Lawrence Welk Is Still On: I Don't Get It

[FredLeonard]

Public television stations continue to run The Lawrence Welk Show. That part I get. The Geezer Demo watches it and they come through at pledge time.

My question is why are geezers watching it in the first place. The original audience for the Lawrence Welk Show was these geezers' grandparents. I can't understand why the grandparents watched back then. Welk played their oldies, standards, music popular when the grandparents were young. But today's geezers back then were watching Bandstand and listening to AM Top 40 radio, especially the frenetic evening jocks.

Public television, especially during pledge drives, runs oldies specials, with recording artists from the 50s and 60s. I can understand geezer baby boomers watching those - and pledging. But Welk??

Welk was on ABC for a decade before winning his time slot. have Gun Will Travel consistently beat him. Then he won the slot for a few years in the mid 60s before My Three Sons whooped him. Then first-run syndication for 11 more years. And now public television.

Ed Sullivan has occasional specials. Carol Burnett stayed in syndication for a while but is gone now. Jewish Life Television is showing kinescopes of the Dinah Shore Chevy Show. The Honeymooners sitcom episodes are still shown but not The Jackie Gleason Show and its various skits. No Perry Como, Dean Martin, Red Skelton, Uncle Miltie, Sid Caesar, Hollywood Palace, Sonny and Cher, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Dean, Colgate Comedy Hour, Steve Allen. None of the other variety shows from that era are regularly seen - just Welk. Why Welk?

 

[mbayus]

I was born in 1952, and at my house, he was always on. I would watch now if I could see the old kinescopes, and not the crap from the 1970s.

 

[Mike Stroud]

Life ain't fair, is it, Fred? PBS uses oldies like that to fill skeds due to pinched budgets, caused by a panoply of factors. And Fed/CPB reductions are one of the lesser of them, contrary to common belief (in some cases, CPB money is below 10% of budgets). Same principle behind "Masterpiece" and the current "Downton Abbey" rage (and BBC, Britcoms, etc.). All are relatively inexpensive alternatives to first-run productions within the system, which are getting more expensive all the time, either nationally or locally.

There have been innumerable studies about pub broadcasting's half-assed (excuse my language) patchwork approach to monetary support; I recommend seeking your answer in one of them. To critics, the fact that commercial TV castoffs wind up on PBS in the first place is one argument against its existence, along with the fact that genres like "how-tos" that it spawned have been mimicked to death on cable (another example being the pledge drive "premiums" inspiring the creators of the home shopping craze back in the 80s). Put another way, the reason for separate non-commercial TV is nowhere as clear as it was in the 60s and 70s--and conservatives are not the only people who believe that. I am as liberal as anyone I know and I have come to that conclusion.

One solution might be for stations to give up on airing 24/7 and start signing off at night (at least, say, Sunday-Thursday) like they used to, up to about 10-15 years ago; there would not be as many slots to fill, and "quality" programs would crowd out filler like Welk. It would save tax money to boot, with lower overhead. But in today's conformist, eat-or-be-eaten media environment, the idea is probably a non-starter. Sadly (gladly for some, I know), it's going to take the GOP controlling the presidency and having overwhelming, filibuster-proof majorities in Congress to get that accomplished. And I suspect the more likely outcome from that scenario would be killing the CPB entirely, which would, in my view, set off a precipitous deterioration of the system. This would not simply be due to loss of direct Fed money (though that would without doubt deal a body blow to weaker stations), but also make the medium more and more dependent upon corporate money. That, in turn, would further repel the traditional purist, affluent white liberal audience and cause them to give up and quit donating, setting off a downward spiral. It would thus be conceivable that PBS would morph into a system suitable for privatization, which is the hidden goal of pubcasting's conservative opponents.

So I imagine that, despite the fact that PBS supporters feel as you do, Fred, to them, putting up with antiquated middle-brow fare like Welk is preferable to the destruction of the system. And you know station managements feel that way. So I am afraid nothing is going to happen anytime soon, despite the fact that the program went out of production over 30 years ago and is clearly a relic of another era, that would, in a decent world, have been relegated to YouTube as most of its contemporaries have been.

 

[jh]

My parents watch Welk every Saturday night; they're in their late 80s. I don't remember we watched all that much back when I was a kid in the 60s, we usually watched the sitcoms on CBS, but we did watch Hollywood Palace on ABC.

I saw a mention in some news article a few years ago that Iowa Public TV gets their highest ratings during Welk... the demos have to be ancient. The Welk troup doesn't even have a show in Branson anymore, although there is still a Welk resort. And Branson draws a lot of old tourists.

 

[FredLeonard]

Mike, there is a lot of "antiquated, middle-brow fare" available. Out of all of it, why Welk? jh mention his parents are in their 80s and they watch now. People in their 80s were in their 20s and 30s during Welk's network run; even they aren't old enough.

