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126-430: The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions , the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC . This original run featured a regular, but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during

252-491: A 1998 episode of the animated series Dexter's Laboratory . He wrote and sang "What Would They Say", the theme song from the made-for-television film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). Williams wrote music and lyrics of "Silence is Our Song" for Richard Barone 's 2010 album Glow and collaborated with Scissor Sisters on their second album, Ta-Dah . In March 2012, it was announced that Williams had "written

378-563: A Grammy for Song of the Year. He has been nominated on other occasions for an Academy Award and several Golden Globe Awards . In 1987 he wrote the songs performed by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty in the film Ishtar . He wrote the music for a musical production of Happy Days that debuted in 2007 and made a cameo appearance as an animated version of himself singing "Breathe in the Sunshine" in

504-479: A Head (about a toy horse), and Toby Tyler (starring Kevin Corcoran ). In addition, one original serial was produced, The Mystery of Rustler's Cave , starring Kim Richards and Robbie Rist . Often shown were scenes from animated Disney films, from Snow White to The Jungle Book billed as "Mouseka Movie Specials". Theme days were: The series debuted on January 17, 1977, on 38 local television stations in

630-913: A batch of misprinted chemistry textbooks. Williams appeared in the 2017 film Baby Driver as the Butcher, an arms dealer. He portrayed the character of Little Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). He has a recurring role as a former lawyer and information source in 2018's season 2 and 2019's season 3 of Goliath . Williams has been married three times. He has two children, Sarah and Cole Williams (born 1981), from his first marriage (1971) to Kate Clinton. In 1993, he married Hilda Keenan Wynn, daughter of actor Keenan Wynn . His third wife

756-495: A brief time in the late 1980s, the show was replaced with The American Radio Company of the Air , also hosted and created by Keillor, was set in a more urban environment and likewise was based on old-time radio; its short run eventually morphed into a revival of A Prairie Home Companion ). In 2016, following Keillor's retirement, Chris Thile took over the program and, over the course of the next year, transformed it into Live from Here ,

882-508: A bunch of head-banging, beer-crushing rock jocks blew up a pile of disco records in the Chicago White Sox outfield . If any art form truly encapsulates the entirety of '70s culture, it is the variety show. After all, the variety show was not an art form, it was all art forms. A variety show packed sketch comedy, dance choreography, guest celebrities and concert performances (okay, lip-synching) into one anything-goes show. A variety show

1008-468: A charity or cause. The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon was one of the best known telethons in the US, but it too was eventually canceled after several years of shortening (originally over 21 hours, by the time of its last telecast in 2014, by which point Lewis had been gone from the telethon several years, it was down to two hours). Another popular telethon, for United Cerebral Palsy , ended its run in 1998 shortly after

1134-503: A cooking show or a talent competition but end in various results. Iran had a private television company that had broadcast Iran television network channel before national television, it aired variety shows. Variety programming has remained one of the dominant genres of television programming. While Japanese variety shows are famous abroad for their wild stunts, they vary from talk shows to music shows, from tabloid news shows to skit comedy. The prominent use of telop on screen has created

1260-478: A couple of tunes" on Random Access Memories , the album of French electronic duo Daft Punk . He co-wrote and sang vocals on "Touch" and co-wrote "Beyond". Williams and Nile Rodgers were the only featured artists to speak on behalf of Daft Punk at the 2014 Grammy Awards upon their receipt of the Album of the Year award for Random Access Memories . Williams told an anecdote about his work with Daft Punk: "Back when I

1386-507: A cover-band standard and de rigueur for weddings throughout North America. An early collaboration with Roger Nichols, "Someday Man", was covered by the Monkees (a group for which he unsuccessfully auditioned ) on a 1969 single, and was the first Monkees' release not published by Screen Gems . A frequent co-writer of Williams' was musician Kenneth Ascher . Their songs together included " Rainbow Connection ", sung by Jim Henson (as Kermit

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1512-457: A fast-paced setting, with scenes repeating or fast forwarded. Another popular variety show in Taiwan was Kangsi Coming (2004–2016). It was famous for its bantering, which was scripted. The first Cantonese variety show to become a major success was Hong Kong's Enjoy Yourself Tonight , which first aired in 1967 and ran for 27 years. In Hong Kong, variety shows are often combined with elements of

1638-435: A female audience and produced by Elle chief editor Daisy de Galard. Each episode of Dim Dam Dom was hosted in an all-white studio set by a different speakerine (a female continuity announcer), usually a popular actress or singer like Françoise Hardy , Marie Laforêt , Geraldine Chaplin , France Gall , Jane Birkin , Françoise Fabian , Romy Schneider . Variety shows with an emphasis on comedy sketches were popular in

1764-838: A few shows (such as Hee Haw and The Lawrence Welk Show ) surviving and moving into first-run syndication . Variety shows continued to be produced in the 1970s, with most of them stripped down to only music and comedy. Popular variety shows that ran in the 1970s include The Flip Wilson Show (1970–1974), The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971–1977, in various incarnations), The Bobby Goldsboro Show (1973–1975), The Hudson Brothers' Razzle Dazzle Show (1974–1975), The Midnight Special (1973–1981), Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (1973–1981), The Mac Davis Show (1974–1976), Tony Orlando and Dawn (1974–1976), Saturday Night Live (1975–present), Donny & Marie (1976–1979), The Muppet Show (1976–1981), and Sha Na Na (1977–1981). Of all of these, only Saturday Night Live remains on

1890-412: A few years, reruns of most of those shows (except The Flip Wilson Show ) were discontinued. Similarly, CMT held the rights to Hee Haw but broadcast very few episodes, opting mainly to hold the rights to allow them to create performance videos from the episodes to be shown in its video blocks. The current rights holder of Hee Haw , RFD-TV , has been more consistent broadcasting complete episodes of

2016-458: A flurry of new variety shows with rural appeal: The Johnny Cash Show (1969–1971), The Jim Nabors Hour (1969–1971), The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969–1972) and Hee Haw (1969–1992). Entertainers with less successful variety shows in the 1960s include Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. Some consider disco to be the boiled-down essence of Seventies pop culture . But that doesn't quite cover it. Not everyone liked disco. In fact,

