The Lawrence Welk Show

[Kitty]

This song has left me crying with my hands so wet I can't even do my sewing.

https://youtu.be/XkAA3PexgaE

[donnie]

I think this is a cover of a hit song from that area—I don't know who the original artist was.

[Kitty]

Scroll to a put 42:30 and watch this very silly Old MacDonald performance.

https://youtu.be/B6GsbWzKDdM

[donnie]

Oh, man... That's pretty bad.

I was hoping we weren't going to go through every one of the people on stage with a separate animal for each one, but mercifully, it was just a few.

[Kitty]

Oh, man... That's pretty bad.

I was hoping we weren't going to go through every one of the people on stage with a separate animal for each one, but mercifully, it was just a few.

Needless to say, I mostly watch this for the costumes. They are crazy fake sometimes when they do the group bits. I do love the old time songs, though, but this song isn't a classic.

[donnie]

The costumes, they are colorful. This was the 70's for sure.

[donnie]

I just finished watching this—very enjoyable and some excellent performances, along with a couple of novelty numbers on the weird side (see “Santa Claus in Outer Space” )

Lawrence Welk Christmas show from 1958:

https://youtu.be/zJ4fuW7UIyM

[Kitty]

I just finished watching this—very enjoyable and some excellent performances, along with a couple of novelty numbers on the weird side (see “Santa Claus in Outer Space” )

Lawrence Welk Christmas show from 1958:

I'll be sure to watch this tomorrow!

P. S. I watched the next ep. of Dark Shadows and commented on it. I'll get back into that soon.

[Kitty]

I just finished watching this—very enjoyable and some excellent performances, along with a couple of novelty numbers on the weird side (see “Santa Claus in Outer Space” )

Lawrence Welk Christmas show from 1958:

I really liked this! My favorite was the one about Santa being too fat for the chimney.

Did you notice that Jack Martin's two children's names were Jack and Jill? Why would he subject his children to that their whole childhood?!

I also love how every Christmas special, Lawrence would introduce the entire troupe and their families. He seemed to me like a perfectionist, but I am not so sure about that now, being that it was a little chaotic with all those children making noise and talking the entire time. One thing is for sure, he loved the family unit.

I was kind of touched at the little things. During the family introduction segment, if you're looking closely, some tiny things stood out to me. One father is holding two of his children, and the littlest one is reaching over playing with the older sibling's button on her dress. The fact that the older sibling isn't pushing the hand away (or even paying attention to it for that matter!) kind of tells me she was nice to her younger sibling!

It's also cute how some of the kids are excited to yell out their name and age, while others can't find their voices to even say their name.

The Santa Claus in Outer Space sure was a strange one, but I think they liked to get creative on this show; there are a lot of segments that leave you wondering 'What did I just watch?' throughout the years.

One last thought: I think if Lawrence Welk were alive today and still doing his thing, he'd be on CBS.

I'm going to go on a small side tangent here, so if you'd like to stop reading, now's the time.

I watched a whole bunch of newer specials this year, and some of them were really good. There was A Very Boy Band Holiday which featured multiple generations and some members of 80s and 90s boy bands such as *Nsync, Boyz II Men, New Edition, 98 Degrees, New Kids on the Block, and O Town. I really enjoyed this, and it was totally not serious at all. It wasn't all music, either, as they sat down and had some pretty interesting conversations together. If you get a chance to see it some time, I'd recommend it.

The Kelly Clarkson Christmas Special When Christmas Comes Around was fantastic. You know, these pop stars usually kind of get lumped together if you're not hugely into their music, and it's unfortunate, because you end up forgetting how amazingly talented some are. Kelly Clarkson has an amazing voice and range, and I was blown away by how genuine she seemed. I really enjoyed this one.

Speaking of genuine, I also watched A Holly Dolly Christmas with none other than the most genuine of all, Dolly Parton. Aside from singing, she shared some personal experiences, baring her entire heart to her audience, at one point saying she wants everyone to love her (even though she knows that's not possible), and she wants to love everyone, too. It's amazing, that woman is 75 years old and still so beautiful. I wonder what it would have been like to watch her entire career unfold, from her beginnings as a young lady to now?

I also watched some interesting cooking specials, one was Gordon Ramsay's old special about Main Christmas Dinners. It was so adorable, he had his little girls helping. I'm not sure when this one was filmed, but it was at least ten years ago, as his girls are adults now. I actually learned a couple things from watching this.

There was also another nice cooking show called How To Cook Well At Christmas with Rory O'Connell. I see that he's done a few of these specials, but the one I watched was the first one where he cooks lobster, duck leg curry, and chocolate apple betty.

Well, there you have it! My favorite shows of this 2021 season.

[donnie]

I really liked this! My favorite was the one about Santa being too fat for the chimney.

Yes, I liked that one, too. I wonder whatever happened to that little Cubby O'Brian. In this era of the show, they actually had a whole junior cast (like a junior version of the orchestra, soloists, etc.). And I gather Cubby O'Brian was one of the main of the younger stars.

Did you notice that Jack Martin's two children's names were Jack and Jill? Why would he subject his children to that their whole childhood?!

No, I didn't notice that. I was dabbling with a watercolor sketch while that part was on, and probably wasn't paying close attention.

One thing is for sure, he loved the family unit.

Yes, there was always an emphasis on that. They had the children of all the cast members on like that every Christmas.

I was really impressed by that tenor (not Joe Feeney, but the first one, though I like Joe Feeney, too) I'll have to look back and see what his name was.

Thanks for the rundown on the newer shows! There's so much to watch, I forget the newer things are there.