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Pat Gallagher

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What Happened to Variety Shows?

As I walked down the hall earlier today, a coworker grabbed me and asked "Who's Tony Orlando? and what song did he do?"  I told her that he was best known for "Knock Three Times" and he was the leader of the group "Tony Orlando and Dawn."  I explained that they had a variety show that everybody watched when I was a kid.  In return I got a blank stare from my coworker.  That's when hit me- she has no idea what the variety shows of the 70's were like.  You remember the shows...seems that every cheesy duet in the 70's had one.  Tony Orlando and Dawn was actually a trio- but the rest of them were duets- Sonny and Cher, The Captain and Tennille, Donny and Marie. They were all the same- a song and dance number to open the show- interupted by friendly banter between the hosts- usually consiting of one of the hosts making fun of the other (Cher teases Sonny about being short, Donny doesn't understand Marie's obsession with County music, Tennille teases the Captain about his baldness, etc.)- and then, after the appropriate amount of teasing and one of the hosts pretending to be REALLY UPSET-  back to the song/dance number. 



Next up, a couple of mildly funny (I'm being kind here), very family friendly (although they acted as if they were very edgy) skits.  Gotta have another song/dance number- this time from a special guest (think we can get Bobby Goldsboro to sing about how that tree has grown?  What?  He's got his own variety show?  What's Anne Murray up to?  If we can get Ray Charles, we can tease him about being blind!).  Next up- a couple more family friendly skits and of course then it's time to wrap it all up with another big song/dance number. Oh, did I forget to mention the costume changes?  Sometimes several within one song.  Hell, Cher would completely change her costume and hairstyle 3 times in the course of a 3 minute song! So that's the 70's variety show.  Not sure exactly when they went out of style.  And I'm sure I would not watch them today, even if they were on TV.  But they were fun at the time- if for no other reason, than for a young boy to watch for Cher's inevitable wardrobe malfunction.




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08/31/2011 12:25PM
What Happened to Variety Shows?
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10/17/2011 5:39AM
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01/11/2012 8:59PM
Variety shows
Thanks for the memories.... I used to love the shows and I would watch them today! -Kate
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