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118-656: Stage Show is a popular music variety series broadcast in the United States on the CBS Television Network and originally hosted on alternate weeks by big band leaders and brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey . Produced by Jackie Gleason , it included the first national television appearances by rock music icon Elvis Presley . The series began as a one-hour show on July 3, 1954, as a summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show . In late 1955 it debuted from 8–8:30 p.m. ET , on Saturdays in

236-416: A gumshoe detective . Other sources reported that Gummo was the family's hypochondriac, having been the sickliest of the brothers in childhood, and therefore wore rubber overshoes , called gumshoes, in all kinds of weather. Still others reported that Milton was the troupe's best dancer, and dance shoes tended to have rubber soles. Groucho stated that the source of the name was Gummo wearing galoshes. Whatever

354-477: A "low point", where all seems lost for both the Marxes and the romantic leads. He instituted the innovation of testing the film's script before live audiences before filming began, to perfect the comic timing, and to retain jokes that earned laughs and replace those that did not. Thalberg restored Harpo's harp solos and Chico's piano solos, which had been omitted from Duck Soup . The first Marx Brothers/Thalberg film

472-464: A Mangy Lover (1964) and The Groucho Letters (1967). Groucho and Chico briefly appeared in a 1957 color short film promoting The Saturday Evening Post entitled Showdown at Ulcer Gulch , directed by animator Shamus Culhane , Chico's son-in-law. Groucho, Chico, and Harpo worked together (in separate scenes) in The Story of Mankind (1957). In 1959, the three began production of Deputy Seraph ,

590-493: A TV series starring Harpo and Chico as blundering angels, and Groucho (in every third episode) as their boss, the " Deputy Seraph ". The project was abandoned when Chico was found to be uninsurable (and incapable of memorizing his lines) due to severe arteriosclerosis . On March 8 of that year, Chico and Harpo starred as bumbling thieves in The Incredible Jewel Robbery , a half-hour pantomimed episode of

708-485: A Woman ". He made five more appearances during the next eight weeks: These shows were preserved on kinescope films. Complete songs and segments have been released within various Elvis Presley documentaries and home video compilations. The following public domain episodes can be viewed on the Internet Archive: Variety show While still widespread in some parts of the world, such as in

826-498: A brief time in the late 1980s, the show was replaced with The American Radio Company of the Air , also hosted and created by Keillor, was set in a more urban environment and likewise was based on old-time radio; its short run eventually morphed into a revival of A Prairie Home Companion ). In 2016, following Keillor's retirement, Chris Thile took over the program and, over the course of the next year, transformed it into Live from Here ,

944-516: A bunch of head-banging, beer-crushing rock jocks blew up a pile of disco records in the Chicago White Sox outfield . If any art form truly encapsulates the entirety of '70s culture, it is the variety show. After all, the variety show was not an art form, it was all art forms. A variety show packed sketch comedy, dance choreography, guest celebrities and concert performances (okay, lip-synching) into one anything-goes show. A variety show

1062-594: A candle burning at both ends. During this period Chico and Groucho starred in a radio comedy series, Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel . Though the series was short lived, much of the material developed for it was used in subsequent films. The show's scripts and recordings were believed lost until copies of the scripts were found in the Library of Congress in the 1980s. After publication in a book they were performed with Marx Brothers' impersonators for BBC Radio . Their last Paramount film, Duck Soup (1933), directed by

1180-467: A career. Other celebrity fans of the comedy ensemble have been Antonin Artaud , The Beatles , Anthony Burgess , Alice Cooper , Robert Crumb , Salvador Dalí , Eugene Ionesco , George Gershwin (who dressed up as Groucho once), René Goscinny , Cédric Klapisch , J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut . Salvador Dalí once made a drawing depicting Harpo. The epic graphic novel, Cerebus

1298-471: A charity or cause. The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon was one of the best known telethons in the US, but it too was eventually canceled after several years of shortening (originally over 21 hours, by the time of its last telecast in 2014, by which point Lewis had been gone from the telethon several years, it was down to two hours). Another popular telethon, for United Cerebral Palsy , ended its run in 1998 shortly after

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1416-557: A contract with Paramount Pictures and embarked on their film career at Paramount's studios in New York City's Astoria section. Their first two released films (after an unreleased short silent film titled Humor Risk ) were adaptations of the Broadway shows The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930). Both were written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind . Production then shifted to Hollywood, beginning with

1534-503: A cooking show or a talent competition but end in various results. Iran had a private television company that had broadcast Iran television network channel before national television, it aired variety shows. Variety programming has remained one of the dominant genres of television programming. While Japanese variety shows are famous abroad for their wild stunts, they vary from talk shows to music shows, from tabloid news shows to skit comedy. The prominent use of telop on screen has created

