As a child in the early 1980s, I remember watching Solid Gold and Dance Fever on Portland's KGW-TV (NBC). I know there were more music/variety shows on television including Star Search (mostly a talent show), Puttin' on the Hits, American Top 10, Soul Train and American Bandstand. Can you remember any other variety shows from the 1980s?
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VARIETY SHOWS IN THE 1980s
- Thread starter sctvman
- Start date
Country singer Barbara Mandrell and her sisters Louise and Irlene had a variety show from 1980 to 1982 that I watched every week on NBC as a kid called "Barbara Mandrell And The Mandrell Sisters". That was an excellent show. One of the best parts of the show was where the sisters showed off playing instruments and a segment where young people played the sisters when they were little girls(Barbara's daughter, Jamie, played Irlene in the segments)
Marie Osmond had a variety show on NBC called Marie that was more pop oriented than anything else.
And there was Pink Lady and Jeff.
Pink Lady was a duo of 2 girls who only spoke Japanese but sang fluent English.
Marie Osmond had a variety show on NBC called Marie that was more pop oriented than anything else.
And there was Pink Lady and Jeff.
Pink Lady was a duo of 2 girls who only spoke Japanese but sang fluent English.Braves2005 said:
Hey...you forgot Truck Shackley and the Texas Critters!
sctvman said:
I don't think there were much "variety" shows during the 80's. That was pretty much a 70's thing, when EVERYBODY had one...Bobby Vinton, Bill Cosby, Donny and Marie, Carol Burnett, and even Wolfman Jack. I think everyone got sick of the whole "sketch and shtick" thing by the time the decade was through.
"EVERYBODY had one...Bobby Vinton, Bill Cosby, Donny and Marie, Carol Burnett, and even Wolfman Jack."
Wolfman Jack?? Are you sure you're not thinking about "The Midnight Special"? Wolf was the announcer on that show, not the host. The host would so some short schticks interacting with Wolfman, kind of as comic relief, but that was it. As I remember, they used guest hosts at first, then Jim Croce, then Helen Reddy as hosts.
It wasn't really a typical variety show (monologue-comedy skit-song-comedy skit-musical number, etc.), but a showcase for pop and rock acts who had songs that were currently on the Top 40.
If Wolfman actually hosted a typical variety show, I managed to miss it.
Wolfman Jack?? Are you sure you're not thinking about "The Midnight Special"? Wolf was the announcer on that show, not the host. The host would so some short schticks interacting with Wolfman, kind of as comic relief, but that was it. As I remember, they used guest hosts at first, then Jim Croce, then Helen Reddy as hosts.
It wasn't really a typical variety show (monologue-comedy skit-song-comedy skit-musical number, etc.), but a showcase for pop and rock acts who had songs that were currently on the Top 40.
If Wolfman actually hosted a typical variety show, I managed to miss it.
In spite of the Variety format being "dead" by the mid-1980's, The Statler Brothers managed a 7-year hit on the Nashville Network from 1991-98..The show was the highest rated on the channel just about the whole time. One segment was even spun off briefly into it's own series.."Yesteryear" with Rex Allen Jr., Eddy Raven, Kathy Baille and Lisa Stewart. It was nice to see a more less "traditional" variety show have a nice long run.
Tim L said:
I'm not counting shows on cable networks. I wasn't thinking of that.
Lkeller said:
...he had a variety show that was produced by the CBC in Vancouver in 1974; in the States it was syndicated but carried by a relatively few stations compared to Bobby Vinton's the same year...
kenhawk1160 said:
Point taken..But after the relative failure of the variety show format on broadcast and cable in the 1980's, I thought that the success , even on cable, of the Statler Brothers deserved a mention here. They were about the only ones to try a straight variety format at the time..
While I loved variety shows, there were basically two type, one with comedy and a small emphasis on music, (e.g. Carol Burnett) and the other was more focused on music with a smaller comedy.
Then you get to shows like "Jack Benny" and to a lesser degree the "Lucy Show," (after the show moved to California), where the plot wasn't paid much attention to and the show shifted around week after week, depending on what was written.
(You have to think about "Lucy" but it after it moved to California, each show pretty much was contained within itself)
By the 80s I think the overwelhming success of "Saturday Night Live" and the ability to tackle more "adult" themes and political area made prime time variety look sad.
Then you get to shows like "Jack Benny" and to a lesser degree the "Lucy Show," (after the show moved to California), where the plot wasn't paid much attention to and the show shifted around week after week, depending on what was written.
(You have to think about "Lucy" but it after it moved to California, each show pretty much was contained within itself)
By the 80s I think the overwelhming success of "Saturday Night Live" and the ability to tackle more "adult" themes and political area made prime time variety look sad.
"Then you get to shows like "Jack Benny" and to a lesser degree the "Lucy Show," (after the show moved to California), where the plot wasn't paid much attention to and the show shifted around week after week, depending on what was written.
(You have to think about "Lucy" but it after it moved to California, each show pretty much was contained within itself)."
Your post is a little confusing. This thread is about variety shows in the 80s - right before they died out. Jack Benny was out of production by the 60s, and wasn't really a variety show. It was comedy - Jack did a short monologue and would talk to guest stars in front of a curtain, but the show was usually one long comedy skit. I guess Dennis Day or a guest star would sing a song sometimes, but really - it wasn't a variety format. If you're talking about Lucy "moving to California," you're talking about "I Love Lucy" which ended in 1956.Ricky and Lucy moved to Hollywood so they could work plots around Ricky trying to become a star and Lucy making trouble with tinsel town celebrities. Again - the 50s. I don't remember the locales for the later "Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy," but the locations had nothing to do with the plots - they could have been in Anywhere, USA
(You have to think about "Lucy" but it after it moved to California, each show pretty much was contained within itself)."
Your post is a little confusing. This thread is about variety shows in the 80s - right before they died out. Jack Benny was out of production by the 60s, and wasn't really a variety show. It was comedy - Jack did a short monologue and would talk to guest stars in front of a curtain, but the show was usually one long comedy skit. I guess Dennis Day or a guest star would sing a song sometimes, but really - it wasn't a variety format. If you're talking about Lucy "moving to California," you're talking about "I Love Lucy" which ended in 1956.Ricky and Lucy moved to Hollywood so they could work plots around Ricky trying to become a star and Lucy making trouble with tinsel town celebrities. Again - the 50s. I don't remember the locales for the later "Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy," but the locations had nothing to do with the plots - they could have been in Anywhere, USA
Lucy show and Here's Lucy were California based.
Very similar. Lucy show had her working for the evil Mr. Mooney, Here's Lucy was basically just a cameo show with celebs somehow invading Lucy's life. The writing was atrocious, Lucy goes on a trip of the stars homes, meets Jimmy Stewart, hilarity ensues, etc.
Very similar. Lucy show had her working for the evil Mr. Mooney, Here's Lucy was basically just a cameo show with celebs somehow invading Lucy's life. The writing was atrocious, Lucy goes on a trip of the stars homes, meets Jimmy Stewart, hilarity ensues, etc.
Yeah, the lip-synch show. Wasn't the host Farrah's brother?sctvman said:
AT10 was a fave, being a fan of Casey Kasem. I remember when only some of
the songs had video clips. Charlie Tuna was the show announcer.
Another old fave...
There was a show similar to "Solid Gold" airing during '86. I recall two dancers:
a white dude with blonde hair, and a black woman named Aurora.
"Lucy show had her working for the evil Mr. Mooney, Here's Lucy was basically just a cameo show with celebs somehow invading Lucy's life. The writing was atrocious, Lucy goes on a trip of the stars homes, meets Jimmy Stewart, hilarity ensues, etc."
Actually, I don't remember ever watching Here's Lucy - apparently I didn't miss anything. I hadn't seen The Lucy Show in probably 35 years until recently - it is being rerun in the SF Bay Area by TV50 in faraway Santa Rosa, of all places. In my opinion, Gale Gordon (the evil Mr. Mooney) saved that show. Though Gordon always played the same basic pompous old grouch, he was always a lot of fun - Our Miss Brooks(Principal Osgood Conklin), the second Mr. Wilson on Dennis the Menace, and the Lucy Show are what I remember him from.
Actually, I don't remember ever watching Here's Lucy - apparently I didn't miss anything. I hadn't seen The Lucy Show in probably 35 years until recently - it is being rerun in the SF Bay Area by TV50 in faraway Santa Rosa, of all places. In my opinion, Gale Gordon (the evil Mr. Mooney) saved that show. Though Gordon always played the same basic pompous old grouch, he was always a lot of fun - Our Miss Brooks(Principal Osgood Conklin), the second Mr. Wilson on Dennis the Menace, and the Lucy Show are what I remember him from.
Lkeller said:
...according to Mel Blanc, Gale Gordon was a world class jerk. Mel, who'd become a regular on Jack Benny's Sunday Night show by the end of World War 2, got along with everyone else who worked at NBC during the War except for Gordon, who'd been Mayor La Trivia on "Fibber McGee & Molly"...
"...according to Mel Blanc, Gale Gordon was a world class jerk."
hmmm...this info from a website about Lucy and her various co-stars (only quoting one paragraph):
"Along the way, (Gordon) worked with many of the talents he would later encounter on television, including Doris Singleton, Shirley Mitchell, Frank Nelson, Mary Jane Croft, Jimmy Durante, and Dennis Day. He was loved by almost everyone he encountered, except for a strange antipathy he had toward Mel Blanc. Perhaps it was because they were often competitors for the same types of acting jobs, but the two men just did not get along."
hmmm...this info from a website about Lucy and her various co-stars (only quoting one paragraph):
"Along the way, (Gordon) worked with many of the talents he would later encounter on television, including Doris Singleton, Shirley Mitchell, Frank Nelson, Mary Jane Croft, Jimmy Durante, and Dennis Day. He was loved by almost everyone he encountered, except for a strange antipathy he had toward Mel Blanc. Perhaps it was because they were often competitors for the same types of acting jobs, but the two men just did not get along."
Lkeller said:
...I seriously doubt that competition for the same movie parts would be the reason. Even Kenny Delmar, whose Senator Claghorn character on "The Fred Allen Show" was an obvious inspiration for Blanc's Foghorn Leghorn "Looney Tunes" voice, got along with Mel...
."..I seriously doubt that competition for the same movie parts would be the reason. Even Kenny Delmar, whose Senator Claghorn character on "The Fred Allen Show" was an obvious inspiration for Blanc's Foghorn Leghorn "Looney Tunes" voice, got along with Mel..."
I wasn't implying anything negative about Mel Blanc with that quote from the Lucy website. My father was an animated cartoonist. When he could get away from his drawing table, he liked to attend the recording sessions. He brought a lot of funny stories home about the voice actors. Among those he knew and admired were Paul Frees, Daws Butler, William Conrad, and Mel Blanc.
I wasn't implying anything negative about Mel Blanc with that quote from the Lucy website. My father was an animated cartoonist. When he could get away from his drawing table, he liked to attend the recording sessions. He brought a lot of funny stories home about the voice actors. Among those he knew and admired were Paul Frees, Daws Butler, William Conrad, and Mel Blanc.
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