George Leslie Goebel was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, The George Gobel Show, on NBC from 1954 to 1959 and on CBS from 1959 to 1960. He was also a familiar panelist on the NBC game show Hollywood Squares.
Taxi is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 12, 1978, to May 6, 1982, and on NBC from September 30, 1982, to June 15, 1983. It focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher. For most of the run of the show, the ensemble cast consisted of taxi drivers Alex Reiger, Bobby Wheeler, Elaine Nardo, Tony Banta, and "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski, along with dispatcher Louie De Palma and mechanic Latka Gravas. Taxi was produced by the John Charles Walters Company, in association with Paramount Network Television, and was created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed. Weinberger, all of whom were brought on board after working on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compère or host. The variety format made its way from the Victorian era stage in Britain and America to radio and then television. Variety shows were a staple of English language television from the late 1940s into the 1980s.
Pink Lady is an American variety show that aired for five weeks on NBC in 1980, starring the Japanese musical duo of the same name. The show also is referred to by the title Pink Lady and Jeff, referring to co-star Jeff Altman. The show was riddled with complications, including a dispute over the name: agents for the starring parties were never able to settle on one, and the show was advertised both ways during its run. Other difficulties included scriptwriting disagreements, guest star booking mishaps, taping and touring conflicts, and the inability of Mie and Kei, the members of Pink Lady, to understand or speak English.
Donald Clark Osmond is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. Then, in the early 1970s, Osmond began a solo career, earning several additional top ten songs.
Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, television host and a member of the show business family the Osmonds. Although she was never an official member of her family's singing group, she gained success as a country and pop music artist and television variety show cohost in the 1970s and 1980s. Her best-known song is a remake of the country pop ballad "Paper Roses". From 1976 to 1979, she and her singer brother Donny Osmond hosted the television variety show Donny & Marie.
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was cancelled in May 1974, due to the couple's divorce, but the duo reunited in 1976 for the similarly formatted The Sonny & Cher Show, which ran for two seasons, ending August 29, 1977.
The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet and a quintet. The group has consisted of siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah, and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.
Fred Silverman was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, All in the Family (1971–1979), The Waltons (1972–1981), and Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), as well as the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Roots (1977), and Shōgun (1980). For his success in programming such successful shows, Time magazine declared him "The Man with the Golden Gut" in 1977.
Saturday Night Live is an American sketch comedy series created and produced by Lorne Michaels for most of the show's run. The show has aired on NBC since 1975.
The "rural purge" of American television networks was a series of cancellations in the early 1970s of still-popular rural-themed shows with demographically skewed audiences, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970–71 television season. In addition to rural-themed shows such as Mayberry R.F.D., The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres, the cancellations ended several highly rated variety shows that had been on CBS since the beginning of television broadcasting. CBS saw a dramatic change in direction with the shift, moving away from shows with rural themes and toward more appeal to urban and suburban audiences.
Alan Ralph Osmond is an American former singer and musician. He is best known for being a member of the family musical group The Osmonds. At the time, Alan and his brothers were performing as the Osmond Brothers Boys' Quartet.
James Arthur Osmond is an American singer and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six gold records, one platinum record, and two gold albums.
The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series originally broadcast on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a TV special on August 19, 1972, and then began its run as a regular series from February 3, 1973, to March 27, 1981. The 90-minute program aired on Saturday mornings at 1 a.m. ET/PT after the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Jay Wesley Osmond is an American musician. He is a member of the Osmond family of performers. He wrote the story to the 2022 musical The Osmonds, a musical based on the life and music of the family. The musical was shown around the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2022, after being previously postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Merrill Davis Osmond is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and bassist of the family music group The Osmonds and The Osmond Brothers, as well as an occasional solo artist.
"Rosemary's Baby" is the fourth episode of the second season of 30 Rock, and the twenty-fifth episode overall. It was written by Jack Burditt and was directed by Michael Engler. The episode first aired on October 25, 2007 on the NBC network in the United States. Guest stars in this episode include Carrie Fisher, Paul Scheer, and Stuart Zagnit.
Donny & Marie is an American variety show that aired on ABC from January 1976 to May 1979. The show starred brother-and-sister pop duo Donny and Marie Osmond. Donny had first become popular singing in a music group with his brothers, The Osmonds, and Marie was one of the youngest singers to reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts.
Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters is an American variety show starring American country artist Barbara Mandrell, along with her sisters Irlene Mandrell and Louise Mandrell. The show ran for two seasons on the NBC network between November 1980 and June 1982. The program mixed both music and comedy sketches. The siblings often engaged in sketches involving their family relationship. The music of the show featured the sisters singing and playing a variety of musical instruments. Guest performers were also a part of every show. The show ended its run after Barbara Mandrell decided to step away due to the constant workload.