I can't help thinking that kids who grew up hating Welk and watching Bandstand underwent some kind of mental shift and turned into their own grandparents. Nobody on the that show was a great talent or charismatic personality (least of all Welk). Nobody went on to a great career (Lynn Anderson came closest). Some elements are uncomfortable to watch today: Like one Black person in the cast and he's a tap dancer.

And, I'd agree, public television really does prostitute itself during pledge drives. Not just Welk and Oldies reunion shows but self-improvement lectures that are tantamount to personal growth infomercials. I have to wonder if the people who watch regular public television programming the rest of the time are the same people who watch during pledge campaigns (and actually pledge).

 

[KeithE4]

Mike, there is a lot of "antiquated, middle-brow fare" available. Out of all of it, why Welk? jh mention his parents are in their 80s and they watch now. People in their 80s were in their 20s and 30s during Welk's network run; even they aren't old enough.

Welk appealed to the Doughboy Generation. Even my parents couldn't stand him. That was my grandparents' (all born between 1892 and 1907) show.

Nobody on the that show was a great talent or charismatic personality (least of all Welk).

Welk made Ed Sullivan look like the life of the party. Compared to Welk, Sullivan was Jackie Gleason. ;D

Nobody went on to a great career (Lynn Anderson came closest). Some elements are uncomfortable to watch today: Like one Black person in the cast and he's a tap dancer.

The Lennon Sisters & Pete Fountain did rather well for themselves.

Arthur Duncan was the tap dancer, beginning in 1964. I'm surprised there was no outcry about his role on the show from civil-rights activists. I'm also surprised there was no outcry about his presence on the show from southern ABC affiliates.

 

[landtuna]

The original audience for the Lawrence Welk Show was these geezers' grandparents.

You have your generations mixed up. The Welk audience is primarily people now in their 80's and 90's and not those of us a decade or two younger. I really doubt many "Bandstanders" are watching Welk - or have ever watched that show.

 

[Mark Giardina]

No Perry Como, Dean Martin, Red Skelton, Uncle Miltie, Sid Caesar, Hollywood Palace, Sonny and Cher, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Dean, Colgate Comedy Hour, Steve Allen. None of the other variety shows from that era are regularly seen - just Welk. Why Welk?

This may not be the answer to your question Fred but I know that Dean Martin's show is being offered (for sale) by Gunthy-Ranker (sp) on DVD; which is one reason that Dino’s show isn’t aired on PBS. Perhaps the other shows you mentioned have syndication rights that PBS doesn't want to pay for either. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Perry Cuomo, even though I was just a kid when his show aired in the 1950s.

Back on the subject of Laurance Welk I use to work for a PBS/NPR affiliate in Rochester New York and the TV station aired Welk every Saturday.

We had a running joke in the newsroom: Imitating Welk’s accent a few people would say “ Thank U….Thank U… now da Lennon Sisters will sing I can’t get no satisfaction. ;D

 

[KeithE4]

The original audience for the Lawrence Welk Show was these geezers' grandparents.

You have your generations mixed up. The Welk audience is primarily people now in their 80's and 90's and not those of us a decade or two younger. I really doubt many "Bandstanders" are watching Welk - or have ever watched that show.

The original Welk audience is long dead - they'd be well over 100 years old now (OK, a few are still with us). They were the World War 2/Korean War generation's parents, and my grandparents.

 

[KeithE4]

We had a running joke in the newsroom: Imitating Welk’s accent a few people would say “ Thank U….Thank U… now da Lennon Sisters will sing I can’t get no satisfaction. ;D

They did an "interesting" version of Brewer & Shipley's One Toke Over the Line, thinking it was a gospel song. Apparently, the lyrics were totally lost on Welk. ;D

 

[FredLeonard]

Based on the music most featured on the show, the audience for the show originally were of the same generation as Welk himself (b. 1903). Welk was on the early cusp of so-called "greatest generation," and his target audience also included the slightly older "doughboy" generation (or "lost generation") who would have been born mostly in the 1890s (once called "the gay 90s" when "gay" had a different meaning). When people in those generations were born and growing up, most of the population lived in rural areas and small towns. When Welk was on network television, most of the population had moved to cities or suburbs and Welk's show was built around a sort of Mayberry-style nostalgia. Despite a smattering of other types, the arrangements and songs were mostly Tin Pan Alley, Great American Songbook standards organized into topical themes. There was a big emphasis on "family" and traditional values and the cast was disproportionately Catholic or Mormon (and from large families), and disproportionately German-American.

 

[landtuna]

Based on the music most featured on the show, the audience for the show originally were of the same generation as Welk himself (b. 1903). Welk was on the early cusp of so-called "greatest generation," and his target audience also included the slightly older "doughboy" generation (or "lost generation") who would have been born mostly in the 1890s (once called "the gay 90s" when "gay" had a different meaning). When people in those generations were born and growing up, most of the population lived in rural areas and small towns.

The "Greatest Generation" was born mostly in the teens, grew into adults during the Great Depression and served in some capacity in WWII (and some followed into the Korean War). Discounting the farm population, most of those people came from cities but those cities were a lot smaller then than today.