1652-479: A family of artists, and their musical talent was encouraged from an early age. Harpo was particularly talented, learning to play an estimated six different instruments throughout his career. He became a dedicated harpist, which gave him his nickname. Chico was an excellent pianist, Groucho a guitarist and singer, and Zeppo a vocalist. They got their start in vaudeville , where their uncle Albert Schönberg performed as Al Shean of Gallagher and Shean . Groucho's debut

1770-461: A fast-paced setting, with scenes repeating or fast forwarded. Another popular variety show in Taiwan was Kangsi Coming (2004–2016). It was famous for its bantering, which was scripted. The first Cantonese variety show to become a major success was Hong Kong's Enjoy Yourself Tonight , which first aired in 1967 and ran for 27 years. In Hong Kong, variety shows are often combined with elements of

1888-435: A female audience and produced by Elle chief editor Daisy de Galard. Each episode of Dim Dam Dom was hosted in an all-white studio set by a different speakerine (a female continuity announcer), usually a popular actress or singer like Françoise Hardy , Marie Laforêt , Geraldine Chaplin , France Gall , Jane Birkin , Françoise Fabian , Romy Schneider . Variety shows with an emphasis on comedy sketches were popular in

2006-838: A few shows (such as Hee Haw and The Lawrence Welk Show ) surviving and moving into first-run syndication . Variety shows continued to be produced in the 1970s, with most of them stripped down to only music and comedy. Popular variety shows that ran in the 1970s include The Flip Wilson Show (1970–1974), The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971–1977, in various incarnations), The Bobby Goldsboro Show (1973–1975), The Hudson Brothers' Razzle Dazzle Show (1974–1975), The Midnight Special (1973–1981), Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (1973–1981), The Mac Davis Show (1974–1976), Tony Orlando and Dawn (1974–1976), Saturday Night Live (1975–present), Donny & Marie (1976–1979), The Muppet Show (1976–1981), and Sha Na Na (1977–1981). Of all of these, only Saturday Night Live remains on

2124-412: A few years, reruns of most of those shows (except The Flip Wilson Show ) were discontinued. Similarly, CMT held the rights to Hee Haw but broadcast very few episodes, opting mainly to hold the rights to allow them to create performance videos from the episodes to be shown in its video blocks. The current rights holder of Hee Haw , RFD-TV , has been more consistent broadcasting complete episodes of

2242-458: A flurry of new variety shows with rural appeal: The Johnny Cash Show (1969–1971), The Jim Nabors Hour (1969–1971), The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969–1972) and Hee Haw (1969–1992). Entertainers with less successful variety shows in the 1960s include Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. Some consider disco to be the boiled-down essence of Seventies pop culture . But that doesn't quite cover it. Not everyone liked disco. In fact,

2360-698: A guest appearance to introduce the Tonight Show's new host, Johnny Carson . Around 1960, acclaimed director Billy Wilder considered writing and directing a new Marx Brothers film. Tentatively titled A Day at the U.N. , it was to be a comedy of international intrigue set around the United Nations building in New York. Wilder had discussions with Groucho and Gummo, but the project was put on hold because of Harpo's ill health, and abandoned when Chico died on October 11, 1961, from arteriosclerosis , at

2478-408: A highly distinctive stage persona. After the group essentially disbanded in 1950, Groucho went on to a successful second career in television, while Harpo and Chico appeared less prominently. The two younger brothers, Gummo and Zeppo, never developed their stage characters to the same extent as the elder three. Both left the act to pursue business careers at which they were successful, and for a time ran

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2596-495: A large theatrical agency through which they represented their brothers and others. Gummo was not in any of the movies; Zeppo appeared in the first five films in relatively straight (non-comedic) roles. The early performing lives of the brothers owed much to their mother, Minnie Marx (the sister of vaudeville comic Al Shean ), who acted as their manager until her death in 1929. The Marx Brothers were born in New York City ,

2714-412: A more streamlined musical variety series. Live from Here , which moved to New York City in 2019, was cancelled due to budget cuts in 2020. Improvisational comic Wayne Brady , coming off his successful appearances on the panel game Whose Line Is It Anyway? , launched an eponymous variety show in 2001, which aired on ABC. The Wayne Brady Show lasted only one summer season in its variety format; when

2832-468: A music hall artist of that period. The audience was also encouraged to dress in period costume in a similar fashion. Other long-running British variety shows that originated in the 1950s include Tonight at the London Palladium (1955–1969), The Black and White Minstrel Show (1958–1978), The White Heather Club (1958–1968) and Royal Variety Performance (an annual event televised since