2142-497: A half-hour weekdays in 1957, the final season to feature new programming. Although the show returned for a 1958 season, these programs were repeats from the first two seasons, recut into a half-hour format. The Mickey Mouse Club was featured on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Walt Disney's Adventure Time , featuring reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club serials and several re-edited segments from Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents , appeared on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Although

2268-529: A manner not unlike Romper Room . In response to an upsurge in demand from baby boomers entering adulthood, the show again went into syndicated reruns from January 20, 1975, until January 14, 1977. It has since been rerun on cable specialty channels Disney in the United States and Family in Canada. The original Mickey Mouse Club films aired five days a week on The Disney Channel from its launch in 1983 until

2394-474: A moderate sized group. Former Mouseketeer Don Grady guest-starred in the season 1 finale. Grady, along with fellow Mouseketeers Annette Funicello, Bobby Burgess, Tommy Cole, Sharon Baird, and Sherry Alberoni were reunited on the 100th episode, during the show's third season. Funicello later appeared on the show again, in an interview with the Mouseketeer Lindsey Alley . For the first five seasons,

2520-522: A more diverse multiethnic background than the 1950s version. Several 1977–1978 cast members went on to become TV stars and other notable icons. The show's most notable alumnus was Lisa Whelchel (born in 1963, in Littlefield, Texas ), who later starred in the NBC television sitcom The Facts of Life , which ran from 1979 to 1988, before becoming a well-known Christian author, and overall runner-up, and winner of

2646-412: A more streamlined musical variety series. Live from Here , which moved to New York City in 2019, was cancelled due to budget cuts in 2020. Improvisational comic Wayne Brady , coming off his successful appearances on the panel game Whose Line Is It Anyway? , launched an eponymous variety show in 2001, which aired on ABC. The Wayne Brady Show lasted only one summer season in its variety format; when

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2772-460: A music hall artist of that period. The audience was also encouraged to dress in period costume in a similar fashion. Other long-running British variety shows that originated in the 1950s include Tonight at the London Palladium (1955–1969), The Black and White Minstrel Show (1958–1978), The White Heather Club (1958–1968) and Royal Variety Performance (an annual event televised since

2898-642: A number of acts in the 1970s, including Three Dog Night 's " An Old Fashioned Love Song " and " Out in the Country ", Helen Reddy 's " You and Me Against the World ", Biff Rose 's "Fill Your Heart", and the Carpenters ' " We've Only Just Begun " and " Rainy Days and Mondays ". He also wrote " Cried Like a Baby " for teen idol Bobby Sherman . Williams is also known for writing the score and lyrics for Bugsy Malone (1976) and his musical contributions to other films, including

3024-474: A number of successful pop hits from the 1970s, including several hits for Three Dog Night (" An Old Fashioned Love Song ", " The Family of Man " and " Out in the Country "), Helen Reddy (" You and Me Against the World "), and the Carpenters , most notably " Rainy Days and Mondays ", " I Won't Last a Day Without You ", and " We've Only Just Begun ", originally a song for a Crocker National Bank television commercial featuring newlyweds, and which has since become

3150-722: A parody of rightwing pundits). The Richard Bey Show combined the variety show with the tabloid talk show , not only having its guests talk about their problems but also having them participate in absurdist games, and Sally Jesse Raphael was known for occasionally having music and fashion in the show, especially drag and gender-bending performances. American sketch comedy series such as Saturday Night Live , In Living Color , Almost Live! (and its successor Up Late NW ), MADtv , and SCTV also contain variety show elements, particularly musical performances and comedy sketches. The most obvious difference between shows such as Saturday Night Live and traditional variety shows

3276-405: A radio DJ covering a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde . He appeared in 2008 in an episode of Nickelodeon's children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! entitled "Weather", where he performed "Rainbow Connection". He has also appeared on Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory where he played Professor Williams in an episode entitled "Just An Old Fashioned Lab Song". He made numerous television appearances in

3402-462: A run on CBS in the early 2000s during the reality television boom; The Gong Show , which reached its peak in the 1970s but has had occasional revivals since then; and the worldwide Got Talent franchise. The variety show format also continued in America in the form of the telethon , which feature variety entertainment (often music) interspersed with appeals for viewers to make donations to support

3528-565: A series of variety shows that collectively ran from 1948 to 1969, followed by variety specials that ran until 1994. Shorter-lived variety shows during this period include The Frank Sinatra Show (1950–1952), The Jimmy Durante Show (1954–1956) and a different The Frank Sinatra Show (1957–1958). In the UK The Good Old Days —which ran from 1953 to 1983—featured modern artists performing dressed in late Victorian /Early Edwardian costume, either doing their own act or performing as

3654-556: A small amount of new footage was filmed and was interspliced with material from previous seasons. It is believed that only six of the Mouseketeers—Funicello, Gillespie, Tracey, Burgess, Pendleton, and O'Brien—were called back for the filming of new material, while Cole and Baird were merely used for some publicity material. Other notable non-Mouseketeer performers appeared in several dramatic segments: These non-Mouseketeers primarily appeared in several original serials filmed for

3780-618: A song in full make-up as Virgil. He played Migelito Loveless, Jr. in The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979), a reunion film featuring the original cast of the television series The Wild Wild West . He played himself, singing a song to Felix Unger's daughter Edna, on the television series The Odd Couple in 1974. He made his film debut as Gunther Fry in the satire The Loved One (1965). After appearing on The Muppet Show in 1976, Williams worked closely with Jim Henson 's Henson Productions on The Muppet Movie , working on

3906-615: A songwriter and the Head Mouseketeer, who provided leadership both on and off the screen. In addition to his other contributions, he often provided short segments encouraging younger viewers to make the right moral choices. These little " homilies " became known as "Doddisms". Roy Williams , a staff artist at Disney, also appeared in the show as the Big Mouseketeer. Williams suggested that the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears should be worn by

