The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour (TV 2004)

America's favorite young married couple, Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson, multi-platinum artists known from their hit MTV series, "Newlyweds," star in their first-ever television special, ... See full summary »

Director:

Gary Halvorson

Writers:

Mike Bender, H. Jon Benjamin,

Stars:

Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson, Timothy Anderson

Cast

Credited cast:
Nick Lachey	...	Himself / Various Characters
Jessica Simpson	...	Herself / Various Characters
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Timothy Anderson	...	Associate choreographer
Johnny Bench	...	Himself
Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds	...	Himself
Hunter Gomez	...	Young Justin Timberlake
Paul Greenberg	...	Various
Laivan Greene	...	Mouseketeer
Tara Nicole Hughes	...	Dancer
Taylor Hurley	...	Young Britney Spears
Eric Jacobson	...	Miss Piggy (voice)
Olga Kay	...	Juggler (as Olga Karavaeva)
Jewel Kilcher	...	Herself (as Jewel)
Haley King	...	Mouseketeer
Taylor Lautner	...	Mouseketeer

Storyline

America's favorite young married couple, Nick Lachey & Jessica Simpson, multi-platinum artists known from their hit MTV series, "Newlyweds," star in their first-ever television special, featuring a fun-filled variety hour of music and comedy. In a throwback to the days of Sonny & Cher and Laugh-In, the beloved Nick & Jessica breathe new life into the variety format, showcasing their singing and comedic talents in a series of sketches and musical performances with such guests as Jewel, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Kenny Rogers, baseball Hall of Fame star Johnny Bench, Mr. T, and The Muppets stars Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. The musical performances include a duet with Jessica and Jewel, who sings her classic song, "Who Will Save Your Soul," and a duet with Nick and Babyface singing the Stevie Wonder classic, "For Once in My Life." Jessica also performed "Islands in the Stream" with the legendary Kenny Rogers. Comedy sketches include a hilarious skit with Mr. T, and Jessica and Nick ...

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

ABC

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tenth Planet Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Look closely and you can see that Jessica's pole-vaulting double is a man in a wig, who not only looks nothing like her but is roughly 100 pounds heavier than she is.

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Quotes

Self: What's the matter, Christina? I thought "Words won't bring you down!"

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Connections

References The Muppet Show (1976)

User Reviews

A Painful 43-Minute Laugh at Nick & Jessica's Expense

Remember those television variety shows from the 1960s and 70s? The producers and writers of the "The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour" certainly do. They've dug deep into television's archives to mimic the kinds of skits, patter, and songs that popped up on programs hosted more than 30 years ago by Sonny and Cher, Tom Jones, Dean Martin and other singers.

Although the variety show is no longer popular, many of those old shows remain entertaining today. The same cannot be said of "The Nick & Jessica Variety Show." The hosts are the main problems. Jessica Simpson is an average singer with an overwrought style that will either make you laugh or squirm with embarrassment. This woman simply has no idea how ridiculous she looks, and this program, unfortunately for us, provides plenty of opportunities for her to prove it. A duet with the singer Jewell is especially painful to watch.

Nick Lachey has a better voice than his wife Jessica, but given the comparison, I'm afraid that amounts to very faint praise indeed. He appears mostly in hammy duets with Jessica or lame comic pieces with almost forgotten, third-tier celebrities – Kenny Rogers, Johnny Bench, and Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are best known for their MTV show, "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica." Whatever the merits of that program may be, (I've never seen it), don't waste your time on this claptrap unless you want to have a 43-minute laugh at Jessica and Nick's expense.

3/10