2950-722: A parody of rightwing pundits). The Richard Bey Show combined the variety show with the tabloid talk show , not only having its guests talk about their problems but also having them participate in absurdist games, and Sally Jesse Raphael was known for occasionally having music and fashion in the show, especially drag and gender-bending performances. American sketch comedy series such as Saturday Night Live , In Living Color , Almost Live! (and its successor Up Late NW ), MADtv , and SCTV also contain variety show elements, particularly musical performances and comedy sketches. The most obvious difference between shows such as Saturday Night Live and traditional variety shows

3068-467: A run on CBS in the early 2000s during the reality television boom; The Gong Show , which reached its peak in the 1970s but has had occasional revivals since then; and the worldwide Got Talent franchise. The variety show format also continued in America in the form of the telethon , which feature variety entertainment (often music) interspersed with appeals for viewers to make donations to support

3186-454: A runaway mule. The audience hurried out to see what was happening. Groucho was angered by the interruption and, when the audience returned, he made snide comments at their expense, including "Nacogdoches is full of roaches" and "the jackass is the flower of Tex-ass". Instead of becoming angry, the audience laughed. The family then realized that it had potential as a comic troupe. (However, in his autobiography Harpo Speaks , Harpo Marx stated that

3304-574: A series of variety shows that collectively ran from 1948 to 1969, followed by variety specials that ran until 1994. Shorter-lived variety shows during this period include The Frank Sinatra Show (1950–1952), The Jimmy Durante Show (1954–1956) and a different The Frank Sinatra Show (1957–1958). In the UK The Good Old Days —which ran from 1953 to 1983—featured modern artists performing dressed in late Victorian /Early Edwardian costume, either doing their own act or performing as

3422-512: A short film that was included in Paramount's twentieth anniversary documentary, The House That Shadows Built (1931), in which they adapted a scene from I'll Say She Is . Their third feature-length film, Monkey Business (1931), was their first movie not based on a stage production. Horse Feathers (1932), in which the brothers satirized the American college system and Prohibition ,

3540-438: A stooped walk. Harpo stopped speaking onstage and began to wear a red fright wig and carry a taxi-cab horn. Chico spoke with a fake Italian accent, developed off-stage to deal with neighborhood toughs, while Zeppo adopted the role of the romantic (and "peerlessly cheesy", according to James Agee ) straight man . The on-stage personalities of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo were said to have been based on their actual traits. Zeppo, on

3658-612: A style that has influenced variety programming across Asia. One of the most popular variety shows in Japan includes Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai . In South Korea , the hugely popular show Infinite Challenge , has been broadcast by MBC from 2005 to 2018, was a new model of this, called "Real Variety Show". It combined comedy and variety scenes including unscripted stunts and special guest stars while taking place in various settings. Although many variety shows have existed in Korea long before

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3776-605: A variety show starring SNL performer Maya Rudolph . Like Rosie Live , the broadcast was intended to be a one-off special, but with the possibility of additional episodes depending on its performance. The special won its time slot, due mainly to a strong lead-in, and spawned the May 2016 premiere of Maya & Marty , adding fellow SNL cast member Martin Short ; under that format, Maya & Marty lasted six episodes. Earlier that season, NBC aired Best Time Ever , an adaptation of

3894-504: Is Broadway meets Solid Gold meets Saturday Night Live meets Saturday morning . MeTV In 1970 and 1971, the American TV networks, CBS especially, conducted the so-called " rural purge ", in which shows that appealed to more rural and older audiences were canceled as part of a greater focus on appealing to wealthier demographics. Many variety shows, including long-running ones, were canceled as part of this "purge," with

4012-521: Is the earliest surviving variety show, preserved in the form of audio recordings and still photographs. The genre proliferated during the Golden Age of Television , generally considered to be roughly 1948 to 1960. Many of these Golden Age variety shows were spin-offs or adaptations of previous radio variety shows. From 1948 to 1971 The Ed Sullivan Show was one of CBS 's most popular television series. Using his no-nonsense approach, host Ed Sullivan

4130-403: Is the lack of a single lead host (or hosts) and a large ensemble cast . SNL has used different guest hosts ever since its inception. Televised talent shows have a variety show element, in that they feature a variety of different acts. Examples of US talent shows that feature entertainers from a broad variety of disciplines include Star Search , which had a run in the 1980s in syndication and

4248-541: The General Electric Theater on CBS. Groucho made a cameo appearance (uncredited, because of constraints in his NBC contract) in the last scene, and delivered the only line of dialogue ("We won't talk until we see our lawyer!"). According to a September 1947 article in Newsweek , Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo all signed to appear as themselves in a biographical film entitled The Life and Times of

