Line #26 Main/VarietyShow


1	A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The format is literally OlderThanTelevision, being developed for radio and crossing over to TV as the medium became popular after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The first breakout television hits were variety shows, most notably the ''Series/TexacoStarTheater'' (hosted by Creator/MiltonBerle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples from the [[TheFifties '50s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] included ''Series/TheRedSkeltonShow'', ''The Creator/JackieGleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were [[TheEponymousShow named for the host(s)]].
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3	In TheSeventies, ''The Carol Burnett Show'' continued to perform well in the ratings, as did ''The Flip Wilson Show,'' ''Donny and Marie'' and ''The Music/SonnyAndCher Comedy Hour''. However, overall the genre began to slide. The decline may be related to the fact that, increasingly, variety shows were used as [[MidseasonReplacement "summer series"]] while American networks' main shows were on hiatus. Said replacements seemed to get exponentially corny and their hosts increasingly unlikely, including Series/TheBradyBunch, mimes (!) Shields and Yarnell, affable TV actor Ken Berry, and pop groups ranging from The Starland Vocal Band to The Hudson Brothers.
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5	This format fell out of favor in America in the early [[Main/TheEighties 1980s]] (although in Australia, ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday'' lasted until 1999). Cable (particularly Creator/{{MTV}} and Creator/{{HBO}}) provided alternate outlets for the music, stand-up comedy, and miscellaneous acts that were the bread-and-butter of these shows, and viewers no longer had to [[JustHereForGodzilla sit through three acts they weren't interested in for the sake of one that they wanted to see]]. If they didn't like what was on cable, people could go down to the local video rental stores that were popping up across the country to find something they wanted to watch. Also, tastes were becoming more polarized; whereas formerly people could endure musical styles they didn't care for much, more and more people actually HATED styles they disfavored. This, combined with the growing number of U.S. households with multiple TV sets, meant that viewers could watch what they wanted, making the format obsolete.
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7	One-shot and annual specials such as ''Circus of the Stars'' persisted into the early 1990s, but even those are now relatively rare.
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9	Occasional attempts to revive the genre (on networks or cable) have been doomed to failure, though some might argue that SketchComedy shows such as ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', the late-night TalkShow format, and reality competitions such as ''Series/AmericanIdol'' and ''America's Got Talent'' keep the form on life support. NBC gave it one more shot for the 2015-16 season with Creator/NeilPatrickHarris hosting ''Best Time Ever'', but it only lasted 8 episodes before being canceled.
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11	Producers of the British SitCom ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' booked a band for a guest appearance in every episode; musical performances qualified the series as a variety show, and it was therefore permitted a larger budget than usual for a BBC sitcom.
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13	Variety shows are still popular in East Asia and Europe, likely due to over-the-air programming still being dominant and households tending to only have one TV set. The East Asian shows aren't exactly the same as the Western variety shows, although the name is still used to refer to them.
14	----
15	!!Examples:
16	[[index]]
17	* ''Series/AdamHillsInGordonStreetTonight''
18	* ''Series/AKBingo''
19	* ''Series/AttackOfTheShow''
20	* A radio example would be ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion''.[[/index]]
21	* ''The Big Show'': the name of two NBC variety shows, both of which heralded the end of an era.
22	** A 1950-1951 radio show starring Creator/TallulahBankhead, a last-gasp attempt by radio to hold out against television. It was successful, but expensive to produce, and couldn't bring in the sponsorships it needed. NBC cancelled it after two years, reportedly losing $1 million on it.
23	** A 1980 TV show starring Creator/DickClark, attempting to revive the dying format on TV. The massive set included a swimming pool and ice rink; the first episode was a success, but ratings plummeted after that and it was cancelled after 11 episodes. If ''Pink Lady and Jeff'' wasn't the GenreKiller, this was, as they started within a week of each other, but ''The Big Show'' lasted twice as long.[[index]]
24	* ''Series/BillNyeSavesTheWorld'' -- In a sense. Each episode has a particular CentralTheme that ties all the elements together, but within a single episode are contained any combination of live demonstrations in front of the audience, [[SketchComedy comedy sketches]], "man on the street" style interviews, correspondent field pieces, panel discussions, and monologues from Bill himself.
25	* ''Series/TheBlackAndWhiteMinstrelShow'' - unfortunately, almost all the musical performances were done by white performers in BlackFace.
