Music Hall America

This was a very eclectic, and entertaining, variety show. "Music Hall America" had no regular host, but among those guest hosting included Ray Stevens (on the premiere episode), Dottie West, Ken Berry, Vicki Carr, Jim Stafford, and Burl Ives. There was a resident song-and-dance group, The Even Dozen, whose members also did solo spots; e.g. there were vocalists Sandi Burnett, Dean Rutherford (who was dubbed "The Bionic Songwriter"), and Hollis Peyser, and members Denise DiRenzo performed a song-and-dance number on one episode and Eddie Pruett did a salute to George M. Cohan on another. "Music Hall America," even though it was videotaped at Opryland, U.S.A. in Nashville, wasn't just Country; for example, on the premiere episode rock group Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods ("Billy, Don't Be a Hero")performed a song called "Teenage Rampage," and on another episode JoAnne Worley ("Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In") did a comedy sketch recalling how she began in opera (she even sang!). There were also recurring "quickie" comedy sketches in which The Even Dozen were members of an orchestra and traded jokes among themselves, and with Eddie Pruett as a member of the French Foreign Legion who had some outrageous last requests before being executed by the squad, and managed to escape that fate every time. Perfect family viewing for a Saturday night (or Sunday, depending on when and where it was shown). They certainly don't make them like this anymore! —William Bennett Warfield