Variety Television Shows

Entertainment hours/comedy hours

Yesterday triggered a memory, so allow me to go on for a day.

There used to be many entertainment shows.  Maybe television has ‘grown-up’, but there were many shows that did entertain.

I mentioned Lawrence Welk yesterday with Mother’s Day shows.  That led me to think of the variety shows of my younger years.

We watched Lawrence Welk.  Welk had a big band but had singers like the Lennon Sisters, dancers. Myron Floren (when was the last time you heard an accordion?) Joe Feeley (Irish Tenor), Bobby Burgess and partner dancing, Arthur Duncan (black tap dancer), and even Lawrence himself dancing polkas with ladies from the audience.  

Dinah Shore variety hour.  I can still hear her singing “See the USA in your Chevrolet”.  

Ed Sullivan show.  Who remembers Beatle Mania as Ed Sullivan brought the Beatles to his show?  

Red Skelton was a master of slapstick humor - from with Freddie the Freeloader, Gertrude and Healthcliffe - two seagulls; Clem Kaddiddlehopper; and ending his show with “Good Night and God Bless”.

Milton Berle - “Uncle Miltie” in TV parlance.

Arthur Godfrey.  I remember my grandmother listening on the radio.

Some of the others:

• Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca on “Your Show of Shows:
• Jack Benny - the tightwad with Rochester his right hand man
• Bob Hope - and especially when Bob Hope entertained the troops on USO tours
• George Gobel (who later got to play the lonesome Maytag repairman)
• Perry Como
• I would rush home from school to catch the original Mickey Mouse Club - with the Mouseketeers. 

Then we got into the 1960s with:

• Carol Burnett (with Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Dick Van Dyke and more)
• Andy Williams - especially the Christmas specials
• Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In” - Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Goldie Hahn, Henry Gibson, Judy Carne (“Sock it to me”).  Rowan and Martin started to push some political issues as the 60s darkened with Vietnam and Nixon). And George Carlin - your ‘Hippy, Dippy Weatherman”
• Flip Wilson - “The Devil made me do it”
• Mary Tyler Moore Show
• Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
• Dean Martin
• Glen Campbell
• Heehaw - That was always a favorite - I’m picking and a grinning - with Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl (with the price tag still on her hat), and others.

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Now, let’s make some sense of all this.  The old adage is “Laughter is the Best Medicine”.  I laughed at many of these shows - there were good singing and comedy skits.  I’m sorry I haven’t gotten into SNL (Saturday Night Live) as I think that is a funny show.  (Even when I had television, I didn’t stay up late to watch).

What do you have to laugh at these days (especially with the virus)?  

I laugh at myself frequently.  I find funny situations in the books I read (even the serious books by Brene Brown and Maya Angelou).  I laugh at one of the online humor on Twitter (You had one job or Dad’s puns).  

The graphics from You had One Job are hard to import on the blog pages, so let me pick a few of Dad’s Puns:

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A weasel walks into a bar.

The bartender says

“Wow I’ve never served a weasel before, what can I get ya?” 

“Pop” goes the weasel.

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I'm so poor I can't even pay attention. 

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My neighbor complained to me about my dog chasing people on a bike.

I didn’t understand at all, after all, my dog can't even ride a bike

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Stay happy, enjoy life, smile, laugh and let God surround you with His love, grace, humor, and peace!!

Hugs!!

Karen