History Main / VarietyShow

* A radio example would be ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion''.

** 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.

* ''Series/DonnyAndMarie''
* 1987's ''Dolly'', starring Music/DollyParton -- it lasted one season and was considered a huge gamble even then.

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

* 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."

* ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour''
* ''Solstrom'' -- A 2003 WidgetSeries 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.

In TheSeventies, Ms. Burnett's show continued to perform well in the ratings, as did ''The Flip Wilson Show,'' ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' and ''The [[Music/SonnyBono Sonny]] and Music/{{Cher}} 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.

* ''The Music/{{Sonny|Bono}} and Music/{{Cher}} Comedy Hour''

* ''The Red Skelton Show''

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 it became popular after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The first breakout television hits were variety shows, most notably the ''Texaco Star Theatre'' (hosted by Creator/MiltonBerle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples from the [[TheFifties '50s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Creator/JackieGleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were [[TheEponymousShow named for the host(s)]].

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 Creator/MiltonBerle) and ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow''; other important examples from the [[TheFifties '50s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Creator/JackieGleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were [[TheEponymousShow named for the host(s)]].

Variety shows are still popular in East Asia and Europe, likely due to over-the-air programming still being dominant and households tending to 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.

Variety shows are still popular in East Asia. These shows aren't exactly the same as the Western variety shows, although the name is still used to refer to them.

* ''Series/TheBlackAndWhiteMinstrelShow'' was a mega hit in the UK in its day, although to say it hasn't aged well would be an understatement.

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. 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.

In TheSeventies, Ms. Burnett's show continued to perform well in the ratings, as did ''The Flip Wilson Show,'' ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' and ''The [[Music/SonnyBono Sonny]] and Music/{{Cher}} Comedy Hour'' . 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.

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 from the [[TheFifties '50s]] and [[TheSixties '60s]] included ''The Red Skelton Show'', ''The Jackie Gleason Show'', ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow,'' and ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour.'' As you might notice, many such shows were [[TheEponymousShow named for the host(s)]].

Moreover, fatigue with the genre had sprung up in TheSeventies -- ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' 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 Series/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'' sort of counts as one, albeit with a distinct rural appeal.

* ''Texaco Star Theatre''

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 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. 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.

* ''Viva Variety'' -- Creator/ComedyCentral's parody of these kinds of programs

* 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.

This format fell out of favor in America in the early [[Main/TheEighties 1980s]] (although in Australia, ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday'' lasted until 1999). 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. 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. 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.

* Creator/DinahShore hosted several variety shows, notably ''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show'', which became simply ''The Dinah Shore Show''.

This format fell out of favor in America in the early [[Main/TheEighties 1980s]] (although in Australia, ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday'' lasted until 1999). 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. 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.

This format fell out of favor in America in the early [[Main/TheEighties 1980s]] (although in Australia, ''Series/HeyHeyItsSaturday'' lasted until 1999). 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. 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.