TV Variety Shows and Specials

I wasn't finished filling out the poll and wanted to include more before I accidentally hit return.

Others include Hee Haw, The Muppet Show, Dolly, The Jim Neighbors Show, The Julie Andrews Hour, Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, Shields & Yarnell.

Yeah, you don't have to add Vivian Vance but an All might be useful.

Some of the "Specials" I remember are the Lynda Carter Special, The Cheryl Ladd Special (I think she had 3 of them), The Anne Murray Christmas Special.

I remember all of those in the poll, but we generally just watched Carol Burnett at my house as a kid. Sometimes Sonny & Cher, and sometimes Flip Wilson but not consistently. I remember my mom also liking The Glen Campbell Gootime Hour.

R2 I know Lucille Ball had quite a few specials, but I don't recall Vivian Vance ever being a guest.

No Ed Sullivan, OP? He really did set the bar.

Pink Lady and Jeff.

The Brady Bunch Hour was the absolute worst.

The Carol Burnett Show is still funny. Eunice & Mama was always my favorite.

Lynda Carter's got soul.

Eunice and Mama were funny, but also pretty sad. I mean, really, there was a LOT of emotional pain in those sketches.

R6 I wanted to add more but I fucked up when creating the poll.

Maureen McCormick sings "Time in a Bottle."

The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Hour (1974)

I cannot fathom the quality of the drugs they were all on...

Barbara Mandrell, John Denver, Dolly Parton.

The Captain & Tennille. What were they thinking with this performance?

That incredible dream of Mary's...

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters was a Saturday night staple at my house in the early 80s.

Solid Gold was my fave as a child.

I accidentally put this in the Bob's Burgers thread. But then you can never have too much of...

Our family never missed Carol Burnett. We also watched the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Flip Wilson, Johnny Cash and Ed Sullivan. I also remember Sonny & Cher and Tony Orlando and Dawn.

As for specials, anyone else remember the King Family?

Ann-Margret: From Hollywood With Love (1969)

Oh, to be there the day they were filming Ann-Margaret dancing down the freeway off-ramp in the mod print jumpsuit. The rest of the special is garbage, but "Twenty Five Miles" is fab-u-lous. (start at 0:49)

The Patsy Gallant Show (1978-1979)

I'm surprised the multi-talented Linda Lavin never had her own TV special.

Variety show perfection: "Let Go" from Mitzi's 2nd Special (1969)

Mitzi Gaynor, the Bob Mackie "nude" gown, the Emmy winning set, that 60's Danny Daniels choreography...

Many of the dancers would later appear in "Mame". The tallest blond is Randy Doney who was the assistant choreographer on this as well as being a dancer and assistant choreographer on The Carol Burnett Show. The blond with the round face is Gary Menteer, a featured dancer in "Bye Bye Birdie" and The Waiters' Gallop in "Hello, Dolly!", who later went on to produce "Laverne and Shirley".

There's no contest.

Got my go-go boots ready...

Ed Sullivan really was the gold standard for variety shows. The Beatles, The Supremes (before Miss Ross took top billing), Elvis (from the waist up only), plus stand-up comedians, jugglers, opera stars, dancing bears, oh my! Much of it broadcast in black & white. Years later I saw the inside of the Ed Sullivan theater and was amazed such a small space hosted such epic TV performances.

I liked Sonny & Cher and their opening and closing songs and corny banter.

The Cher Show opening where she started out singing slow and then whipped off her wrap and picked up the pace was good, rest of show not so good.

I always liked the animated opening for the Carol Burnett Show.

The Moms Mably Variety Hour

Variety shows and specials dominated the 70s but all of a sudden they were over in the 80s. What happened to kill this genre so fast?

r10 that was the very last time Lynda ever donned the Wonder Woman costume.

Flip Wilson was hilarious, so underrated. People loved his show. Why is he not well remembered?

[quote]I'm surprised the multi-talented Linda Lavin never had her own TV special.

Oh yes she DID! You didn't think the most multi-talented triple-threat talent of the 1970s wouldn't have had her own variety special? It was called "Linda In Wonderland."

R13 I found that strangely enjoyable.

Tex Ritter's Ranch Party

I was a devoted viewer of Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, Andy Williams and Sonny/Cher. I also was a big fan of Lawrence Welk when I was little (Bobby and Barbara forever!).