4366-644: The Selective Service caught up with Marxes, and each was rejected except Gummo, who was drafted; he spent the war serving in Illinois. Following this, Zeppo (the youngest brother) joined the team. By this time, "The Four Marx Brothers" had begun to incorporate their unique style of comedy into their act and to develop their characters. Both Groucho's and Harpo's memoirs say that their now-famous on-stage personae were created by Al Shean . Groucho began to wear his trademark greasepaint mustache and to use

4484-496: The 'establishment', [and] at his hilarious biting best with his film soundtrack one-line zingers on his love life, his son, politics, big business, society, etc.". Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic, however, grading the LP a C-plus and recommending it only to fanatics of the comedy group, also expressing displeasure with the interspersing of small portions of "annoying music" and Owens's commentary. In 1970,

4602-510: The 1920s, the Marx Brothers had become one of America's favorite theatrical acts, with their sharp and bizarre sense of humor. They satirized high society and human hypocrisy, and they became famous for their improvisational comedy in free-form scenarios. A famous early instance was when Harpo arranged to chase a fleeing chorus girl across the stage during the middle of a Groucho monolog, to see if Groucho would be thrown off. However, to

4720-556: The 1940s onward Chico and Harpo appeared separately and together in nightclubs and casinos. Chico fronted a big band , the Chico Marx Orchestra (with 17-year-old Mel Tormé as a vocalist). Groucho made several radio appearances during the 1940s and starred in You Bet Your Life , which ran from 1947 to 1961 on NBC radio and television. He authored several books, including Groucho and Me (1959), Memoirs of

4838-603: The 1940s, Stan Laurel revisited his music hall days when he performed at the Royal Variety show. In the United States former vaudeville performers such as the Marx Brothers , George Burns and Gracie Allen , W. C. Fields , and Jack Benny honed their skills in the Borscht Belt before moving to talkies , to radio shows, and then to television shows, including variety shows. Radio variety shows were

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4956-478: The 1950s). Popular American variety shows that began in the 60s include a revival of The Jackie Gleason Show (1960–1970), The Andy Williams Show (1962–1971), The Danny Kaye Show (1963–1967), The Hollywood Palace (1964–1970), The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974), The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967–1969) and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–73). 1969 saw

5074-469: The 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively. The brothers are almost universally known by their stage names: Chico , Harpo , Groucho , Gummo , and Zeppo . There was a sixth brother, the firstborn, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, each of whom developed

5192-554: The British variety game show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway starring actor Neil Patrick Harris which was ultimately unsuccessful. Starting in the 1950s, some entertainers became associated with variety television specials that would recur on a regular basis, in some cases for decades, on American network TV. Such entertainers included Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , Perry Como , Andy Williams and Mitzi Gaynor . Many of these were Christmas variety specials, which often showed

5310-650: The Marx Brothers . In addition to being a non-fiction biography of the Marxes, the film would have featured the brothers re-enacting much of their previously unfilmed material from both their vaudeville and Broadway eras. The film, had it been made, would have been the first performance by the Brothers as a quartet since 1933. The five brothers made only one television appearance together, in 1957, on an early incarnation of The Tonight Show called Tonight! America After Dark , hosted by Jack Lescoulie . Five years later (October 1, 1962) after Jack Paar's tenure, Groucho made

5428-424: The Marx Brothers' Paramount films were collected and released on an LP album, The Original Voice Tracks from Their Greatest Movies , by Decca Records . The excerpts were interspersed with voice-over introductions by disc jockey and voice actor Gary Owens . The album was praised by Billboard as "a program of zany antics"; the magazine highlighted the excerpts of Groucho, who was "way ahead of his time in spoofing

5546-604: The Marx Brothers' fourteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films , with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of

5664-445: The Marx Brothers. Most of the comedians provided their own voices for their animated counterparts, except for Fields and Chico Marx (both of whom had died) and Zeppo Marx (who had left show business in 1933). Voice actor Paul Frees filled in for all three (no voice was needed for Harpo). The Marx Brothers' segment was a re-working of a scene from their Broadway play I'll Say She Is , a parody of Napoleon that Groucho considered among

5782-589: The Marx family wondered whether he was real, but Manfred's death certificate from the Borough of Manhattan reveals that he died, aged seven months, on July 17, 1886, of enterocolitis , with " asthenia " contributing, i.e., probably a victim of influenza. He is buried in Washington Cemetery (Brooklyn, NY) , beside his grandmother, Fanny Sophie Schönberg (née Salomons), who died on April 10, 1901. During

