WHET the “talent show episode” in series? Do they still do this in contemporary shows?

My favorite was the One Day at a Time one where Julie and Barbara were Elton John and Kiki Dee. I kind of remember Ann Romano tap dancing dressed like Shirley Temple, but I might be confusing that with something Sally Struthers did. I’m sure someone here knows.

[quote] Michael was great, and Penny was young and charismatic.

Is that what’s called art imitating life?

DVD

Yes - Michael Evan always seemed to be a bit modeled after a young Michael Jackson.

It really was a common thing for the family sitcom to have some random talent show episode for a while. Sometimes they were entertaining, but often they were painful. Even the Dick Van Dyke Show where it somewhat made sense had some painful moments where it just seemed to be more about pleasing some egos than producing an entertaining show.

[quote] Even the Dick Van Dyke Show where it somewhat made sense had some painful moments where it just seemed to be more about pleasing some egos than producing an entertaining show.

Examples, r4?

I am speculating on egos. I don't even mean that as them being out of control egos, just the normal ego of a performer who wants to show off their old song or dance skills that do not fit the normal sitcom format, so they create an episode just so they can do that. It was the time when variety shows were popular, so it is possible that it is what the audience wanted and those variety show-like episodes got good ratings.

I loved Buddy and Sally - but a lot of their performances were probably dated even at the time and just would slow the show down. Any time Jerry Van Dyke guested and they had him do some comic bit. Mary Tyler Moore was not a bad singer or dancer, but not as good as the show made her out to be, so would rather have watched her doing a comic scene that some contrived situation of singing at a prison. None of the episodes or performances were horrible, but I think those episodes just are not as entertaining. It could be because a lot of the performances are more to that time (probably even a bit dated at the time) and just have not aged as well.

Unrelated -- Millie Harper might be one a second banana who deserves more credit and acclaim. She was always great.

One time when the show within the show was used effectively is when Laura assumed she would get the lead in some annual amateur production like she always did and some guest star/new neighbor sings and is clearly more talented and you can see from Rob's reaction he knows he is in big trouble as he is the one who decide who gets the part.

You're looking at them with contemporary eyes, r6. They weren't dated in the early to mid '60s. Name one sitcom from that era that doesn't have some elements that seem corny now. r7 see r3.

Also, r6, Mary was a fine dancer. They just didn't have Laura doing complicated numbers as if she was doing a Laura Petrie Special.

Maureen McCormick said this was one of her favorite episodes to film

Lucy and Ethel

What about the fashion shows?

Princess gives it her all...

^the entire episode

Princess Betty could be annoying at times, but always thought Donahue and the actor playing Bud were two of the stronger teen, young adult sitcom characters of their era. Decent actors and their characters were pretty well defined. Plus, they played well off of each other. Now Kitten on the other hand...

I appreciate how they did not marry Betty off or have a boyfriend be her primary story once she got out of high school. I always thought it was strange how young all of the sons got married on My Three Sons, and Katie ended up having no identity other than wife and mother. Betty actually did seem to be focused on college for a career and not just a husband.

Also, while her Ellie character was on for a much shorter time than Helen, Donahue was the best of Andy Taylor's girlfriends on the Andy Griffith Show.

They definitely made some feminist statements with Betty here and there, r15. And Donahue could deliver in emotional scenes. But yes, that Chapin girl...

Buffy turns the pages of sheet music and Jody sings.

Two thumbs up.

R11, contrast how well that show played the "ralent show" sctick vs all the awful times Lucy tried it on her subsequent series.

R16, have to disagree. I liked Ellie on "The Andy Griffith Show", but Peggy was the best fit for Andy. Of course, anybody was better than Helen Grump.

My favorite was the talent show episode of The Wire. Wee-Bey and Kima doing that amazing Solid Gold dance routine, only to lose to Omar and Proposition Joe's ventriloquism act. I mean, who saw that coming?