The Andy Williams Show

OMG, R14. I just saw that clip the other day when reading about Kate Hudson. No wonder Goldie outgrew him.

For you R24

For those of you unfamiliar with the Ed Sullivan Show, here is a " Cliff's Notes" version.

[quote] Variety shows and specials dominated the 70s but all of a sudden they were over in the 80s. What happened to kill this genre so fast?

A lot of 70s television was trash. Laugh-track sitcoms, cheap-looking sci-fi, Battle of the Network Stars, maudlin talk shows with has-beens, hokey soapy miniseries... I imagine we all collectively woke up from a drug haze and moved as quickly as we could into the 80s.

The Garry Moore Show

Thanks, R43! Carol Burnett got her start on the Garry Moore Show - it had a segment called "That Wonderful Year" with skits and songs that came from that year. Garry was never without a cigarette.

Also liked the Jackie Gleason Show.

Laugh in

Watch these two queens review the Donny and Marie dolls.

Cher always looked like she had chewing gum in her mouth (even though she didn't.)

Does anyone remember the short-lived variety show "3 Girls 3", starring Debbie Allen, Mimi Kennedy, and Ellen Foley?

Angie on Julie...

Angie on Danny...

Carpenters guest starring on the "Dorothy Hamill at the Winter Carnival" special.

I LOVED all the Christmas specials.....Bing Crosby, Perry Como, etc.

I loved Battle of the PBS Stars.

R54, I always watched Perry Como.

During lockdown i watched the julie andrews hour. From early 70’s. Also: She has about 5 specials as well (ignoring her Christmas stuff) There’s one with Spring in the title (step into spring?) that was fun. All on youtube.

Kaptain Kool and the Kongs

That mime show...

^

S&C & S&Y

The Merv/Mike Douglas thread is closed, so I'll put Lee, Gloria and Dolly in this thread.

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is a treat to watch every year.

Bancroft

The Texaco Star Theater aka The Milton Berle Show

The Smothers Brothers deserve honorable mention -- very honorable mention -- for insisting that Pete Seeger be allowed to return to their show and sing “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” after his original performance of the song was censored by CBS.

I liked Leigh French, r66.

R66 In addition to their political music performances and political satire, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour also brought us camp moments like this.

I find most of The Red Skelton Show completely unwatchable, but the musical numbers with The Tom Hansen Dancers were fun. I still don't understand how the show was on for 20 years.

[italic]Barbra Streisand . . . and Other Musical Instruments[/italic]

Don't forget the Alan Cpeland Singers, r69....

The Robin Byrd Show.

OMG. Robin Byrd, that old whore. Christ, she must be like 100 by now.

Oh, the holidays....time for Dusty!

R71 Well, if we are going to do Lulu on Red Skelton...

Carol Burnett didn't just do musical numbers she did full mini musicals:

This includes Don Crichton wearing the single gayest costume ever created for television.

3 Girls 3

God, Flip Wilson as Geraldine... honestly, could this be produced in 2021?

Can't forgot the Hollywood Palace. In color. At least of a sort.

We watched Hollywood Palace, r79.

I meant to include the 12/25/65 THS episode, hosted by Bing Crosby, which included the cast of Hogan's Heroes, the new hit show, produced by Bing. I think the only one still living from this episode is the 95-yo Robert Clary.

My bad (again). Investment banker Harry Lillis Crosby, III, (the lone Crosby kid on the show) is, at 63, still alive.

[quote]I meant to include the 12/25/65 THS episode, hosted by Bing Crosby, which included the cast of Hogan's Heroes, the new hit show, produced by Bing. I think the only one still living from this episode is the 95-yo Robert Clary.

Also performing on this episode: DL icon Dorothy Collins, six years before "Follies."

I just vaguely remember Sha Na Na and Solid Gold. My little gay brain was developing.

R84 - Waylon was demonstrating proper fisting protocol to Andy.

R82 Is that the same Harry Crosby from the original Friday the 13th movie?

Yes it is, R86. I guess his acting career never took off after after that movie.