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4032-604: A style that has influenced variety programming across Asia. One of the most popular variety shows in Japan includes Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai . In South Korea , the hugely popular show Infinite Challenge , has been broadcast by MBC from 2005 to 2018, was a new model of this, called "Real Variety Show". It combined comedy and variety scenes including unscripted stunts and special guest stars while taking place in various settings. Although many variety shows have existed in Korea long before

4158-598: A variety show starring SNL performer Maya Rudolph . Like Rosie Live , the broadcast was intended to be a one-off special, but with the possibility of additional episodes depending on its performance. The special won its time slot, due mainly to a strong lead-in, and spawned the May 2016 premiere of Maya & Marty , adding fellow SNL cast member Martin Short ; under that format, Maya & Marty lasted six episodes. Earlier that season, NBC aired Best Time Ever , an adaptation of

4284-498: Is Broadway meets Solid Gold meets Saturday Night Live meets Saturday morning . MeTV In 1970 and 1971, the American TV networks, CBS especially, conducted the so-called " rural purge ", in which shows that appealed to more rural and older audiences were canceled as part of a greater focus on appealing to wealthier demographics. Many variety shows, including long-running ones, were canceled as part of this "purge," with

4410-515: Is the earliest surviving variety show, preserved in the form of audio recordings and still photographs. The genre proliferated during the Golden Age of Television , generally considered to be roughly 1948 to 1960. Many of these Golden Age variety shows were spin-offs or adaptations of previous radio variety shows. From 1948 to 1971 The Ed Sullivan Show was one of CBS 's most popular television series. Using his no-nonsense approach, host Ed Sullivan

4536-403: Is the lack of a single lead host (or hosts) and a large ensemble cast . SNL has used different guest hosts ever since its inception. Televised talent shows have a variety show element, in that they feature a variety of different acts. Examples of US talent shows that feature entertainers from a broad variety of disciplines include Star Search , which had a run in the 1980s in syndication and

4662-563: Is what [Daft Punk] wanted me to say. Captain Kirk uses the Enterprise . [Daft Punk] sail on a ship called Generosity. They are generous in spirit ... This is a labor of love and we are all so grateful." Williams is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame , and his songs have been performed by both pop and country music artists. In April 2009, Williams was elected president and chairman of

4788-538: The Cinderella Liberty song "You're So Nice to Be Around" with music by John Williams , and it earned them an Oscar nomination . Along with Ascher and Rupert Holmes , he wrote the music and lyrics to A Star Is Born (also 1976), with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson . The love ballad, " Evergreen ", (lyrics by Paul Williams, melody by Barbra Streisand) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and

4914-593: The Royal Variety Performance , and South Korea with Running Man , the proliferation of multichannel television and evolving viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose late-night talk shows and NBC 's variety series Saturday Night Live (which originally premiered in 1975) have remained popular fixtures of American television. The live entertainment style known as music hall in

5040-506: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). In September 2015, Williams, along with bass player Kasim Sulton , led a global virtual songwriting collaboration at Hookist.com. The mission was to write the first crowd-sourced anthem to be performed at FacingAddiction.org's concert and rally on The National Mall on October 4, 2015, headlined by Steven Tyler , Sheryl Crow and Joe Walsh among others. The theme of

5166-484: The Mickey Mouse Club . This incarnation was not distributed by Disney only; while Disney did produce the series, it was co-produced and distributed by SFM Entertainment , which also handled 1970s-era syndication of the original 1950s series. ( Disney since re-acquired only distribution rights.) Reruns of the original The Mickey Mouse Club began airing on The Disney Channel with the channel's 1983 launch. While

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5292-551: The Oscar -nominated song " Rainbow Connection " from The Muppet Movie , and writing the lyrics to the #1 chart-topping song " Evergreen ", the love theme from the Barbra Streisand film A Star Is Born , for which he won a Grammy for Song of the Year and an Academy Award for Best Original Song . He wrote the lyrics to the opening theme for the television show The Love Boat , with music previously composed by Charles Fox, which

5418-463: The "Mickey Mouse Club March" theme song were slightly different from the original, with two additional lines: "He's our favorite Mouseketeer; we know you will agree" and "Take some fun and mix in love, our happy recipe". A soundtrack album was released with the show. A new rendition of the "Mickey Mouse Club March" was made later on in 1999 by Mannheim Steamroller, a contemporary band, in hopes of connecting new-age children and their parents who watched

5544-572: The $ 100,000 viewers' choice award, on the fall 2012 season of the CBS television reality series Survivor . Mouseketeer Julie Piekarski (born in 1963 in St. Louis , Missouri ) also appeared with Lisa Whelchel on the first season of The Facts of Life . Kelly Parsons (born in 1964, in Coral Gables, Florida ) went on to become a beauty queen and runner-up to Miss USA . Other Mouseketeers (from seasons 1–2) from

5670-583: The 1940s, Stan Laurel revisited his music hall days when he performed at the Royal Variety show. In the United States former vaudeville performers such as the Marx Brothers , George Burns and Gracie Allen , W. C. Fields , and Jack Benny honed their skills in the Borscht Belt before moving to talkies , to radio shows, and then to television shows, including variety shows. Radio variety shows were

5796-474: The 1950s). Popular American variety shows that began in the 60s include a revival of The Jackie Gleason Show (1960–1970), The Andy Williams Show (1962–1971), The Danny Kaye Show (1963–1967), The Hollywood Palace (1964–1970), The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974), The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967–1969) and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–73). 1969 saw

5922-480: The 1956–57 season, was the oldest Mouseketeer, being born in 1939, and Bronson Scott, on only the 1955–56 season, was the youngest Mouseketeer, being born in July 1947. Among the thousands who auditioned but did not make the cut were future Oscar -winning vocalist/songwriter Paul Williams and future Primetime Emmy Award -winning actress Candice Bergen . The 39 Mouseketeers and the seasons in which they were featured (with

