History Trivia / PinkLadyAndJeff

* BillingDisplacement: Music/{{Blondie|Band}} (''twice''!), Music/AliceCooper and Music/CheapTrick were advertised as guest stars. In fact, all that happened was that their pre-Creator/{{MTV}} music videos were played on the show ("Shayla" and "Eat to the Beat" by Blondie; "Clones (We're All)" by Alice and for Cheap Trick, "Dream Police").

* BillingDisplacement: Music/{{Blondie}} (''twice''!), Music/AliceCooper and Music/CheapTrick were advertised as guest stars. In fact, all that happened was that their pre-Creator/{{MTV}} music videos were played on the show ("Shayla" and "Eat to the Beat" by Blondie; "Clones (We're All)" by Alice and for Cheap Trick, "Dream Police").

* BillingDisplacement: Music/{{Blondie}} (''twice''!) and Music/CheapTrick were both advertised as guest stars. In fact, all that happened was that their pre-Creator/{{MTV}} music videos were played on the show ("Shayla" and "Eat to the Beat", and for Cheap Trick, "Dream Police").

* ExecutiveMeddling: Big time. Basically, NBC just up and had [[Creator/SidAndMartyKrofftProductions Sid and Marty Krofft]] make this show for them (and lied to them in the process when Marty asked if the girls knew how to speak English). Secondly, Sid outlined the entire show, coming up with the idea that the show would play out of a Japanese music box... which NBC shot down in favor of a ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' clone (seriously, [[WordOfGod Marty Krofft actually said in an interview]] that NBC refused Sid's proposal/pitch and told them, point-blank, "no, let's just do ''Donny and Marie''"). This eventually led to its premature, yet well-timed cancellation.
* FollowTheLeader: Silverman ordered the show to follow in the footsteps of ''Donny and Marie'', leading to what Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls [[DerivativeDifferentiation "the strangest knockoff of ''Donny & Marie'' ever broadcast"]].

* OldShame: Marty Krofft is aware (and pretty much agrees) that this was one of the worst shows ever made in the history of television, even acknowledging that the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' spoof was spot-on.

** The pair's "Kiss in the Dark" had been a ''very'' minor hit in the US during 1979, but it had cracked the Top 40 all the same, a rare accomplishment for any Japanese act.[[note]]The only other Japanese artist to have a hit in America was Kyu Sakamoto, whose ''上を向いて歩こう''(''Ue o Muite Arukō'', "I Look Up When I Walk") was released as "Sukiyaki" and became a #1 hit in 1963. "Kiss in the Dark" got to #36 in ''Billboard'', but only hit #49 and #63 on the rival ''Cashbox'' and ''Record World'' charts. ''Billboard'''s chart director at the time was notorious for manipulating the chart to create compelling narratives, showing favoritism to {{Disco}}, and accepting payola, and any of those could've come into play with Pink Lady[[/note]] So, NBC president Fred Silverman, on the lookout for fresh ideas to boost the network's sagging fortunes, thought a show built around the duo might be worth a shot. He nixed the producer's original concept for something really weird and asked for "something like ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''. Sid and Marty Krofft were assigned to make it work.

* GenreKiller: Though it definitely wasn't the last, ''Pink Lady''[='s=] failure convinced programmers that the VarietyShow genre was no longer viable.

* OldShame: Marty Krofft is aware (and pretty much agrees) that this was one of the worst shows ever made in the history of television, and has acknowledged that ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' did a spoof of it once.

** The pair's "Kiss Me in the Dark" had been a ''very'' minor hit in the US during 1979, but it had cracked the Top 40 all the same, a rare accomplishment for any Japanese act. So, NBC president Fred Silverman, on the lookout for fresh ideas to boost the network's sagging fortunes, thought a show built around the duo might be worth a shot. He nixed the producer's original concept for something really weird and asked for "something like ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''. Sid and Marty Krofft were assigned to make it work.

** The pair's "Kiss Me in the Dark" had been a ''very'' minor hit in the US during 1979, but it had cracked the Top 40 all the same, a rare accomplishment for any Japanese act. So, NBC president Fred Silverman, on the lookout for fresh ideas to boost the network's sagging fortunes, thought a show built around the duo might be worth a shot. He nixed the producer's original concept for something really weird and asked for "something like ''Series/DonnyAndMArie''. Sid and Marty Krofft were assigned to make it work.

** Sadly, it seems to have been one also for Mei and Kei. Their time in America took them away from their Japanese fanbase long enough for their popularity to cool off, and so they came home to Japan after the failure of the show to find they had become yesterday's stars and ended up disbanding only a year later. Even today in Japan they remain predominantly a nostalgia act, despite both women having pursued solo music and film careers and having reunited periodically to release new music.

** To offset this, NBC hired comedian Jeff Altman to sort of co-host the show. In actuality, he wound up carrying it due to the stars' linguistic limitations. This led to strife between him, the network and Pink Lady's management. Klein wanted the show to have his name in the title; Pink Lady's manager refused. NBC compromised, promoting the show in print ads and onair promos as ''Pink Lady & Jeff'', but the show's credits always only read ''Pink Lady''.

** The first show ended with a tuxedo-clad Altman being pulled into a hot tub where Mie and Kei were already lounging. Altman thought this was funny ... once. It soon became a RunningGag that [[EveryEpisodeEnding ended every episode]], and he hated it. However, it was kept because it allowed the show to show Mie and Kei [[{{Fanservice}} in bikinis]]. That, and other risque bits in the show, drew the ire of the sort of MOral Majority types who would later, motivated in part by seeing such things taking over broadcast TV, help sweep Creator/RonaldReagan into the White House later that year.