In the last day or two some good tv specials from back in the day have been uploaded onto YouTube-

Originally Broadcast on December 12, 1980-The 1st Annual Dance Fever Christmas Special (Highlights included a tarted up Alison Arngrim (Nellie Olsen from Little House) is the guest DJ, and the guest dance judges are future murderer Robert Blake, Connie Stevens and DL fave Chad Everett each one accompanied by their young daughter.)

And also uploaded to YouTube earlier this week-

The Donna Summer Special on ABC from January 1980 (Joining the Queen of Disco are Robert Guillaume, "bad girls" Debralee Scott, Pat Ast and Twiggy, and Donna's daughter Mimi,interspersed with footage of a concert she gave at the Hollywood Bowl)

Her greatest hits are being re-released as "Donna Summer: Dead and More"

I was surprised that Joey Heatherton's show is not mentioned. It was a summer fill-in for Sonny and Cher (or maybe it was just Cher by then.); however, I see that it is left off Heatherton's filmography. It was called Joey and Dad and featured her father, Ray Heatherton.

R91 - But where was Lola?

The Dean Martin Show. In living color. On NBC.

Ed Sullivan. No argument

The Jerry Lewis Show

The Judy Garland Show

The Carol Burnett Show was always my favorite. The Sonny & Cher was decent. The rest were sub-par.

[quote]The rest were sub-par.

What a stupid generalization.

As someone who watched these shows during the 1970s that is my observation.

[quote] The Jerry Lewis Show

Oh honey, no. Those were sick child telethons.

R100, Jerry Lewis did have a (short-lived) variety show.

[quote]As someone who watched these shows during the 1970s that is my observation.

The heyday of the television variety show was the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, the form was on its way out and was mostly crap, yes. The '70s gave us "Pink Lady and Jeff." But to dismiss all variety as subpar based on what you saw in the '70s is ludicrous.

R101 is not familiar with the sense of humor of R100

R103, are you R100? If not, I'm not so sure you're correct. Because it was unsuccessful, the Jerry Lewis variety show is not that well known.

I've caught some old Carol Burnett shows on MeTV recently, and frankly, I don't think they're holding up very well.

I'd vote for Ed Sullivan.

Why did variety shows disappear so fast? They were everywhere in the 70s and then they were gone by the early 80s.

R106 Maybe the 18-49 TV demo preferred to watch their musical acts on MTV which hit the air in 1981 ??

btw - I would say that one of my favorite shows was "The Midnight Special" which aired from 1973 – 1981.

Yeah, I remember the Midnight Special and Don Kirshner's rock concerts. Once MTV launched, I think those were over, though I think we saw better performances from the concerts. An old episode of SNL has Paul Schaeffer mimicking Don Kirshner; who today would get that reference?

[quote] Why did variety shows disappear so fast? They were everywhere in the 70s and then they were gone by the early 80s.

Viewing tastes improved.

[quote] Why did variety shows disappear so fast? They were everywhere in the 70s and then they were gone by the early 80s.

In name, yes. But now we have the talent shows. Singing, dancing.

And don't forget shows like The Masked Singer.

[quote] And don't forget shows like The Masked Singer.

... try as you might.

I'm talking about the big extravaganza variety specials that were built around a big star of the day like Toni Tennille or Lynda Carter. They were events and the seventies were full of them. Then in the eighties that kind of variety special was suddenly over.

[quote]I'm talking about the big extravaganza variety specials that were built around a big star of the day like Toni Tennille or Lynda Carter. They were events and the seventies were full of them. Then in the eighties that kind of variety special was suddenly over.

Which was a pity.

I was just a whore darling

In the early years of television, they were called spectaculars.

Dora Hall, with guest stars Phil Harris & Rich Little.

Dora Hall's backstory.

Dora Hall singing 1,2,3 on IGaS.

I used to enjoy "This Is Tom Jones", where he'd start off every week with "It's Not Unusual" and just be so damn sexy. I think Engelbert Humperdinck had a variety series, too. They used to be popular -- I remember Jerry Lewis had one, as did Andy Williams, and they both featured the Osmond Brothers (before Marie). The Smothers Brothers were great, I think their guitarist Glen Campbell later got his own show. Julie Andrews' show was great and well-produced, but it was on opposite her friend Carol Burnett's, who had been established in that time period, plus who followed a usually terrific CBS Saturday Night lineup.