6048-604: The 1958–1959 season, airing right after American Bandstand . The show was revived three times after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977 to 1979 for first-run syndication as The New Mickey Mouse Club , then from 1989 to 1996 as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (also known to fans as MMC from 1993 to 1996) airing on The Disney Channel , and again from 2017 to 2018 with the moniker Club Mickey Mouse airing on internet social media. The character of Mickey Mouse appeared in every show, not only in vintage cartoons originally made for theatrical release, but also in

6174-550: The 1970s and 1980s, including on The Odd Couple , Hawaii Five-O , Match Game '79 , Hollywood Squares , The Love Boat , Police Woman , Fantasy Island , The Hardy Boys , The Fall Guy , The Flip Wilson Special , Gimme a Break! , and The Gong Show . He has also guest-starred in the Babylon 5 episode " Acts of Sacrifice " (Season 2 Episode 12) as Taq, the aide to Correlilmurzon, an alien ambassador whose species finalizes treaties and agreements by having sex with

6300-529: The 1970s, the series has aired only briefly and sporadically in reruns, and only on the Disney Channel 's Vault Disney nighttime block (1997-2002). Unlike its 1950s predecessor and the 1989/1990s series that followed, which had DVD releases of select episodes in July 2005, this version has not had a DVD release and has been largely forgotten by many, including many kids of the 1970s who made it their club. On November 20, 1977, "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World"

6426-455: The 1977 show: Disney voice actor and sound effects editor Wayne Allwine voiced Mickey Mouse in the animated lead-ins for the show, replacing Jimmy MacDonald, who in 1947 had replaced Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey for theatrical short cartoons. Walt Disney had been the original voice of Mickey and for the original 1954–1959 run provided the voice for animated introductions to the original TV show but had died in 1966. Allwine kept providing

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6552-567: The B-side of his hit " Tiptoe Through the Tulips " (1968). David Bowie recorded a version of the song on his album Hunky Dory (1971). Rose and Williams wrote "I'll Walk Away" (recorded by Rose on his third, eponymous album). Rose was instrumental in getting Williams his break with A&M Records which resulted in Williams working with songwriter Roger Nichols . Williams and Nichols were responsible for

6678-549: The British variety game show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway starring actor Neil Patrick Harris which was ultimately unsuccessful. Starting in the 1950s, some entertainers became associated with variety television specials that would recur on a regular basis, in some cases for decades, on American network TV. Such entertainers included Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , Perry Como , Andy Williams and Mitzi Gaynor . Many of these were Christmas variety specials, which often showed

6804-627: The Elsinore Theater in Salem, Oregon , with 60 theaters hosting clubs by March 31. The Club released its first issue of the Official Bulletin of the Mickey Mouse Club on April 15, 1930. By 1932, the club had one million members, and in 1933 its first UK club opened at Darlington 's Arcade Cinema. In 1935, Disney began to phase out the club. The Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd ,

6930-793: The Faustian record producer Swan in Brian DePalma's film Phantom of the Paradise (1974)—a rock and roll adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera , Faust , and The Picture of Dorian Gray , for which Williams wrote the songs —and as Virgil , the genius orangutan in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). On February 9, 1973, Williams made a joke appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in which he sang

7056-526: The Frog ) in The Muppet Movie (1979). Williams worked on the music for a number of films, including writing and singing on Phantom of the Paradise (1974) in which he starred and earned an Oscar nomination for the music, and Bugsy Malone (1976). Williams wrote and sang the song "Where Do I Go from Here", which was used in the end credits of the film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot . He contributed lyrics to

7182-405: The U.S. Sábado Gigante ) began in 1962 with Don Francisco and lasted into the 1990s. His daughter, Vivianne Kreutzberger, currently hosts the program under the title Gigantes con Vivi , while Don Francisco has hosted the U.S. version since 12 April 1986 until the end of the show's run on 19 September 2015. Throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, the producers Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier created

7308-521: The United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States can be considered a direct predecessor of the "variety show" format. Variety in the UK evolved in theatres and music halls, and later in working men's clubs . British performers who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel , George Formby , Gracie Fields , Dan Leno , Gertrude Lawrence , and Marie Lloyd . Most of

7434-455: The United Kingdom from the late 1960s until the 1980s. Two of the longest-running and most popular series were Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies . [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of variety show at Wiktionary Paul Williams (songwriter) Paul Hamilton Williams Jr. (born September 19, 1940) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for writing and co-writing popular songs performed by

7560-556: The United States bringing on a new type of the Korean wave globally. Variety shows are a huge part of daily life in the Philippines, with all of the major networks running their own variety shows usually during lunchtime and can be on the air for between one and a half hours to three hours. The most notable Philippine variety show is the longest-running Eat Bulaga , which premiered in 1979 and has aired on RPN , ABS-CBN , GMA , and TV5 in

7686-511: The United States in 1986, continued to produce and broadcast new episodes on Univision until its cancellation in September 2015. At least one national variety show continued on national radio into the 21st century. A Prairie Home Companion was founded and created by Garrison Keillor in 1974 as an homage to rural radio variety shows, featuring sketch comedy based on radio dramas of the old-time radio era, complete with faux commercials. (For

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7812-428: The United States, and by June of that same year, when the series was discontinued, about 70 stations in total had picked up the series. Additional stations picked up the canceled program, which continued to run until January 12, 1979; 130 new episodes, with much of the original material repackaged and a bit of new footage added, and a shortened version of the theme song, was produced to start airing September 5, 1977. Since

7938-511: The Univision networks in the United States. In Venezuela , the best known variety show is Súper Sábado Sensacional . Originally established in 1968 (as Sábado Espectacular ) on Radio Caracas Television , the show moved to Venevision in 1970 and was renamed Sábado Sensacional . In 1990, "Súper" was added to the title, and is how the show is currently known today. The Spanish-language variety show known as Sábados Gigantes (forerunner of