5900-504: The Paramount contract Zeppo left the act to become an agent. He and brother Gummo went on to build one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood, working with the likes of Jack Benny and Lana Turner . Groucho and Chico did radio, and there was talk of returning to Broadway. At a bridge game with Chico, Irving Thalberg began discussing the possibility of the Marxes joining Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . They signed, now billed in films before

6018-765: The Races , leaving the Marxes without an advocate at the studio. After a short experience at RKO ( Room Service , 1938), the Marx Brothers returned to MGM and made three more films: At the Circus (1939), Go West (1940) and The Big Store (1941). Prior to the release of The Big Store the team announced they were retiring from the screen. Four years later, however, Chico persuaded his brothers to make two additional films, A Night in Casablanca (1946) and Love Happy (1949), to alleviate his severe gambling debts. Both pictures were released by United Artists . From

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6136-405: The U.S. Sábado Gigante ) began in 1962 with Don Francisco and lasted into the 1990s. His daughter, Vivianne Kreutzberger, currently hosts the program under the title Gigantes con Vivi , while Don Francisco has hosted the U.S. version since 12 April 1986 until the end of the show's run on 19 September 2015. Throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, the producers Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier created

6254-531: The United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States can be considered a direct predecessor of the "variety show" format. Variety in the UK evolved in theatres and music halls, and later in working men's clubs . British performers who honed their skills in music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel , George Formby , Gracie Fields , Dan Leno , Gertrude Lawrence , and Marie Lloyd . Most of

6372-422: The United Kingdom from the late 1960s until the 1980s. Two of the longest-running and most popular series were Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies . [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of variety show at Wiktionary Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville , on Broadway , and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of

6490-628: The United Kingdom with the Royal Variety Performance , and South Korea with Running Man , the proliferation of multichannel television and evolving viewer tastes have affected the popularity of variety shows in the United States. Despite this, their influence has still had a major effect on late night television whose late-night talk shows and NBC 's variety series Saturday Night Live (which originally premiered in 1975) have remained popular fixtures of American television. The live entertainment style known as music hall in

6608-566: The United States bringing on a new type of the Korean wave globally. Variety shows are a huge part of daily life in the Philippines, with all of the major networks running their own variety shows usually during lunchtime and can be on the air for between one and a half hours to three hours. The most notable Philippine variety show is the longest-running Eat Bulaga , which premiered in 1979 and has aired on RPN , ABS-CBN , GMA , and TV5 in

6726-516: The United States in 1986, continued to produce and broadcast new episodes on Univision until its cancellation in September 2015. At least one national variety show continued on national radio into the 21st century. A Prairie Home Companion was founded and created by Garrison Keillor in 1974 as an homage to rural radio variety shows, featuring sketch comedy based on radio dramas of the old-time radio era, complete with faux commercials. (For

6844-516: The Univision networks in the United States. In Venezuela , the best known variety show is Súper Sábado Sensacional . Originally established in 1968 (as Sábado Espectacular ) on Radio Caracas Television , the show moved to Venevision in 1970 and was renamed Sábado Sensacional . In 1990, "Súper" was added to the title, and is how the show is currently known today. The Spanish-language variety show known as Sábados Gigantes (forerunner of

6962-411: The age of 74. Three years later, Harpo died on September 28, 1964, at the age of 75, following a heart attack one day after heart surgery . In 1966, Filmation produced a pilot for a Marx Brothers cartoon. Groucho's voice was supplied by Pat Harrington Jr. and other voices were done by Ted Knight and Joe Besser (of The Three Stooges fame). In 1969, audio excerpts of dialogue from all five of

7080-410: The air today, and has become the second-longest-running variety show in the history of American television. Entertainers with weekly variety shows that ran for one season or less in the 1970s include Captain & Tennille , The Jacksons , The Keane Brothers , Bobby Darin , Mary Tyler Moore , Julie Andrews , Dolly Parton , Shields and Yarnell , The Manhattan Transfer , Starland Vocal Band , and

7198-483: The audience's delight, Groucho merely reacted by commenting, "First time I ever saw a taxi hail a passenger." When Harpo chased the girl back in the other direction, Groucho calmly checked his watch and ad-libbed, "The 9:20's right on time. You can set your watch by the Lehigh Valley ." The brothers' vaudeville act had made them stars on Broadway under Chico's management and with Groucho's creative direction, with

