Readers have begun to reply to Michele’s 3rd annual Dead-of-Winter TV Survey. You’ve been enthusiastically recalling your favorite old variety programs, describing what you liked and why.
Which ones do I rate as my best variety shows ever? Glad you asked. Here are my top five.
5. ”The Ed Sullivan Show.” Unlike others, this program didn’t have a colorful, talented host. It featured a stiff, crisp former newsman introducing a smorgasbord of performers. In the show’s heyday, perhaps a dozen different acts got three or four minutes to make their marks on the entertainment world.
Ballet dancers, opera singers,
Broadway stars, puppets, pop artists and even circus acts paraded past
one by one.
If you didn’t care for the juggler, you went to fetch a snack. By the time you returned, fresh act!
4. “The Smothers Brothers.” By 1968, our home had two TV’s. I’d watch the Smothers in the den while my dad watched “Bonanza” in the living room. In a period of unrest and political upheaval, younger audiences responded to the satire and controversial topics. Tom and Dick regularly pushed the envelope of what was permissible on broadcast TV.
3. “The Dean Martin Show.” Every Thursday night for ten seasons, mid 60s to mid 70s, debonair Dean slid down his fire pole to entertain us in his casual, laid-back manner. Frequently, fellow “Rat-Packers” Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, and Sammy Davis, Jr. appeared with polished, nightclub-style performances.
Holding his trademark cocktail glass, Dean ended every hour singing “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime.” It worked for me.
2. “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh- In.” Dan and Dick ruled Monday nights in the early 70s with fast-paced jokes and skits. An amazing pool of talented regulars created unforgettable characters.
On the park bench, Ruth Buzzi clobbered lecherous Arte Johnson with her purse weekly. Henry Gibson recited silly poems. Lily Tomlin gave us Ernestine, the telephone operator. And Goldie Hawn gave us, well
… Goldie Hawn.
And my absolute FAVE?
1. “The Carol Burnett Show.” Clever sketches, parodies, and brilliant co-stars kept us tuning in every Tuesday night. Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, and Vicki Lawrence delighted us. But Carol’s Q & A with audiences at the start of the program touched viewers. We felt a genuine rapport.
High quality entertainment blended with quirky Carol’s vulnerability, her tug on her ear to salute her grandmother at the end of each show, endeared her to us forever.
Readers, please keep the E’s and snail mails coming. Today’s column represents only MY opinion. Let’s see what you folks select as the best variety show ever. Tell me what you liked and why.
You may reach me at MsGeezerette@aol.com or drop a line to me at The Tribune Democrat, 425 Locust St., Johnstown, Pa., 15901.
I’ll report the results of our best variety show poll at the end of next month.
Michele Mikesic Bender is a Johnstown resident and a member of The Tribune-Democrat’s Readership Advisory Committee.