8064-410: The air today, and has become the second-longest-running variety show in the history of American television. Entertainers with weekly variety shows that ran for one season or less in the 1970s include Captain & Tennille , The Jacksons , The Keane Brothers , Bobby Darin , Mary Tyler Moore , Julie Andrews , Dolly Parton , Shields and Yarnell , The Manhattan Transfer , Starland Vocal Band , and

8190-473: The broadcast of Infinite Challenge , this program has given a rise to a new page in the history of Korean variety shows by introducing unscripted stunts. As a result, other broadcasting channels such as KBS and SBS have followed its path and introduced programs such as 2 Days & 1 Night and Running Man . These types of Korean variety shows are grabbing foreign interest of countries such as Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and even

8316-544: The case of a one-off Christmas special, the Christian-leaning network INSP ); JLTV dropped Kaye from its schedule at the end of 2018. The Carol Burnett Show , which had aired in severely edited form sporadically in syndication since it ended in 1977, returned intact in 2019 on numerous platforms. Digital multicast network getTV shows variety shows on an irregular basis. The Spanish language variety show Sabado Gigante , which began in 1962, and then moved from Chile to

8442-446: The cast of The Brady Bunch . Entertainers with variety-based TV specials in the 70s include Carpenters , John Denver , Shirley MacLaine , Diana Ross , Bob Hope, and Pat Boone. Paul Lynde hosted a string of irregularly scheduled Comedy Hours through the late 1970s. By the late 1970s nearly every TV variety show had ended production. Audiences were clearly tiring of the format; the highest-rated variety show of 1975, Cher ,

8568-881: The concept of the big band remote from the old-time radio era, it was already one of the last shows of its kind when it debuted and far outlasted all other big-band centered broadcast series by the end of its run. Other long-running American variety shows that premiered during this time include Texaco Star Theatre (1948–1956), Jerry Lester 's Cavalcade of Stars , Broadway Open House and Chesterfield Sound-Off Time (1949–1952); The Jackie Gleason Show (1950–1955), The Garry Moore Show (1950–1967, in various incarnations), The Morey Amsterdam Show (1950–1954 in various incarnations), The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950–1955), Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), The Red Skelton Show (1951–1971), The Dinah Shore Show (1951–1957), The George Gobel Show (1954–1960) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956–1963). Perry Como also hosted

8694-418: The concept, but modernized the show cosmetically, with a disco re-recording of the theme song and a more ethnically diverse group of young cast members. The sets were brightly colored and simpler than the detailed black and white artwork of the original. Like the original, nearly every day's episode included a vintage cartoon, though usually in color from the late 1930s onward. The 1977 Mouseketeers were part of

8820-450: The concerts were replaced primarily by live performances that featured singing and dancing in front of the audience. This version maintained the "theme day" format from the previous two versions. When Disney decided to revamp the show for its final season, the show was reduced to a single weekly airing, shown only on Thursdays. Although still produced as a daily series during the final season taping in 1994, The Disney Channel, after canceling

8946-513: The current generation of U.S. hosts, late-night talk shows vary widely on their resemblance to the original variety format, with Jimmy Fallon 's incarnation of The Tonight Show putting heavy emphasis on sketch and game segments incorporating celebrity guests (especially involving music), while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has placed a larger emphasis on news satire similar to its host 's previous Comedy Central late-night program The Colbert Report (where Colbert portrayed himself as

9072-415: The death of its founder and figurehead, Dennis James . Likewise only a handful of long-established local telethons remain. The prime time variety show format was popular in the early decades of Australian television, spawning such series as In Melbourne Tonight , The Graham Kennedy Show , The Don Lane Show , and Hey Hey It's Saturday , which ran for 27 years. Recent prime time variety shows include

9198-607: The early top performers on British television and radio did an apprenticeship either in stage variety, or during World War II in Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). In the UK, the ultimate accolade for a variety artist for decades was to be asked to do the annual Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium theatre, in front of the monarch. Later known as the Royal Variety Performance (from 1919), it continues today. In

9324-447: The first programs to be featured on television during the experimental mechanical television era. Variety shows hosted by Helen Haynes and Harriet Lee are recorded in contemporary newspapers in 1931 and 1932; because of technical limits of the era, no recordings of either show have been preserved. After World War II , the genre again was an early favorite of the burgeoning electronic television industry; Hour Glass , dating to 1946,

9450-583: The format faded in popularity in prime time, it thrived in American late-night TV. Night-time variety shows eventually evolved into late-night talk shows , which combine variety entertainment (primarily comedy and live music) with the aspects of a talk show (such as interviews with celebrities). The Emmy Awards academy considers the two genres to be related closely enough that, until 2015, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series

9576-476: The genre arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Variety shows from this era included Dolly (starring Dolly Parton ), which ran for 23 episodes on ABC during the 1987–88 season; The Tracey Ullman Show which aired on Fox from April 1987 through May 1990; a revival of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour from 1988 to 1989; a revival of The Carol Burnett Show , which was broadcast by CBS for nine episodes in 1991 (following up on Carol & Company on NBC

9702-576: The halftime show of Super Bowl XI on January 9, 1977. Serials were usually old Disney movies, cut into segments for twice-weekly inclusion. Movies included Third Man on the Mountain , The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and its sequel The Monkey's Uncle (both starring Tommy Kirk ), Emil and the Detectives (retitled The Three Skrinks ), Tonka (retitled A Horse Called Comanche ), The Horse Without

9828-469: The most popular segments. Due to the age of both the performers and the target demographic, lyrics with objectionable content were generally edited out of the songs and replaced with more appropriate language. A unique feature of the show was the Mouseketeers performing concerts on different days (which were usually taped the day before or in the summer, when the kids had more time). During the final season,

9954-414: The most popular variety shows on French television , including Le Sacha Show (1963–1971) hosted by Sacha Distel , Top à... (1972–1974), Numéro Un (1975–1982) and a lot of television specials presented by various famous singers ( Johnny Hallyday , Sylvie Vartan , Claude François , Petula Clark ). From 1965 to 1970 was also aired Dim Dam Dom , a modern, playful and sophisticated show intended for

