These twenty-four hours , the TV listings are full of reality appearance , withThe Mole , American Gladiators , andAmerica ’s Next Top Modelproviding amusement to the masses . Back in the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , though , sort prove such asRowan & Martin ’s Laugh - InandThe Carol Burnett Showbrought an entirely different form of amusement into American living room . But not every variety show worked . Here are four series that lasted fewer than ten instalment ( with one that did n’t even make it through the first commercial-grade break ) .
The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, 1977
The Brady Bunch Variety Hourhas the dubious honor of being one of the unfit shows ever to air on telly ( it placed fourth in a 2002TV Guidelist of 50 such programme . ) Producers Sid and Marty Krofft convinced everyone involve withThe Brady Bunchto return . Well , almost everyone — Eve Plumb ( Jan ) was famously interchange by Geri Reischel . For the cast , the experience was assorted . The kids reportedly hated doing the show , while Florence Henderson and Robert Reed affect it as their pet Brady experience .
The premiss was a small uneven . Leaving their familiar Southern California family for one on the beach , the show spread over both the kind show on ABC and the behind the setting goings - on at the Brady residence . The characters all seemed a small off too , seeming nothing like their sitcom personas . The show appears to inhabit an alternate Brady attribute , as in none of the Brady specials in the years to come ever bring up a passing " Hey , think of when we did the mixed bag show for ABC and survive near the beach?“
hearing enjoyed the first special , but when it became a regular series , viewers were express mirth more at the actors than with them . The show was set off after the remain 8 episode had aired , though it has lived on through spoofs onThat seventy ShowandThe Simpsons . Most of the serial is available on DVD , for those who absolutely must nail their Brady collection .
Pink Lady and Jeff, 1980
This one is a " what were they thinking?“ consequence .
Featuring distaff singers Keiko " Kei" Masuda and Mitsuyo " Mie" Nemoto , Pink Lady enjoyed huge success in Japan . Nine of their singles betray more than a million copies . Their first step towards a life history in the US was a concert in Las Vegas , which led to an English - Language record album with one minor hit . This impressed producer at NBC , who had created a variety show for Pink Lady with ( then ) up - and - coming comic Jeff Altman .
As producer quick discovered Mie and Kei bed little English , and had to learn their portion of the show phonetically — a draining process for all involve . Rather than perform their own hits , the missy were forced to sing disco issue such as " Knock on Wood" and , in this clip , " Boogie Wonderland" :
The show ’s piece of writing and Jeff ’s comedy were about as good as Pink Lady ’s English skill . Whatever vocation impulse Jeff had was killed by groaner like this :
Jeff:“You girls are the biggest thing in Japan!“Pink Lady:“No , Jeff , the big thing in Japan is Godzilla!“
Pink Lady broke up a class later in Japan , and Jeff persist in to do episodic stand up - up show onThe Late Show with David Letterman . Of the six episode make , only five were air ; all six can be found on DVD if you ’re desperate to see them .
Mary, 1978
Mary Tyler Moore was quick to make a comeback in 1978 , a year afterThe Mary Tyler Moore Showhad ended . CBS was happy to have her , offering a not bad support mold ( including Swoosie Kurtz and newcomers David Letterman and Michael Keaton ) , talented dancers , and an orchestra led by Alf Clausen . What was n’t provide , however , was an audience to catch the show .
Marytanked in the Nielsen ratings and was scratch after only 3 of the 16 shows raise had aerate . The entire debacle cost CBS $ 5 million . Moore changed the data formatting to a variety / situation comedy hybrid and the show re - premier later that class on CBS to interchangeable success .
Turn-On, 1969
It ’s one of the most notorious floating-point operation in TV history , yanked after one installment — and in some markets , during the first commercial intermission . Ed Friendly and George Schneider , the producers ofRowan & Martin ’s Laugh - In , create the show , which they draw as a " ocular , comedic , receptive assault . “ pose as though produced by a estimator , spell - Onfeatured fast cuts ( new at the clip ) and different fashion of live - action and animated comedy . Rumors distribute that the show have full head-on nudity , and that its title was based on Timothy Leary ’s " Turn on , tune in , drop out . " The Cleveland station that call off the show during the first commercial-grade break sent ABC a nasty telegram , which read , " If you naughty little boys have to write dirty words on the wall , please do n’t use our walls . “ Most other stations neglect the show after the first episode .
Honorable Mention:Mel & Susan Together
This one not only failed to bump an hearing , but there ’s almost no phonograph recording of it online . Besides IMDb ’s verification of its existence , the only mention I found was in Craig Nelson ’s now out - of printBadTV , which has this to say about the show that prevail four weeks :