26	* ''Series/TheBradyBunchHour''
27	* ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow''
28	* ''The Series/ColgateComedyHour''
29	* ''Series/CrimeScene''
30	* ''Domingão com Huck'' (lit. Big Sunday with Huck)
31	* ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''[[/index]]
32	* 1987's ''Dolly'', starring Music/DollyParton -- it lasted one season and was considered a huge gamble even then.[[index]]
33	* ''Series/{{Fridays}}''
34	* ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''
35	* ''Series/HeeHaw'' - an American country music-themed variety show, one of the victims of UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge.
36	* ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday''
37	* ''Series/HinatazakaDeAimasho''
38	* ''Film/TheHollywoodRevueOf1929'' was part of a series of filmed variety shows that were briefly in vogue during the 1928-30 era when sound films were new and novel. MGM, which was transitioning to talking films, simply put all of its stars into a variety show movie filled with unrelated sketches and songs. Warner Brothers did the exact same thing with its 1929 film ''The Show of Shows''. 1930 film ''Film/KingOfJazz'' is a plotless variety show featuring Paul Waldman and his band in a series of lavish musical numbers, with sketch comedy interludes.
39	* ''The Jackie Gleason Show''
40	* ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080194/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_98 Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters]]'' -- Country music, comedy sketches, and the [[Creator/SidAndMartyKrofftProductions Krofft]] puppets.
41	* ''Series/MideveningsWithJayMiller''
42	* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' -- Somewhere between a straight example and a spoof of this genre.[[/index]]
43	* As part of ''Series/NewlywedsNickAndJessica'', Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson did a variety show special on Creator/{{ABC}} in 2004 that flopped ''badly''.
44	* ''Series/NightOf100Stars''
45	* In-universe in ''Podcast/TheOrbitingHumanCircusOfTheAir,'' the eponymous radio show's format includes musical numbers by bizarre animals and inanimate objects, novelty acts, and prerecorded spoken "true story" segments as closing "feature presentations."[[index]]
46	* ''Series/ThePaulHoganShow'' -- (Australian Series with ''Film/CrocodileDundee'' star Creator/PaulHogan).
47	* ''Series/PaulinesQuirkes''
48	* ''Series/PinkLadyAndJeff'' -- This 1980 NBC flop was the arguable GenreKiller.
49	* ''Programa Silvio Santos'' (lit. Silvio Santos Show)
50	* ''Random Acts of Variety'', an attempt at a revival.
51	* ''Series/TheRedSkeltonShow''
52	* ''WebVideo/RunBTS'' -- Variety Show featuring the members of KoreanPopMusic band Music/{{BTS}}
53	* ''Series/RunningMan'' -- A popular Korean show where its celebrity cast competes in games and races
54	* ''Series/SaturdayLive'' (Renamed to ''Friday Night Live'' in 1988)
55	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' originally had more of a variety show-style format, with multiple musical guests appearing in some early episodes and stand-up comedy mixed in with the sketch comedy.
56	* Creator/DinahShore hosted several variety shows, notably ''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'' (which later became simply ''The Dinah Shore Show'') in the 1950s/1960s and ''Dinah!'' in the 1970s.
57	* ''Series/TheSlammer'' -- A variety show with a weird framing device.
58	* ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour''[[/index]]
59	* ''Solstrom'' -- A 2003 series produced by Creator/CirqueDuSoleil had whimsical fantasy storylines brought to life via a selection of circus/variety acts from both within and without Cirque's live shows.[[index]]
60	* ''The Music/SonnyAndCher Comedy Hour''
61	** Along with separate shows (''Cher'' and ''The Sonny Comedy Revue'') following the couple's bitter divorce.
62	* ''Series/TheSteveAllenShow''
63	* ''Series/SuperDave'', a.k.a. ''The Super Dave Osborne Show''
64	* ''Series/TexacoStarTheater''
65	* ''This Is Music/TomJones''
66	* ''Series/TobyTerrierAndHisVideoPals''
67	* ''Series/TheTonightShow''
68	** ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''
69	** ''Series/TheTonightShowWithJayLeno''
70	** ''Series/TheTonightShowWithConanOBrien''
71	** ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJimmyFallon''
72	* ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' (aka, the show where ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' started on)
73	* ''Series/VivaVariety'' -- Creator/ComedyCentral's parody of these kinds of programs
74	* ''Series/WhosTheMurderer''
75	[[/index]]
76	* Technically, by having bands on, ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' was considered a variety show. (This was because variety got a higher budget than light entertainment at the BBC.)

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