Donny and Marie

When Donny and Marie premiered they had the full backing of the studio. With big name guest stars like Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, and Bing Crosby. As time went on ABC began using the Donny and Marie Show as nothing more than an hour long advertisement for other ABC shows currently on the air. Charlie's Angels cast, Happy Days cast, Mork and Mindy cast, Eight is Enough cast, Check out the first cast lists and later cast lists.

They were just kids so they couldn't even fight the grown-ups on a level footing. Bringing the show to Utah was an attempt to wrest back control over the guest list and bring in the big drawing names again. Didn't work, as punishment, ABC moved the show opposite the highest rated show on TV at the time; Sixty Minutes. Then complaining about "poor ratings" they canceled the show. They did a remarkable job for being the youngest people to host a musical variety show. With all those adults telling them what to do.

The 1970s were the heyday of variety shows. It seemed everybody who was anybody had one. Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Sonny & Cher, the Captain & Tennille and the Jacksons all had them. There were other, short-lived summer replacements and specials like Tony Orlando & Dawn, Shields & Yarnell, Barry Manilow, Lola Falana, Olivia Newton-John and, though it pains me to recall them, the Starland Vocal Band and Pink Lady & Jeff. And then there was Donny & Marie with their immaculate pearly whites. Could it get any more wholesome? (And, yes, I admit it, I did have a huge crush on Marie.)

If you weren't cool enough (or old enough) to be out boogieing at Studio 54 or whatever the hot club was in your town, then maybe you were one of the millions who tuned in every Friday night at 8. Assuming you didn't prefer the edgier humor of Sanford & Son and Chico & the Man. Curiously, Redd Foxx once guest-starred on D&M, so he was competing with himself that week!

To me, the first season was the best. Though I haven't seen the show in over a quarter century, it still comes back to me. They always stuck to the formula and for D&M in the Bicentennial year, it worked. The show would fade in to the pair, one facing the camera, the other facing to the side. One would slowly sing a few words to a song, then they would alternate positions and the other would take over. After a few lines, cue the band as the two kick into full pop duet mode before announcing the week's guest. Then the ice skaters with their Busby Berkeley Meets Ice Capades choreography and overhead camera. And finally D&M skate out to greet the studio and TV audiences and trade banter. After that teaser and a commercial break, a few comedy skits and musical numbers before the infamous "I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock & roll" segment about 25 minutes into the hour, where they had separate, glitzy mini-stages and bands. A few more skits, the musical finale and then the weekly farewell, "May tomorrow be a perfect day. May you find love and laughter along the way..." Guests ranged from the obscure to the hot stars of the moment, for instance, the aforementioned Olivia fresh off her box office smash, Grease.

There were changes in the second season, notably Marie getting a shorter hairstyle. In the third, her hair became shorter still and she began sporting an outrageous Bob Mackie-designed wardrobe. The ratings started to slip. By the fourth and final season, when the show moved to the Osmonds' own newly-built Utah facility and became virtually unrecognizable, it wasn't worth watching anymore. The show had lost its kitsch value (something the Krofft brothers specialized in) and become too overproduced for its own good. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

"Donny & Marie" was one of the last variety shows on the air. The variety show format on TV gained popularity in the early 1960's, and was highly successful until the late '70s. A typical episode was a combination of jokes, skits, dance routines, and musical performances. As with any show of this type, some episodes were stronger than others, depending on the guests.

Variety was format that allowed many aging Hollywood greats, such as Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, and George Burns amongst many others, to perform for their fans on an albeit infrequent basis. Sadly, nearly all of the big name guest stars of the variety show format have passed away.

"Donny & Marie" was truly a family-friendly show. Looking back, it was definitely a wholesome program, one we remember fondly and wished that we would see more of today.

When I wrote my comments on all the shows in the "Brady Bunch" franchise, I often said that they caused the diabetes rates to jump. Well, this is another show that definitely caused it to go up. This show had to be the most sickeningly sweet show and it was a worthy successor to that other family that was on Friday nights. However, whereas the Brady's were played by a bunch of actors, the Donnie and Marie were a real life brother and sister act. Also, they probably would have been the perfect spokespersons for Crest or Ultra Brite. This show was definitely a product of its time.

Donny and Marie Osmond were the first brother and sister to host a variety show. Critics picked on the duo the whole time they were on the air. It wasn't great art, but it was fun, wholesome entertainment for an hour on Friday nights. Donny and Marie, like all variety shows, was expensive to put on every week, and that, along with changing tastes, eventually drove the show off the airwaves. Sometimes Nick-At-Nite will show reruns of it.