''Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters Hour'' was an American

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

during the 1969–70 television season. The series was hosted by

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

, and stars

The Lennon Sisters The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group made up of four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne (aka DeeDee; born Dianne Barbara, December 1, 1939), Peggy (born Margaret Anne, April 8, 1941), Kathy (born Kathleen Mary, Augu ...

Overview

Shortly after breaking with long-time mentor

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

in 1968, The Lennon Sisters appeared in this weekly series along with comedian Jimmy Durante on ABC in 1969. They appeared with Durante at the piano at the beginning of each weekly telecast with a live audience, and interacted with his guests such as

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

Phyllis Diller Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and e ...

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/ ...

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Noel Harrison Noel John Christopher Harrison (29 January 1934 – 19 October 2013) was an English actor and singer who had a hit singing " The Windmills of Your Mind" in 1968, and was a member of the British Olympic skiing team in the 1950s. He was the son of ...

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

Jo Ann Castle Jo Ann Castle (born September 3, 1939) is an American honky-tonk pianist, best remembered for appearing on ''The Lawrence Welk Show''. She adopted her stage name from the name of an accordion manufacturer, another instrument she played proficien ...

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

, and

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

. The show was mostly consistent of the Lennons singing various songs with a bit of comedy skits and dancing sprinkled into the show.

Reception

The program ran on Fridays from September 1969 until January 1970, when it moved to Saturday nights, until the end of the run on July 4, 1970. Designed to appeal to both young and old alike, the ratings indicated the program had succeeded in doing neither, despite relatively weak competition, including '' Bracken's World'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and movies on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, it was not renewed for a new season. Another reason for its low reception among viewers was the poor concept of the entire show as well as the different styles of the Lennon sisters and Jimmy Durante not matching at all which created a weird chemistry on air. Which is why even with the high budget and many celebrity guests on the show (who were their mostly because they were friends of Jimmy) could not make the show work. Although this could be impacted by the tragedy that the Lennons faced when their father (William Lennon) was murdered by a deranged "fan" in the summer of 1969, 5 shows into the series.

References

*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

External links

* 1969 American television series debuts 1970 American television series endings 1960s American variety television series 1970s American variety television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows {{US-tv-prog-stub