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7316-543: The audience," Groucho recalled. (Zeppo stood in for Groucho in the film version of Animal Crackers . Groucho was unavailable to film the scene in which the Beaugard painting is stolen, so the script was contrived to include a power failure, which allowed Zeppo to play the Spaulding part in near-darkness.) In December 1917, the Marx brothers were noted in an advertisement playing in a musical comedy act "Home Again". By

7434-473: The broadcast of Infinite Challenge , this program has given a rise to a new page in the history of Korean variety shows by introducing unscripted stunts. As a result, other broadcasting channels such as KBS and SBS have followed its path and introduced programs such as 2 Days & 1 Night and Running Man . These types of Korean variety shows are grabbing foreign interest of countries such as Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and even

7552-492: The brothers cause mayhem in a sanitarium and at a horse race. The film features Groucho and Chico's famous "Tootsie Frootsie Ice Cream" sketch. In a 1969 interview with Dick Cavett , Groucho said that the two movies made with Thalberg were the best that they ever produced. Despite the Thalberg films' success, the brothers left MGM in 1937; Thalberg had died suddenly on September 14, 1936, two weeks after filming began on A Day at

7670-478: The brothers' funniest routines. The sketch featured animated representations – if not the voices – of all four brothers. Romeo Muller is credited as having written special material for the show, but the script for the classic "Napoleon Scene" was probably supplied by Groucho. On January 16, 1977, the Marx Brothers were inducted into the Motion Picture Hall of Fame. With

7788-498: The brothers' personalities and Gus Mager 's Sherlocko the Monk , a popular comic strip of the day that included a supporting character named " Groucho ". As Fisher dealt each brother a card, he addressed them, for the first time, by the names they kept for the rest of their lives. The reasons behind Chico's and Harpo's stage names are undisputed, and Gummo's is fairly well established. Groucho's and Zeppo's are far less clear. Arthur

7906-552: The case of a one-off Christmas special, the Christian-leaning network INSP ); JLTV dropped Kaye from its schedule at the end of 2018. The Carol Burnett Show , which had aired in severely edited form sporadically in syndication since it ended in 1977, returned intact in 2019 on numerous platforms. Digital multicast network getTV shows variety shows on an irregular basis. The Spanish language variety show Sabado Gigante , which began in 1962, and then moved from Chile to

8024-446: The cast of The Brady Bunch . Entertainers with variety-based TV specials in the 70s include Carpenters , John Denver , Shirley MacLaine , Diana Ross , Bob Hope, and Pat Boone. Paul Lynde hosted a string of irregularly scheduled Comedy Hours through the late 1970s. By the late 1970s nearly every TV variety show had ended production. Audiences were clearly tiring of the format; the highest-rated variety show of 1975, Cher ,

8142-472: The city fathers wrote to Paramount and asked the studio to remove all references to Freedonia because "it is hurting our town's image". Groucho fired back a sarcastic retort asking them to change the name of their town, because "it's hurting our picture". On March 11, 1933, the Marx Brothers founded a production company, the "International Amalgamated Consolidated Affiliated World Wide Film Productions Company Incorporated, of North Dakota". After expiration of

8260-881: The concept of the big band remote from the old-time radio era, it was already one of the last shows of its kind when it debuted and far outlasted all other big-band centered broadcast series by the end of its run. Other long-running American variety shows that premiered during this time include Texaco Star Theatre (1948–1956), Jerry Lester 's Cavalcade of Stars , Broadway Open House and Chesterfield Sound-Off Time (1949–1952); The Jackie Gleason Show (1950–1955), The Garry Moore Show (1950–1967, in various incarnations), The Morey Amsterdam Show (1950–1954 in various incarnations), The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950–1955), Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), The Red Skelton Show (1951–1971), The Dinah Shore Show (1951–1957), The George Gobel Show (1954–1960) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956–1963). Perry Como also hosted

8378-513: The current generation of U.S. hosts, late-night talk shows vary widely on their resemblance to the original variety format, with Jimmy Fallon 's incarnation of The Tonight Show putting heavy emphasis on sketch and game segments incorporating celebrity guests (especially involving music), while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has placed a larger emphasis on news satire similar to its host 's previous Comedy Central late-night program The Colbert Report (where Colbert portrayed himself as

8496-515: The death of Tommy Dorsey. Brother Jimmy died in June of the following year. Famed jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker died in 1955 while watching the show on television. Elvis Presley made his network television debut on Stage Show . He was introduced by Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Bill Randle on the January 28, 1956, broadcast performing " Shake, Rattle and Roll ", " Flip, Flop and Fly " and " I Got

8614-415: The death of its founder and figurehead, Dennis James . Likewise only a handful of long-established local telethons remain. The prime time variety show format was popular in the early decades of Australian television, spawning such series as In Melbourne Tonight , The Graham Kennedy Show , The Don Lane Show , and Hey Hey It's Saturday , which ran for 27 years. Recent prime time variety shows include

