My Favorite Variety Shows

Interesting thread @Gideon58, I' m enjoying it even if I' m not familiar with some of these shows. Did not know that Steve Martin was a writer on the Smothers Brothers show. Glad to see old stone faced Ed made it into the top ten,. Do you remember Paul Lynde in Bye Bye Birdie singing " Ed Sullivan."

Onward - I' m curious to see who you' ll pick as number 1.

I'm pretty sure my #1 is going to surprise a few people.

I think Tina is the one in the front left - sitting on the floor with the guitar!

I hope Pink Lady and Jeff will show up!

Ha, I like what you wrote there! We use to watch this on a regular basis. I guess my parents liked it. I did too, sort of.

I use to watch this one too. I remember reading something very controversial that the Smother Brothers did that ended up getting the show cancelled.

Me too, I never missed it!

I've only seen bits of the show in more recent times. It must have been cool to see Elvis and even Jim Morrison on the show.

5.

The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour



After a successful recording career in the 60's the popular duo were given their own variety series on CBS that ran for three seasons until the couple decided to end their marriage. The show returned the following season as The Sonny and Cher Show but, with the couple now divorced, there was an awkwardness between them that the audiences sensed and the reboot was cancelled after a season. Both Sonny and Cher returned with their individual variety shows afterwards, The Sonny Comedy Revue and Cher.

4.

In Living Color



This sketch comedy series was created by Keenan Ivory Wayans and featured several members of his family as regular cast members. The show also introduced future stars like Jim Carrey, Jennifer Lopez, and Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. The show ran on FOX from 1990-1994.

3.

Saturday Night Live



It premiered in 1975 and 43 years later is still on the air. Lorne Michaels is the creative genius who came up with the late night comedy concept and shows like Fridays and In Living Color owe their existence to this one. There have been numerous cast changes over the years and there were long stretches where this show was not funny at all, but every five or six years, Michaels does a major housecleaning and hires a brand new cast to bring the show back to life, which helps to keep this show one of television's best kept secrets because, unbeknownst to a lot of people, this show is funny again. Some of the stars who got their careers started here include Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chris Rock, Mike Meyers, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey Jr., Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, oh, and a guy named Eddie Murphy.

2.

The Carol Burnett Show



I know there has to be somebody out there who thought this was going to be my #1, but # 2 is pretty good. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Every Saturday night for eleven seasons, Carol Burnett came onstage, took questions from the audience, did the occasional Tarzan yell, and then provided her audience with side-splitting comedy, lavish musical extravaganzas, and on target spoofs of classic movies. When the show premiered she had three regulars, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner, and her look-alike Vicki Lawrence. Frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular in the 1975-76 season. Korman left the show after season 8 and was replaced by Dick Van Dyke, but Carol was the glue that held this whole thing together and there was a time when Saturday night television was all about Carol Burnett.

OK, down to # 2 already...I do have a couple of honorable mentions:

The Johnny Cash Show
The Flip Wilson Show
Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters
The Captain and Tenille Show



OK, drum roll please...and now, my #1 favorite variety show:

1.

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in



This madcap variety hour ran every Monday night on NBC from 1969 to 1974. Comic team Dan Rowan and Dick Martin hosted this lightning-paced show featured sketches, production numbers, and even fake news but was most famous for quick throwaway joke telling in rapid fire succession. Every episodes featured a party featuring bikini-clad girls with graffiti on their bodies and every show ended with the cast popping out of a wall and telling quick jokes. The rep company for this show went through a lot of changes from season to season and some of the people introduced on this show include Oscar winner Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, JoAnn Worley, Henry Gibson, Alan Sues, Judy Carne, the "Sock-it-to-me" girl. Each show featured guest stars and the show was SO popular even Richard Nixon made an appearance. Shows like SNL and In Living Color owe their success to Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.



Hope Someone enjoyed the list.

I use to watch all these. I really liked Sonny and Cher show, but I hardly remember Laugh-in, I was too little to get the jokes. I use to watch SNL back in the day but haven't watched it since the early 90s.

You might want to check out SNL...it's funny again...the show was nominated for 22 Emmys last year.

I've never heard of "The Julie Andrews Hour", but I'm sure that I would have loved it.

I loved "The Carol Burnett Show", but I've never heard of "Carol and Company".

"Hee Haw" was kind of a goofy show, but I loved the music.

RIP Roy Clark.