10080-477: The only Disney series which was left on prime time until 1972 when The Mouse Factory went on the air. The prohibition which prevented major U.S. broadcast networks from airing the original Mickey Mouse Club (or any later version of it) was disputed when Disney acquired ABC in 1996. Although it would not air on ABC again, Disney ran it on the Disney Channel's "Vault Disney" block from 1998 to 2002. Although

10206-421: The opening title was used later in the series, in syndication, and on Disney Channel reruns. Dodd also wrote many other songs used in individual segments throughout the series. Each day of the week had a special show theme, which was reflected in the several segments. The themes were: The series ran on ABC Television for an hour each weekday in the 1955 and the 1956 seasons (from 5:00 - 6:00 pm ET), and only

10332-407: The opening, interstitial, and closing segments made especially for the show. In both the vintage cartoons and new animated segments, Mickey was voiced by his creator Walt Disney (Disney had previously voiced the character theatrically from 1928 to 1947 before being replaced by sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald ). The first official theater-based Mickey Mouse Club began on December 21, 1929, at

10458-532: The other signees. In October 1980, Williams was host of the Mickey Mouse Club 25th Anniversary Special on NBC-TV. He stated that he tried out for the show in early 1955 and was turned down. He was a frequent guest and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . He appears as the man making the phone call at the beginning of the music video for Hank Williams Jr.'s song " All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight ". In 2014, he appeared on Community as an illegal textbook dealer who declines to purchase

10584-405: The predominant form of light entertainment during the Golden Age of Radio from the late 1920s through the 1940s; such radio shows typically included a house vocalist, music from the house band , a stand-up monologue and a short comedy sketch . Variety shows centered on running comedy sketches with recurring characters eventually evolved into sitcoms (situation comedies). Variety shows were among

10710-632: The president and chairman of the American songwriting society ASCAP . Williams was born in Omaha, Nebraska , the son of Paul Hamilton Williams, an architectural engineer, and his wife, Bertha Mae (née Burnside), a homemaker . One of his brothers was John J. Williams, a NASA rocket scientist, who participated in the Mercury and Apollo programs and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal , their highest honor, in 1969. His other brother

10836-409: The previous year); and Showtime 's The Super Dave Osborne Show hosted by Bob Einstein from 1987 to 1991 (itself a spinoff of John Byner 's Bizarre , which ran from 1980 to 1986). By the 1990s, networks had given up on the format; after initially promising Phil Hartman his own variety show, NBC backed out of the agreement believing a variety show could no longer succeed. By the 21st century

10962-493: The program; RFD-TV also airs numerous other country -style variety shows from the 1960s and 1970s up through the present day, in a rarity for modern television. Another notable exception is The Lawrence Welk Show , which has been frequently broadcast in reruns on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) since 1986. The Danny Kaye Show returned to television in 2017 with reruns on Jewish Life Television (and, in

11088-506: The regularly scheduled variety shows that spawned them by several years. Also, Barbara Mandrell Christmas special. Christmas variety specials' popularity continued into the 1990s, before starting to wane in the 2000s. Nevertheless, the tradition has continued. Entertainers who have hosted Christmas variety specials in the 21st century include Kid Rock , Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson , Carrie Underwood , Lady Gaga , Michael Buble , Bill Murray , Gwen Stefani , and Darci Lynne . Though

11214-510: The same series. 31 out of the 39 original Mouseketeers were reunited for a TV special, which aired on Disney's Wonderful World in November 1980. Paul Williams – who hosted the special – and Tim Considine were named Honorary Mouseketeers during the special. Cast members Annette Funicello, Bobby Burgess, Tommy Cole, Sharon Baird, Don Grady, and Sherry Alberoni were reunited on the 100th episode of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club , during

11340-532: The series aired Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm. The show's sixth season aired Monday to Thursday. In its final season, it aired Thursdays only at 7:00 pm (later moved a half hour later, to 7:30 pm). The series premiered Monday, April 24, 1989, ended production in October 1994, and aired its last original episode in 1996. Seasons 3 and 5 had the most episodes at 55 each, with seasons 1, 2, and 7 running about 45 episodes. Seasons 4 and 6 had about 36 episodes each. The show

11466-532: The series had been ended in America, many members of the cast assembled for highly successful tours of Australia in 1959 and 1960. The television series was very successful in Australia and was still running on Australian television. The cast surprised Australian audiences, as by then they had physically matured and in some cases, bore little resemblance to the cast of youths with whom Australians were so familiar. Mainstream television did not reach Australia until 1956, so

11592-461: The series is notable for featuring a number of cast members who went on to achieve global success in music and acting, including actor Ryan Gosling , singers Justin Timberlake , JC Chasez , Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera , actress Keri Russell , voice actress Deedee Magno , En Vogue member Rhona Bennett , and Hallmark movie star Nikki DeLoach . Throughout the show's run, Fred Newman

11718-411: The series once season 7 production had ended, decided to air the final season in a weekly format, therefore stretching the first-run episodes into early 1996. The final season premiered in May 1995, almost a year after production had started and more than 6 months after the series finale was taped. Variety show While still widespread in some parts of the world, such as in the United Kingdom with

11844-441: The series screened well into the 1960s when the back catalog expired. In response to continuing audience demand, the original Mickey Mouse Club went into edited syndicated half-hour reruns that enjoyed wide distribution starting in the fall of 1962, achieving strong ratings especially during its first three seasons in syndicated release. Because of its popularity in some markets, a few stations continued to carry it into 1968 before

11970-540: The series was finally withdrawn from syndication. Some new features were added such as Fun with Science or "Professor Wonderful" (with scientist Julius Sumner Miller ) and Marvelous Marvin in the 1964–1965 season; Jimmie Dodd appeared in several of these new segments before his death in November 1964. Several markets expanded the program back to an hour's daily run time during the 1960s repeat cycle by adding locally produced and hosted portions involving educational subjects and live audience participation of local children, in

