimonious bumpers featuring a different cast member every week and what they’re doing, what their kids are doing, etc. Usually the kids all seem to be doctors and lawyers while the cast members have a mansion somewhere… 
Favorite Lawrence Welk story.
He was introducing the song, “Take The ‘A’ Train” and said, “Now we will be playing, Take A Train.”
My parents loved that show and made us watch it. I hated it. Now I sometimes watch it for a few minutes as a time capsule of times past. But they were all so squeaky clean…still gives me the creeps.
Welk is also supposed to have introduced a musical spot by saying, “And now here’s a medley of tunes from World War Eye Eye.”
Sounds apocryphal to me, but it’s funny.
Or the live show back in the '50’s where he was exhorting his cast mebers to dance.
In that German accent (which frequently replaced a “P” for a “B”), he said:
My Dad used to watch it. I despised the show as a kid, and the name still fills me with revulsion. Obviously the show cannot really deserve such a reaction, but I can’t make myself watch even a second of it.
I have a horrified fascination with the show, and in fact watched it in its entirety last night. I would occasionally catch it because it’s on after my “must-nap-to” TV block on PBS on Saturday afternoons – cooking shows, “New Yankee Workshop” (BTW, does anyone know if there was an old Yankee workshop?), “This Old House,” “Hometime.” So I’d sometimes wake up to this, and sometimes be so sleep-befuddled that I’d end up watching for a while before getting it together enough to look for the remote.
Now, however, I do sometimes watch it while pretty much fully conscious, just because it’s like a little window into a parallel universe – a universe where polyester and hairspray still do what Og intended them to, where there’s no kinky sex or harsh words, where… I dunno.
Is the black tapdancer concerned about racial stereotypes or was he just happy to have the only regular gig tap-dancing on TV? Did the wholesome young people really like that music or, again, was it just a steady gig? Did no one ever argue in the Lawrence Welk family?
And what’s with that maniacal twinkle in Mr. Welk’s eyes?