Lorne Michaels was definitely on to something when he decided to pair Maya Rudolph with Martin Short for Maya and Marty. In this era of reality TV, we are used to laughing at people, not necessarily with them, and the modern variety show has fallen rather flat. Many people, including Neil Patrick Harris and Jay Leno, have tried to resuscitate variety shows, but they were not successful. However, perhaps the man behind Saturday Night Live has found a formula that will stick.
Night time hosts like Jimmy Fallon, James Corden and Stephen Colbert have incorporated some great bits into late night entertainment, but there are many bits from the past that deserve another look. These gems from history are consistently funny and stand the test of time. From Nichols and May, to Carol Burnett, to the wonderful Dean Martin, to the original Señor Wences, to the cast of In Living Color and many more, these variety shows and bits have a great blend of music, comedy, memorable characters and witty banter that can make anyone smile.
Click next to see why the classic variety shows need a reboot:
Michelle Tompkins http://www.mediamichelle917.com Michelle Tompkins is an award-winning media, PR and crisis communications professional with more than ten years experience with coverage in virtually every traditional and new media outlet. She is currently a communications and media strategist and writer, as well as the author of College Prowler: Guidebook for Columbia University. She served as the Media Relations Manager for the Girl Scouts of the USA where she managed all media and talking points, created social media strategy, trained executives and donors and served as the organization’s primary spokesperson, participating in daily interviews with local, regional, and national media outlets. She managed the media for the Let Me Know internet safety and Cyberbullying prevention campaign with Microsoft, as well as Girl Scouts’ centennial Year of the Girl To Get Her There celebration in 2012, which yielded more than 800 million earned media impressions. In addition to her extensive media experience, Michelle worked as a talent agent in Los Angeles, California, as well contracting as a digital content developer and her writing has appeared in newspapers and online. She is passionate about television, theater, classic movies, all things food and in-home entertaining. While she has lived and worked in NYC for more than a decade, she is from suburban Sacramento and gets back there often to watch the San Francisco Giants on TV with her family.