A variety show is, in its most basic form, a show with a regular host and a variety of “acts” often musical, comedy, magic, and animal acts. Its roots are on stage (music halls) and it currently survives in North America as the late night talk show.
When I was young, variety shows were still popular. Cheesy, and a dying format, but popular. I watched every episode of Donny & Marie (1976-1979) and The Muppet Show (1976-1981) but the 80s wanted nothing to do with variety1, banishing it to late night where the format has largely thrived.
Now the only time we see true variety shows are at Christmas. There’s something about the holidays that makes it acceptable for families to gather together and watch a show that has something for everyone to enjoy (A Colbert Christmas did the format proud three years ago). So even though it was preceded by plenty of warnings and boasted a 14+ rating (Colbert was also 14+), I had high hopes for the Russell Peters Christmas Special.
Wow was that a painful hour to watch2.
It was clearly difficult for Peters to tone down his act from no-holds-barred to 14+ and many, no, most of the skits were not just flat but outright awful (with the single exception of “Last Santa Standing” which was a fantastic spoof of reality-tv shows). It seemed like the whole thing was thrown together at the last minute and no one bothered to tell the actors what their lines would be (also, Pamela Anderson and John Lovitz? That’s the best talent you could find?). I felt really bad for Michael Buble. I’m not what you’d consider a fan but he looked uncomfortable — like his agent had booked him on the wrong show. That’s because he was booked on the wrong show; his performance far out-classed the rest of the cast.
On almost the opposite end of the scale I offer you The Muppets; the reboot of the franchise that is in theatres now. Basic premise: the Muppets have to save their theatre by putting on one last show. To reveal anything else would be unfair as there are many surprises, both comic and sentimental. There were catchy songs, many laughs, and, I’ll admit it, some misty-eyed moments. The audience was truly all-ages (though I was squarely the right age for the target audience) and it was a full house, more than a week after it opened.
That, folks, is variety and it’s what people have been looking for in reality shows like America’s Got Talent, but those shows miss the mark. Variety shows are pumped full of happy, balanced by cheeky humour — even the curmudgeons in the Muppet Show are harmless. Reality shows offer large doses of schadenfreude3 sprinkled with criticism and a dose of pity. We need more happy. I think North America is ready for a return to true variety. Until then, I’ll be waiting for the DVD release of The Muppets.
1 I have a long post in my draft folder about how the 80s ruined everything. It’s long enough that it could be a book and this is yet another chapter.
2 I would like to offer a formal apology to friends who were here and were forced to watch the special in the hopes that it would “get better” and on the promise of “he’s usually much funnier.” If you had paid money, I’d have refunded it.
3 Most who know me know that I have often claimed to be a fan of schadenfruede but it’s been spread so thickly in the past decade that I’ve about had my fill.
Did you like the Carol Burnett show in the 70’s? How were you with shows like SCTV? Not sure if I’d categorise SCTV as variety, but that was a pretty defining show for me in the early 80s.
I’d love to read what you have to say about how the 80s ruined everything.
I loved the Carol Burnett Show — but only ever saw the syndicated half hour shows that ran in the late 70s; I never saw her full variety show. SCTV and SNL are sort of an offshoot of variety but not really true to the format.
The 80s post started as a political rant that merged into a financial rant and now I realize the 80s pretty much pooped on pop culture too. Sigh. It’ll get written in full eventually. 🙂