8732-724: The deaths of Gummo in April 1977, Groucho in August 1977, and Zeppo in November 1979, the brothers were gone. But their effect on the entertainment community continues well into the 21st century. Among famous comedians who have cited them as influences on their style have been Woody Allen , Alan Alda , Gabe Kaplan , Judd Apatow , Mel Brooks , John Cleese , Elliott Gould , Spike Milligan , Monty Python , Carl Reiner , as well as David Zucker , Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams . Comedian Frank Ferrante made impersonations of Groucho

8850-462: The details, the name relates to rubber-soled shoes. The reason that Julius was named Groucho is perhaps the most disputed. There are three explanations: I kept my money in a 'grouch bag'. This was a small chamois bag that actors used to wear around their neck to keep other hungry actors from pinching their dough. Naturally, you're going to think that's where I got my name from. But that's not so. Grouch bags were worn on manly chests long before there

8968-423: The early 20th century, Minnie helped her younger brother Abraham Elieser Adolf Schönberg (stage name Al Shean ) to enter show business; he became highly successful in vaudeville and on Broadway as half of the musical comedy double act Gallagher and Shean , and this gave the brothers an entrée to musical comedy, vaudeville and Broadway at Minnie's instigation. Minnie also acted as the brothers' manager, using

9086-632: The early top performers on British television and radio did an apprenticeship either in stage variety, or during World War II in Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). In the UK, the ultimate accolade for a variety artist for decades was to be asked to do the annual Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium theatre, in front of the monarch. Later known as the Royal Variety Performance (from 1919), it continues today. In

9204-453: The elder brothers Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, leaving little room for the younger brothers. Gummo and Zeppo both became successful businessmen: Gummo left the act early and gained success through his talent agency activities and a raincoat business, Zeppo stayed with the act through its Broadway years and the beginnings of its film career, but then quit and later became a multi-millionaire through his engineering business. The brothers were from

9322-447: The first programs to be featured on television during the experimental mechanical television era. Variety shows hosted by Helen Haynes and Harriet Lee are recorded in contemporary newspapers in 1931 and 1932; because of technical limits of the era, no recordings of either show have been preserved. After World War II , the genre again was an early favorite of the burgeoning electronic television industry; Hour Glass , dating to 1946,

9440-541: The format faded in popularity in prime time, it thrived in American late-night TV. Night-time variety shows eventually evolved into late-night talk shows , which combine variety entertainment (primarily comedy and live music) with the aspects of a talk show (such as interviews with celebrities). The Emmy Awards academy considers the two genres to be related closely enough that, until 2015, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series

9558-592: The four Marx Brothers had a brief reunion of sorts in the animated ABC television special The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians , produced by Rankin-Bass animation (of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fame). The special featured animated re-workings of various famous comedians' acts, including W. C. Fields , Jack Benny , George Burns , Henny Youngman , the Smothers Brothers , Flip Wilson , Phyllis Diller , Jack E. Leonard , George Jessel and

9676-476: The genre arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Variety shows from this era included Dolly (starring Dolly Parton ), which ran for 23 episodes on ABC during the 1987–88 season; The Tracey Ullman Show which aired on Fox from April 1987 through May 1990; a revival of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour from 1988 to 1989; a revival of The Carol Burnett Show , which was broadcast by CBS for nine episodes in 1991 (following up on Carol & Company on NBC

9794-407: The highly regarded Leo McCarey , is the highest rated of the five Marx Brothers films on the American Film Institute 's "100 years ... 100 Movies" list. It did not do as well financially as Horse Feathers , but was the sixth-highest grosser of 1933. The film sparked a dispute between the Marxes and the village of Fredonia, New York . "Freedonia" was the name of a fictional country in the script, and

9912-471: The jump to Broadway , and then to Paramount films. During World War I, anti-German sentiments were common, and the family tried to conceal its German origin. Upon Minnie Marx learning that farmers were excluded from the draft, she purchased a 27-acre (11 ha) poultry farm near Countryside, Illinois ; Stefan Kanfer wrote that "Each night, rats made off with the day's eggs." During this time, Groucho discontinued his "German" stage personality. In 1917,

10030-414: The most popular variety shows on French television , including Le Sacha Show (1963–1971) hosted by Sacha Distel , Top à... (1972–1974), Numéro Un (1975–1982) and a lot of television specials presented by various famous singers ( Johnny Hallyday , Sylvie Vartan , Claude François , Petula Clark ). From 1965 to 1970 was also aired Dim Dam Dom , a modern, playful and sophisticated show intended for