12096-425: The series, only some of which have appeared in reruns. Other Mouseketeers were also featured in some of the serials, particularly Annette Funicello and Darlene Gillespie. Major serials included: The opening theme, "The Mickey Mouse March ", was written by the show's primary adult host, Jimmie Dodd. It was also reprised at the end of each episode, with the slower "it's time to say goodbye" verse. A shorter version of

12222-472: The short lived Micallef Tonight and The Sideshow . In Brazil variety shows are referred to as a show de auditório (lit. "auditorium show"). Among the longest-running variety shows on Brazilian television have been SBT 's Programa Silvio Santos (1963–present), which was originally hosted by SBT's owner and founder Silvio Santos (and is presently hosted by his daughter Patricia Abravanel ), and TV Globo 's Domingão do Faustão (1989–2021), which

12348-526: The show remained popular, ABC decided to cancel it after its fourth season ended, because Disney and the ABC network could not come to terms for its renewal. The cancellation of the show in September 1959 was attributed to several factors: the Disney studios did not explain high profit margins from merchandise sales, sponsors were uninterested in educational programming for children, and many commercials were needed to pay for

12474-461: The show returned the next year in syndication, it had been reformatted as a talk show, under which format it ran until 2004. Fox's Osbournes Reloaded , a variety show featuring the family of rocker Ozzy Osbourne , was canceled after only one episode had been telecast in 2009. More than two dozen affiliates refused to telecast the first episode of the show. This series had been slated for a six-episode run. NBC has made repeated attempts at reviving

12600-487: The show was popular with younger audiences, the Disney Channel executives felt it had become dated over the years, particularly because it was aired in black-and-white. Their answer was to create a brand-new, rebooted version of the club, one targeted at contemporary audiences. Notably, the all-new "club-members" wore Mouseketeer varsity jackets instead of iconic Mickey Mouse ears. This show was called The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (also known as "MMC" to fans). This version of

12726-465: The show's cast members. Inspired by a visual gag in The Karnival Kid , he helped create these ears, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, and Bill Walsh. The main cast members were called Mouseketeers, and they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, as well as some informational segments. The most popular of the Mouseketeers constituted the so-called Red Team, who appeared each day in

12852-465: The show's third season in 1990. Mouseketeers Doreen Tracey, Cubby O'Brien, Sherry Alberoni, Sharon Baird, Don Grady, Cheryl Holdridge, Bobby Burgess, Karen Pendleton, Tommy Cole, and Mary Espinosa performed together at Disneyland in Fall 2005, in observance of Disneyland's 50th birthday, and the 50th anniversary of the television premiere of The Mickey Mouse Club . In 1977, Walt Disney Productions revived

12978-473: The show. After canceling The Mickey Mouse Club , ABC also refused to let Disney air the show on another network. Walt Disney filed a lawsuit against ABC, and won the damages in a settlement the following year; however, he had to agree that both the Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro could not be aired on any major network. This left Walt Disney Presents (initially titled Disneyland , later retitled Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color when it moved to NBC) as

13104-910: The show’s opening roll call & closing segments. 9 of those Red Team Mouseketeers were kept under contract for the entire run of the show (1955–1959): Other Mouseketeers who were Red Team members but did not star on the show for all three seasons included: The remaining Mouseketeers, who were members of the White or Blue Teams, were Don Agrati (who was later known as Don Grady when he starred as "Robbie" on My Three Sons ), Sherry Alberoni , Billie Jean Beanblossom, Eileen Diamond, Dickie Dodd (not related to Jimmie Dodd ), Mary Espinosa, Bonnie Lynn Fields , Judy Harriet, Linda Hughes, Dallas Johann, John Lee Johann, Bonni Lou Kern, Charlie Laney, Larry Larsen, Paul Petersen , Lynn Ready, Mickey Rooney Jr. , Tim Rooney , Mary Sartori, Bronson Scott, Margene Storey, Ronnie Steiner , and Mark Sutherland. Larry Larsen, on only for

13230-508: The song was "Celebrate Recovery" and the goal was to reduce the stigma associated with addiction. Williams, Sulton and Dr. Mehmet Oz opened the show and led 10,000 people in a singalong of "Voice of Change" at the base of the Washington Monument . Sulton led a singalong of the song on The Dr. Oz Show which went viral. Although predominantly known for his music, Williams has appeared in films and many television guest spots, such as

13356-433: The soundtrack and appearing in a cameo part as the piano player in the nightclub where Kermit meets Fozzie Bear . He was also the lyricist for Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas . Williams was hired by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas to write title tracks for two of their ABC comedies, It Takes Two (1982–1983), on which he sang a duet with Crystal Gayle , and Condo (1983), in which Williams' theme

13482-474: The star in a set meant to look like their home, welcoming singers and other guests to perform duets of Christmas songs . The popularity of these Christmas shows outlasted that of weekly variety shows. In 1973, for example, even as variety shows were starting to fade in popularity, variety Christmas specials hosted by Williams and Como both attracted an enormous 40% of the American television audience. Williams's and Johnny Cash 's annual Christmas specials outlasted

13608-663: The succeeding years. Recently many other TV networks are different formats of variety. ABS-CBN's It's Showtime has also shown great popularity and interest to Filipino viewers. Siempre en Domingo premiered in 1969 with Raúl Velasco hosting. It became Mexico's longest-running variety series, remaining on Televisa until 1998. Other long-running variety shows, most of which have been Televisa productions, have included La Carabina de Ambrosio , Anabel , Al Fin de Semana , Silvia y Enrique , La Parodia , Muevete , Desmadruga2 , and Sabadazo. . Most, if not all, of Televisa's variety shows have aired in other countries, including

13734-525: The team color which they belonged to are listed for each season): Notes: Cole and Day were originally Blue Team members, but were promoted to the Red Team later in the first season. Johann, Petersen, and the Rooney brothers were all let go early in the first season. Dallas's brother John Lee replaced him, while Dodd and Steiner were hired as replacements for the Rooney brothers. For the show's fourth season, only