Maude did annual musical sequences. The first was written by Ken and Mitzie Welch and was incorporated into Bette Midler's Live at Last tour during the Vicki Eydie sequence and also had Bette in Statue of Liberty drag, which Bea did on Maude.

Full House preteen angst

I always forget about Peggy. She probably would be the best fit, and yes, anyone was better than Helen.

Weren't they always doing vaudeville sketches on "I Love Lucy"?

Wayne Newton singing to a cow on "The Lucy Show" and another big number "Main Street USA" were among the numbers on that show.

Georgette

Maude's talent show episodes fucking sucked. No one wanted to watch that hideous cast sing and dance.

Oz should have done a talent show episode. The only problem would have been multiple acts featuring the guys shooting ping pong balls out of their asses.

Petticoat Junction

The Talent Contest

A sitcom episode with 2-3 numbers in it is around10 minutes (nearly half the episode) that the writers don't really have to write. They just have to write the setup, which is sort of de rigeur (something to get the character on, something to get the character off stage) for the song, which is pre-existing in most cases. So I always think a Petticoat Junction or Lucy Show with a ton of episodes where it's let's put on a show, unmotivated song and dance that isn't part of the plot is just writers being lazy.

I Love Lucy is different because the writers far more often write actual story and gags happening while the song is going on (like the dress tearing in the Friendship number or any of Lucy's performing mishaps). And also show business is built into the show from the beginning.

R7, Millie Helper, not Harper

[quote]Oz should have done a talent show episode.

They kinda did, didn't they? No joke.

This might not be a talent show clip, but why do I often think about this?

Hot Sundae were the truth, slo-mo cartwheel 🤸‍♀️

Just would like to mention that Ralph Carter was a performer before starring on Good Times. He was in the Broadway musical Raisin. It's sad that his career didn't amount to much after the series ended, unlike Janet's.

There were at least 2 on Beverly Hills 90210.

I had such a teenage crush on Ralph Carter in the 70's. He was so friggin' hot. Nobody could wear a pair of corduroys like that fine specimen.

I just saw a pic of him today. OMG - we're the same age -but he looks so ragged and do OLD.

you do too r37 to everyone else.

Do rent parties count?

I assumed Ralph Carter was gay.

I loved the talent show episode on 'Veep.'

[quote] Oz should have done a talent show episode.

They did. Here is the audition.

There must've been an episode of The Office or Parks & Rec where people in the cast did things on a stage.

The Shotz talent showcase episodes of Laverne and Shirley were entertaining because we'd always get a number from Lenny and the Squigtones.

The Office worked that kind of stuff into the plot, eg, Andy’s appearance in Sweeney Todd.

OZ. From the episode "Variety"

[quote] So I always think a Petticoat Junction or Lucy Show with a ton of episodes where it's let's put on a show, unmotivated song and dance that isn't part of the plot is just writers being lazy.

To be fair to the writers, shows back then often did 30 or more shows per season. If doing a song and dance show once a season gave the writers a bit of a break I’d say it was deserved

[quote]To be fair to the writers, shows back then often did 30 or more shows per season. If doing a song and dance show once a season gave the writers a bit of a break I’d say it was deserved.

I was watching the first two seasons of Bewitched on the Roku channel and the first two seasons had about 35 episodes each. No wonder the show's writing began to suffer and became more repetitive after a few years. Montgomery had two babies during the first two seasons while filming 70 episodes where she was almost every scene, I wonder if she ever slept.

R48 Dick York suffered from severe back pain during that time, so that schedule must've been near-murder on him. I don't think they got paid tremendous money, either.

L&S

More L&S

Was John Amos gay? (his last marriage ended in the 70's). In the clip in R39, he sure seemed to be looking at Ralph Carter like he just wanted to eat him up!

Can't blame him, though, that boy was HOT!

what does whet mean?

Doris Day had an amazing body in that clip at R12, especially for her age.

Who knew?

(at :24 in the clip she models a swim suit (I guess) under a robe)

What was the deal with having a fashion show in a sitcom, anyway?

R52 There have been John Amos gay rumors for years.