My grandmother (b. 1884) didn't have a TV until 1958 but did watch Welk back then, My mother-in-law (b. mid-20's) still watches the Welk repeats. I don't know anyone younger that does however.

 

[rnigma1]

Ava Barber had some minor success; her cover of Gail Davies' "Bucket to the South" got some country airplay. If I recall, she recorded on Ranwood, the label Welk bought from Randy Wood (who also founded Dot Records).

My grandparents certainly watched Welk every week - when I was a young'un and we visited Grandma every Saturday (through the 70s), she watched only three shows: Lawrence Welk, Hee Haw, and Carol Burnett. (When my grandfather was alive, wrestling would be included in their Saturday viewing.) And when we drove home, Dad always tuned the car radio (AM only) to the Grand Ole Opry.

Welk's heirs and his company have been keeping his legacy alive, keeping his show on, and starting that resort in Branson (Geezer Nashvegas).

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

A few other notes about the Welk show:

For the first year or so, the show's sponsor was Dodge....until Chrysler's Ad agency number crunchers finally figured out just how OLD the demo REALLY was! That....as they say...was that!

Welk himself ran the show....and the people on it....with an iron fist. The show's first "Champagne Lady"....whose name escapes me....was fired for daring to show just a bit too much KNEE on camera.

A rule Welk had for the show was: NO COMICS...EVER! Welk was deathly afraid that a comedian would say something even REMOTELY controversial or not "family-friendly".

 

[rnigma1]

A few other notes about the Welk show:

For the first year or so, the show's sponsor was Dodge....until Chrysler's PR number crunchers finally figured out just how OLD the demo REALLY was! That....as they say...was that!

Welk himself ran the show....and the people on it....with an iron fist. The show's first "Champagne Lady"....whose name escapes me....was fired for daring to show just a bit too much KNEE on camera.

A rule Welk had for the show was: NO COMICS...EVER! Welk was deathly afraid that a comedian would say anything even REMOTELY controversial or not "family-friendly".

I think the show was originally called "The Dodge Dance Party" or something like that. And wasn't that fired champagne lady Alice Lon?

It was popular enough for Stan Freberg to spoof it in his record "Wunnerful, Wunnerful." If I recall, the skit had the bubble machine going haywire and the Avalon Ballroom falling from the pier and floating in the ocean...

 

[landtuna]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0TSDcPW2Kk

 

[Braves2005]

Welk also had the younger demographic that he wanted to use to follow along with the older demographic thus we had The Lennon Sisters, Lynn Anderson, Tanya Falan Welk (once married to one of Lawrence's sons), Sandi and Sally, Guy and Ralna, Tom Netherton, Ava Barber, etc. As the 1970s went on and into the 1980s they also featured many songs of that era like "I Write The Songs", "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", "If You Love Me (Let Me Know), and "Looking For Love (In All The Wrong Places), etc. so it wasn't just your show for older people and probably young people watched as well.

 

[Braves2005]

We had a running joke in the newsroom: Imitating Welk’s accent a few people would say “ Thank U….Thank U… now da Lennon Sisters will sing I can’t get no satisfaction. ;D

They did an "interesting" version of Brewer & Shipley's One Toke Over the Line, thinking it was a gospel song. Apparently, the lyrics were totally lost on Welk. ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE

Not only does Myron Floren calls it a gospel song but Welk calls it a step further as a modern spiritual.

 

[FredLeonard]

The "Greatest Generation" was born mostly in the teens, grew into adults during the Great Depression and served in some capacity in WWII (and some followed into the Korean War).

The range of birth years for generations is defined as follows:

Compromise Generation (1767–1791) (A)
Transcendental Generation (1792–1821) (P)
Gilded Generation (1822–1842) (N)
Progressive Generation (1843–1859) (A)
Missionary Generation (1860–1882) (P)
Lost Generation (1883–1900) (N)
G.I. Generation (1901–1924) (H)
Silent Generation (1925–1942) (A)
Baby Boom Generation (1943–1960) (P)
Generation X (Gen X) (1961–1981) (N)
Millennial Generation (Gen Y) (1982–2004) (H)
Homeland Generation (Gen Z) (2005-present) (A)

"Generation X" got its name as the tenth generation since American independence (Roman numeral ten).

I've had one toke too many and too much champagne (Welk's signature beverage). One toke is better. Too much champagne is a spiritual experience since I ended up worshiping at the Shrine of Bacchus.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Whether you realize it or not, all of you have touched on little pieces of the reason for Welk's popularity today. Unlike Bandstand, and other shows of "our" generation, The Welk Show is the anthem of our parents, to whom we turned and by whom we were blessed with domestic tranquility, stability, security and a warm atmosphere of safety in the home. Welk reminds us of those blissfull times by association. Such warm life conditions aren't as abundant in today's family dynamics, which only compounds the value of those memories.

Bandstand represents what our generation did for us. Welk reminds us of what our "parents" did for us.