Red Skelton. Ed Sullivan. Carol Burnett. Dean Martin. Flip Wilson, Rowan & Martin. The Smothers Brothers. Make the connection yet?

Variety shows. American variety shows.

From the 1940s to the 1980s, Americans were entertained by a cross-section of talent, all compacted into one hour of television. And every week, our RCA console TV in the house on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas, was tuned in to most of the variety shows. Especially Red Skelton. My sister and I loved Red.

Red Skelton was an American comedian who made his way in entertainment through just about every medium. Radio, motion pictures, and television were all conquered by Red, and some amazing talent made it to the big time thanks to being featured on his variety show.

Many who were on Red’s program didn’t need the publicity, but that’s what made a variety show a variety show. The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Mickey Rooney, Vincent Price, and Carol Channing, were just a few of the entertainers who appeared on The Red Skelton Show.

But the weekly favorites were characters that Red came up with and performed himself. Freddie the Freeloader was a silent, yet lovable clown. Clem Kadiddlehopper, a happy, but dimwitted bumpkin. Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid, and Sheriff Deadeye, an incompetent Wild West, lawman were always a treat to watch. Regardless of what my sister and I were doing, we stopped and plopped down in front of the television to watch Red.

The Ed Sullivan Show was also a favorite. Best known for the American debut of The Beatles, Ed’s program was one of the longest-running variety shows, and included the TV debut of many other acts, such as Elvis Presley, The Jackson Five, The Doors, and Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.

Later, Dean Martin would host his own variety show where he famously refused to rehearse. That lack of rehearsal gave his appearance in a tuxedo, with a ubiquitous drink and cigarette, seem more like a playboy who’d walked into another part of his day rather than a weekly television program. Dean’s skits and singing, with beautiful women at the ready, were a must-watch in 1960s America.

Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In took the variety format to a whole new level. In addition to guest stars who appeared (including presidential candidate Richard Nixon), terms such as, “You bet your sweet bippy,” “Sock it to me,” “Here come da judge,” “One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies,” “Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls,” and “Goodnight, Dick,” all became part of the lexicon.

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was very popular, and highly controversial. Tom and Dick Smothers played instruments and told jokes, and had great writers, including a very young Steve Martin. But poking fun at the U.S. Government and the Vietnam War didn’t fly well, and they were canceled.

One variety show that stood out was The Carol Burnett Show. With her regular cast members of Lyle Waggoner, Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence, Carol often welcomed Dick Van Dyke and Tim Conway as guests. Conway became a regular cast member much later in the show’s run, but his skit with the dentist who stabs himself with the numbing agent, and his ad libbing during the Mama’s Family skits are now legendary.

The Flip Wilson Show was one of the biggest surprises of the early 1970s. It’s unlikely that anyone thought a man dressing up as a woman named Geraldine, who threatened to sick her boyfriend Killer on those who disagreed with her, would have become a hit show. But it did. My mother never understood why I liked it so much.

Flip was on Thursday night and was the top show, until a new program about poor people struggling during The Depression knocked it off its perch. The Walton’s was also an unlikely hit, but it came around about the time that variety shows were running their course.

As is the case with cop shows, westerns, medical dramas, and other genres of television programs, things come to an end, and then sometimes come back around. So was the case with variety shows.

When The Carol Burnett Show ended its run in 1978, it was the last of the true variety programs. Carol and others, including Dolly Parton, The Mandrell Sisters, and The Smothers Brothers tried to revive the format later, but all attempts fell flat.

But just as cop shows were big in the 70s and fell out of favor, they now have made a big return with CSI, NCIS, and others. Maybe there’s still hope for the variety show.

A cross-section of talent, without the politics, would be most welcome.

 

© 2026 John Moore

John’s new book, Write of Passage: Volume 3, is available on Amazon. Write to John at TheCountryWriter.com.