I think there used to be a thread about a guy who either worked at or frequented bathhouses in L.A. who did a blog about all the celebrities he encountered...I remember Amos was one of them and of course, Miss Travolta.

Does this ring a bell, old timers?

John Stamos on “Full Hpuse” being a “rocker”. I used to get awful secondhand embarrassment, watching that.

"That '70s Musical"

TV came out of live theater where everyone on stage was the best of the best which meant they were multi-talented. They had to be double and triple threats (acting, singing and dancing). TV shows wanted to replicate that which resulted in a lot of cringeworthy TV performances.

The cast variety show was a sitcom staple for decades. The concept was simple (and LAZY). It was easy to quickly script a storyline around a talent show and it and was a great way to show off their stars' "other" talents.

The problem was extra talents weren't distributed equally. I remember how painful it was having to watch some of my favorite stars struggling to sing and dance when those skills clearly were not in their wheelhouse.

It wasn't until reality shows (America's got talent, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance etc.) and cable tv took off did the sitcom "talent shows" become less popular. Reality TV became the new place to display "struggling" talent. And cable tv gave people more entertainment options. Scripted TV shows were required to up their game which meant focusing actors on what they are actually good at. It also meant that many programs would scrap the cast talent shows.

[quote]What was the deal with having a fashion show in a sitcom, anyway?

Vanity, r55...

What Happened Ever To, r53.

Who ever heard of a one person fashion show? How fucking vain! This looks fucking silly.

So Doris Day was supposed to represent girl next door "beauty" in America?

Those wigs look clownish! I forgot that wigs were initially made popular by White women because many didn't have hair thick enough to hold different hairstyles. For many years they said fuck it and just put it up or wore it down with no variety. Now wigs are becoming fashionable again for everyone (men too).

Those clothes look very "basic," even for that time period. Clearly they were not trying to rock any boats with anything risque' or even unusual.

She seems very arrogant.

I can think of about a dozen women off the top of my head who had better bodies than hers at that time.

She's not as cute as she thinks she is.

I cannot believe this passed for entertainment!

Thank you R61

[quote]Clearly they were not trying to rock any boats with anything risque' or even unusual

Au contraire, r62...

LOL R64 That wasn't risque' LOL it was just stupid!

She wore a crazy hat and got a standing ovation? LOL Try showing a little skin Doris.

The standing ovation is for the fashion designer, r65. It's meant for the entire collection.

I loved the times they put on a show on Maude. She had that little crippled girl she wanted to strangle and gave Teensy and Weensy a job. Only time I ever saw them on anything other than ILL. Does anyone remember if Bea performed Hardhearted Hannah on both Maude and Golden Girls?

How many Golden Girls Talent Show episodes did they have? This was my favorite. LOL

I never minded seeing these bitches break into song and dance because the Golden Girls were multi-talented.

R67, that little girl played Baby Irene on Fernwood Tonight and specialized in obnoxious kids. I was still surprised when Maude gave her a pie in the face during the finale.

I also saw Teensy and Weensy on an episode of The Ropers where they get into the hot tub with a mortified Stanley.

The Supremes...

The Supremes! GOOD TIMES!

Apparently the Supremes were popular with Sitcoms....

More Supremes

Tia and Tamera

Brady Bunch Cringefest - although some were not bad.

Now they just do "musical" episodes where everyone sings like they're in a movie musical.

R77 The clip at R76 was from their short lived variety show. The kids did sing on the regular Brady Bunch show, but this clip is more interesting.

Variety shows were big at the time and yes they were very similar to musical theater. It was basically songs with corny jokes and gags.

They were smart to focus it on Mama Carol (Florence Henderson) who was a true triple thread from Broadway. Fake Jan and Greg were not bad either.

*triple threat

Variety shows were on the way out when the Brady Bunch Hour ran. It was one of the nails in the coffin.

More L&S...

Gilligan's Island -- The Honey Bees!

Donna...

"A Different World" with Gladys Knight!

That 70s Show singing and dancing!

Modern Family