''Dinah!'' is a daytime

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

that was hosted by singer and actress

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 ...

. The series was distributed by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

and premiered on October 21, 1974, in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. In 1979, the show became known as ''Dinah and Friends'' and remained so until it ended its run in 1980. The show's announcer was Johnny Gilbert. Like other syndicated talk/entertainment shows of the day, such as '' The Merv Griffin Show'' and '' The Mike Douglas Show'', ''Dinah!'' was focused on celebrity interviews promoting recent motion pictures, books and other television programs. It was a popular forum for musical acts receiving national exposure performing short song sets followed by a sit-down interview with Shore. A highly successful vocalist and recording artist herself, Shore would usually sing at least one song on each program, either greeting the television viewing audience or saying goodbye to them at the end; she sometimes dueted with musical guests. Each episode was ninety minutes in length. ''Dinah!'' would often do entire 90-minute episodes devoted to one television series; for example, there was an episode saluting '' The Waltons'' which featured the entire cast, including the child cast members, and the series creator

Earl Hamner Jr. Earl Henry Hamner Jr. (July 10, 1923 – March 24, 2016) was an American television writer and producer (sometimes credited as Earl Hamner), best known for his work in the 1970s and 1980s as the creator of two long-running series, ''The Waltons' ...

During the show, Shore did a musical salute to the year 1935, which would have been in the time period in which ''The Waltons'' took place. Another series that was saluted was ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

''. Again, the entire cast appeared, Gary Burghoff (" Radar O'Reilly") played the drums, and the musical salute was to 1951.

Production

Origins

The show was the successor to Shore's previous variety effort, ''Dinah's Place'', which aired from 1970 until 1974 on NBC and was cancelled to make way for a network edition of the then-syndicated game show '' Name That Tune''.

References

External links

* 1974 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1970s American television talk shows 1980s American television talk shows 1970s American variety television series 1980s American variety television series Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show winners First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Dinah Shore {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub