History Main / VarietyShow

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television hits were variety shows, most notably the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (hosted by Milton Berle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host(s).

Moreover, fatigue with the genre had sprung up in TheSeventies -- ''Donny and Marie'' and ''Sonny and Cher'' were only the best-known examples in a decade that also brought us increasingly corny shows toplined by such acts as TheBradyBunch and the Bay City Rollers. One-shot and annual specials such as ''Circus of the Stars'' persisted into the early 1990s, but even those are now relatively rare.

* ''Series/HeeHaw''

* The last legitimate attempt at a traditional VarietyShow on American network television was 1987's ''Dolly'', starring Music/DollyParton - it lasted one season and was considered a huge gamble even then.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television hits were variety shows, most notably the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (hosted by Milton Berle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (hosted by Milton Berle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (hosted by Milton Berle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples include the ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples include the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (with Milton Berle),''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples include ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' and ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances (be they musical, comedic, dramatic, etc.) by different performers. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''. Important examples include ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' and ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances, some musical, some comedic. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''. Important examples include ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' and ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

** [[Series/NewlywedsNickAndJessica Nick and Jessica]] did a variety show special on {{ABC}} in 2004 that flopped ''badly''.

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 is giving it one more shot for the 2015-16 season with NeilPatrickHarris hosting ''Best Time Ever''.

Producers of the British SitCom ''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.

Occasional attempts to revive the genre (on networks or cable) have been doomed to failure, though some might argue that SketchComedy shows such as ''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 is giving it one more shot for the 2015-16 season with NeilPatrickHarris hosting ''Best Time Ever''.

Occasional attempts to revive the genre (on networks or cable) have been doomed to failure, though some might argue that SketchComedy shows such as ''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 is giving it one more shot for the 2015-16 season with NeilPatrickHarris hosting ''BestTimeEver''.

Occasional attempts to revive the genre (on networks or cable) have been doomed to failure, though some might argue that SketchComedy shows such as ''SaturdayNightLive'', the late-night TalkShow format, and reality competitions such as ''Series/AmericanIdol'' and ''America's Got Talent'' keep the form on life support.

* ''TheSlammer'' -- A variety show with a weird framing device.

* The last legitimate attempt at a traditional VarietyShow on American network television was 1987's ''Dolly'', starring DollyParton - it lasted one season and was considered a huge gamble even then.

* ''VivaVariety'' -- ComedyCentral's parody of these kinds of programs
** Not to mention its precursor, the more-or-less straight-up revival attempt ''Random Acts of Variety''

* ''This Is Tom Jones''

This format fell out of favor in the early [[Main/TheEighties 1980s]]. Cable (particularly [=MTV=] and [=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 sit through three acts they weren't interested in for the sake of one that they wanted to see. Moreover, fatigue with the genre had sprung up in TheSeventies -- ''Donny and Marie'' and ''Sonny and Cher'' were only the best-known examples in a decade that also brought us increasingly corny shows toplined by such acts as TheBradyBunch and the Bay City Rollers. One-shot and annual specials such as ''Circus of the Stars'' persisted into the early 1990s, but even those are now relatively rare.

** [[NewlywedsNickAndJessica Nick and Jessica]] did a variety show special on {{ABC}} in 2004 that flopped ''badly''.

A descendant of {{Vaudeville}}: an anthology of unrelated performances, some musical, some comedic. The first breakout television shows were variety shows, most notably ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''. Important examples include ''TheCarolBurnettShow,'' ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' and ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were named for the host.

* ''TheCarolBurnettShow''

* ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour''

* ''TheEdSullivanShow''
* ''TheMuppetShow'' -- Somewhere between a straight example and a spoof of this genre.

Occasional attempts to revive the genre (on networks or cable) have been doomed to failure, though some might argue that SketchComedy shows such as ''SaturdayNightLive'', the late-night TalkShow format, and reality competitions such as ''AmericanIdol'' and ''America's Got Talent'' keep the form on life support.

----

* ''Solstrom'' -- A 2003 WidgetSeries 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.

* ''Solstrom'' -- A WidgetSeries take on the format: This 2003 limited-run series produced by CirqueDuSoleil had whimsical fantasy storylines brought to life via a selection of circus/variety acts from both within and without Cirque's live shows.