13860-521: The third version of the series began in 1989. The last airing of the edited 1950s material was on Disney Channel's Vault Disney from 1997 to September 2002. During the baseball seasons in 1975 and 1976, WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, aired the show on a delayed basis due to Cubs baseball coverages. Annette Funicello and Tim Considine were reunited on The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977. Darlene Gillespie and Cubby O'Brien were also reunited on another episode of

13986-515: The variety format since the late 2000s (the network's last successful variety series, Michael Nesmith 's short-lived but influential Television Parts , was broadcast in the summer of 1985) . A pilot episode for Rosie Live was telecast the day before Thanksgiving Day in 2008 and, after receiving middling ratings and extremely poor reviews, was not picked up for its originally planned run in January 2009. In May 2014, NBC aired The Maya Rudolph Show ,

14112-482: The variety show format was practically extinct, due largely to changing tastes and the fracturing of media audiences (caused by the proliferation of cable and satellite television ) that makes a multiple-genre variety show impractical. Even reruns of variety shows have generally not been especially widespread; TV Land briefly broadcast repeats of some variety shows (namely The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ) upon its launch in 1996, but within

14238-454: The voice for the character up to his death in 2009. Future rock musician Courtney Love (wife of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain ) claims to have auditioned for a part on the show, reading a poem by Sylvia Plath ; she was not selected. Former Mouseketeers Annette Funicello and serial star Tim Considine guest-starred in one episode; former Mouseketeers Darlene Gillespie and Cubby O'Brien were also reunited on another episode. The lyrics of

14364-517: Was Mentor Williams , also a songwriter, who wrote Dobie Gray 's 1973 hit " Drift Away ". Williams began his professional songwriting career with Biff Rose in Los Angeles. The two men first met while working together on a television comedy show. Together, they wrote the song "Fill Your Heart" which was recorded by Rose on his first album, The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side (1968). Tiny Tim covered it as

14490-504: Was drinking, I would imagine things that weren't there and I'd get frightened. Then I got sober and two robots called and asked me to make an album." He communicated a "message from the robots" to the audience: "As elegant and as classy as the Grammy has ever been is the moment when we saw those wonderful marriages and ' Same Love ' is fantastic. It is the height of fairness and love and the power of love for all people at any time in any combination

14616-413: Was hosted by Fausto Silva until he departed the network to host a short-lived variety show on Rede Bandeirantes . Two notable Taiwanese variety shows are Guess (1996–2012) and 100% Entertainment (1997–present). East Asian variety programs are known for their constant use of sound effects, on-screen visuals and comedic bantering. Many of the shows are presented in a live-like presentation in

14742-525: Was instrumental in bringing many acts to prominence in the United States, including Elvis Presley and The Beatles . One year after Sullivan's premiere, Music & the Spoken Word first aired on television. Having carried over from an already 20-year run on radio, the series airs a program of religious music, messages, and occasional interviews, and remains the longest-running variety show in U.S. television history. " The Arthur Murray Party " (1950–1960)

14868-492: Was known for its sketch comedy. Some of the sketches played off famous movies, musicals, and even cartoons, as well as holiday-related skits. During the final season, some of the skits showed everyday occurrences in the lives of adolescents. The series featured music videos of the Mouseketeers singing their versions of popular songs in front of a live studio audience or the Walt Disney World Resort . This became one of

14994-544: Was only the 22nd-most watched show of the year. By 1980 viewer interest in TV variety shows was rapidly waning. Most of the few new variety programs being produced were of remarkably poor quality (for instance, the infamous Pink Lady and Jeff ), hastening the format's demise, though a few moderately successful shows remained, such as Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters (November 1980 to June 1982). A brief revival of

15120-515: Was open to any of these types of show; in 2015, the academy separated late-night talk shows and sketch comedy series into separate categories. During Johnny Carson 's tenure on The Tonight Show on NBC from 1962 to 1992, the show dominated late night ratings, and the other networks attempted late-night talk shows only sporadically. This changed with Carson's retirement, and other networks began to air their own talk show competitors, starting with Late Show with David Letterman on CBS in 1993. As of

15246-458: Was originally sung by Jack Jones and, later, by Dionne Warwick . Williams has had a variety of high-profile acting roles, such as Little Enos Burdette in the action-comedy Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and the villainous Swan in Brian De Palma 's Phantom of the Paradise (1974), which Williams also co-scored, receiving an Oscar nomination in the process. Since 2009, Williams has been

15372-665: Was shown on The Wonderful World of Disney . WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, also aired this version on a delayed basis in 1977 and 1978 during the Cubs baseball season due to game coverages. Action for Children's Television successfully got the show canceled because of their objections to the types of commercials that aired during the program. It also aired on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 1980, and on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong from 1978. The cast of 12 (five boys and seven girls) had

15498-585: Was sung by Drake Frye. Williams composed and performed the theme to the McLean Stevenson sitcom The McLean Stevenson Show in 1976. Williams composed, and sang "Flying Dreams" for the animated film The Secret of NIMH . Williams has appeared in many minor roles. He provided the voice of the Penguin in Batman: The Animated Series . He appeared on an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger as

15624-417: Was the main adult co-host from the beginning of the series until season 6. In the first season, Newman was joined by other co-host Mowava Pryor. She was then replaced by Terri Eoff from the fourth season until the sixth season. By the show's final season, two original members, Chase Hampton and Tiffini Hale , became the co-hosts. This was also the first version of the club to have any studio audience, though

15750-516: Was wildly popular and one of only 5 shows in the history of television to appear on all four major networks at the same time. The premise was a large dance party hosted by Kathryn Murray and Arthur Murray that showcased a new dance and a celebrity guest along with dozens of professional dancers. The show also hosted the only television appearance of Buddy Holly and The Crickets . The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982) would go on to become one of U.S. television's longest-running variety shows; based on

15876-505: Was writer Mariana Williams. An experienced skydiver, Williams completed over 100 jumps in the 1970s. In September 2011, director Stephen Kessler's documentary Paul Williams Still Alive premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival . Williams struggled with alcohol and substance abuse during the 1970s and 1980s. Sober since 1990, Williams has been active in the field of recovery from addictions and became

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