The Vanishing Variety Show

The staple of modern TV is the reality show. They're cheap, popular, and don't require great writers or expensive actors. So with an overabundance of programming time available, they're everywhere!

When I was growing up, the venue used to fill time was the variety show. Usually an hour long, these shows featured comedy monologues, skits, song, and dance. Unfortunately, they have vanished for the most part.

There was the Ed Sullivan Show and Ted Mack's Amateur Hour which featured a variety of acts, but no entertainment contribution from the hosts other than as emcees. Some shows today (America's Got Talent, etc) come close to this format.

I preferred the star-driven shows, however.

There was The Carol Burnett Show, which featured a great supporting cast which always seemed to be cracking itself up. Apparently, there were no retakes, and the "live" feeling was an important part of the show's charm.

There was The Mac Davis Show, of which my favorite part were the improvised songs he would write on the spot.

There was The Dean Martin Show which boasted some of the best guests while Dean drank, smoked, smirked, and broke into an occasional song.

The Flip Wilson Show was strong on comedy and classic lines such as "the devil made me do it!".
The Sonny and Cher Show was one of my favorites. They became even more famous due to their show's success. Too bad they split.

My all-time favorite variety show was undoubtably The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour with Dick and Tommy Smothers, and regulars such as Pat Paulsen. They were supposedly "edgy" for the day, but to me, they were simply hilarious.

It sounds like we watched a lot of TV, but there were only 3-4 channels available and the we really didn't. We did watch TV more as a family than the multiple-TV households of today do, and they were frequently tuned to these creative and missed variety shows.

Speaking of family: Happy Birthday, Dad! One of the reasons these memories are so happy is because you were there.