* CreatorKiller: This was one of the shows that soured Fred Silverman's career at NBC.

** Sadly, it seems to have been one also for Mei and Kei. Their time in America took them away from their Japanese fanbase long enough for their popularity to cool off, and so they came home to Japan after the failure of the show to find they had become yesterday's stars and ended up disbanding only a year later. Even today in Japan they remain predominantly a nostalgia act, despite both girls having pursued solo music and film careers and having reunited periodically to release new music.

** Sadly, it seems to have been one also for Mei and Kei. Their time in America took them away from their Japanese fanbase long enough for their popularity to cool off, and so they came home to Japan after the failure of the show to find they had become yesterday's stars and ended up disbanding only a year later. Even today in Japan they remain predominantly a nostalgia act, despite both girls having pursued solo music and film careers and having reunited from time to time to release new music.

** Sadly, it seems to have been one also for Mei and Kei. Their time in America took them away from their Japanese fanbase long enough for their popularity to cool off, and so they came home to Japan after the failure of the show to find they had become yesterday's stars.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Big time. Basically, NBC just up and had Sid & Marty Krofft make this show for them (and lied to them in the process when Marty asked if the girls knew how to speak English). Secondly, Sid outlined the entire show, coming up with the idea that the entire show would play out of a Japanese music box... which NBC shot down in favor of a ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' clone (seriously, [[WordOfGod Marty Krofft actually said in an interview]] that NBC refused Sid's proposal/pitch, and told them, point-blank, "No, let's just do ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''"). Lastly, see DropInCharacter above. This eventually led to its premature, yet well-timed cancellation.
* FollowTheLeader: Silverman ordered PL&J to follow in the footsteps of ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''. This led to what Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls [[DerivativeDifferentiation "...the strangest knockoff of ''Donny & Marie'' ever broadcast."]] See ExecutiveMeddling above.

* GenreKiller: Though it definitely wasn't the last, PL&J's failure convinced programmers that the VarietyShow genre was no longer viable.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Averted for a short time. Rhino Entertainment briefly released the entire series onto DVD in 2001. Right now, the DVD set is out of print, but it can fetch a pretty penny on eBay--sets routinely sell for over $100, and have even reached as high as $175!
* OldShame: Even Marty Krofft is aware (and pretty much agrees) that this was one of the worst shows ever made in the history of television, and has acknowledged that ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' has even done a spoof of it once.
* StarDerailingRole: Pink Lady's popularity in Japan had peaked in 1978, and by 1980 they had been rocked by a few scandals that had pushed their Japanese record sales into decline. So they shifted their focus to the United States, and ultimately gambled on PL&J [[CareerResurrection reviving their careers]]. Except it didn't work out, and they disbanded a year later.
* WriterRevolt: Art Fisher HATED directing this show, which [[ContractualObligationProject he was required to do since he was under contract.]] This led to some behind-the-scenes tension.
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* ''Pink Lady And Jeff'' is in the book ''Literature/WhatWereTheyThinkingThe100DumbestEventsInTelevisionHistory''.

* StarDerailingRole: Pink Lady's popularity in Japan had peaked in 1978, and by 1980 they had been rocked by a few scandals that had pushed their Japanese record sales into decline. So they shifted their focus to the United States, and ultimately gambled on PL&J [[CareerResurrection reviving their careers]]. Except [[CaptainObvious it didn't work out]], and they disbanded a year later.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Big time. Basically, NBC just up and had Sid & Marty Krofft make this show for them (and lied to them in the process when Marty asked if the girls knew how to speak English). Secondly, Sid outlined the entire show, coming up with the idea that the entire show would play out of a Japanese music box... which NBC shot down in favor of a ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' clone (seriously, [[WordOfGod Marty Krofft actually said in an interview]] that NBC refused Sid's proposal/pitch, and told them, point-blank, "No, let's just do ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''). Lastly, see DropInCharacter above. This eventually led to its premature, yet well-timed cancellation.

* FollowTheLeader: Silverman ordered PL&J to follow in the footsteps of ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''. This led to what Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls [[DerivativeDifferentiation "...the strangest knockoff of ''Donny & Marie'' ever broadcast."]] See ExecutiveMeddling in the Trivia tab.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Big time. Basically, NBC just up and had Sid & Marty Krofft make this show for them (and lied to them in the process when Marty asked if the girls knew how to speak English). Secondly, Sid outlined the entire show, coming up with the idea that the entire show would play out of a Japanese music box... which NBC shot down in favor of a ''DonnyAndMarie'' clone (seriously, [[WordOfGod Marty Krofft actually said in an interview that NBC refused Sid's proposal/pitch, and told them, point-blank, "No, let's just do ''Donny and Marie'']]). Lastly, see DropInCharacter above. This eventually led to its premature, yet well-timed cancellation.

* WriterRevolt: Art Fisher HATED directing this show, which he was required to do since he was under contract. This led to some behind-the-scenes tension.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Big time. Basically, NBC just up and had Sid & Marty Krofft make this show for them (and lied to them in the process when Marty asked if the girls knew how to speak English). Secondly, Sid outlined the entire show, coming up with the idea that the entire show would play out of a Japanese music box... which NBC shot down in favor of a ''DonnyAndMarie'' clone (seriously, [[WordOfGod Marty Krofft actually said in an interview that NBC refused Sid's proposal/pitch, and told them, point-blank, "No, let's just do ''Donny and Marie'']]). Lastly, see DropInCharacter above. This eventually lead to its premature, yet well-timed cancellation.

* FridayNightDeathSlot: NBC put it there presumably as a mercy kill.