10148-419: The musical revue I'll Say She Is (1924–1925). Its success helped secure playwright George S. Kaufman and songwriter Irving Berlin —two of Broadway's best talents—for the musical comedy The Cocoanuts (1925–1926) and later Animal Crackers (1928–1929). Out of their distinctive costumes, the brothers looked alike, even down to their receding hairlines. Zeppo could pass for a younger Groucho and played

10266-481: The name "Gummo" never appeared in print during his time in the act. Other sources reported that the Marx Brothers went by their nicknames during their vaudeville era, but briefly listed themselves by their given names when I'll Say She Is opened because they were worried that a Broadway audience would reject a vaudeville act if they were perceived as low class. The Marx Brothers' stage shows became popular just as motion pictures were evolving to " talkies ". They signed

10384-414: The name Minnie Palmer so that agents did not realize that she was also their mother. All the brothers confirmed that Minnie Marx had been the head of the family and the driving force in getting the troupe launched, the only person who could keep them in order; she was said to be a hard bargainer with theater management. As the comedy act developed, it increasingly focused on the stage characters created by

10502-410: The nicknames. He asked them why they used their real names publicly when they had such wonderful nicknames, and they replied, "That wouldn't be dignified." Woollcott answered with a belly laugh. Woollcott did not meet the Marx Brothers until the premiere of I'll Say She Is , which was their first Broadway show, so this would mean that they used their real names throughout their vaudeville days, and that

10620-463: The other hand, was considered the funniest brother offstage, despite his straight stage roles. He was the youngest and had grown up watching his brothers, so he could fill in for and imitate any of the others when illness kept them from performing. "He was so good as Captain Spaulding [in Animal Crackers ] that I would have let him play the part indefinitely, if they had allowed me to smoke in

10738-405: The predominant form of light entertainment during the Golden Age of Radio from the late 1920s through the 1940s; such radio shows typically included a house vocalist, music from the house band , a stand-up monologue and a short comedy sketch . Variety shows centered on running comedy sketches with recurring characters eventually evolved into sitcoms (situation comedies). Variety shows were among

10856-409: The previous year); and Showtime 's The Super Dave Osborne Show hosted by Bob Einstein from 1987 to 1991 (itself a spinoff of John Byner 's Bizarre , which ran from 1980 to 1986). By the 1990s, networks had given up on the format; after initially promising Phil Hartman his own variety show, NBC backed out of the agreement believing a variety show could no longer succeed. By the 21st century

10974-504: The program; RFD-TV also airs numerous other country -style variety shows from the 1960s and 1970s up through the present day, in a rarity for modern television. Another notable exception is The Lawrence Welk Show , which has been frequently broadcast in reruns on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) since 1986. The Danny Kaye Show returned to television in 2017 with reruns on Jewish Life Television (and, in

11092-506: The regularly scheduled variety shows that spawned them by several years. Also, Barbara Mandrell Christmas special. Christmas variety specials' popularity continued into the 1990s, before starting to wane in the 2000s. Nevertheless, the tradition has continued. Entertainers who have hosted Christmas variety specials in the 21st century include Kid Rock , Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson , Carrie Underwood , Lady Gaga , Michael Buble , Bill Murray , Gwen Stefani , and Darci Lynne . Though

11210-623: The role of Groucho's son in Horse Feathers . A scene in Duck Soup finds Groucho, Harpo, and Chico all appearing in the famous greasepaint eyebrows, mustache, and round glasses while wearing nightcaps; the three are indistinguishable, enabling them to carry off the "mirror scene" perfectly. The stage names of the brothers (except Zeppo) were coined by monologist Art Fisher during a poker game in Galesburg, Illinois , based both on

11328-650: The runaway mule incident occurred in Ada, Oklahoma . A 1930 article in the San Antonio Express newspaper stated that the incident took place in Marshall, Texas.) The act slowly evolved from singing with comedy to comedy with music. The brothers' sketch "Fun in Hi Skule" featured Groucho as a German-accented teacher presiding over a classroom that included students Harpo, Gummo, and Chico. The last version of

11446-501: The school act was titled Home Again and was written by their uncle Al Shean . The Home Again tour reached Flint, Michigan , in 1915, where 14-year-old Zeppo joined his four brothers for what is believed to be the only time that all five Marx Brothers appeared together on stage. Gummo then left to serve in World War I , reasoning that "anything is better than being an actor!" Zeppo replaced him in their final vaudeville years and in

11564-472: The short lived Micallef Tonight and The Sideshow . In Brazil variety shows are referred to as a show de auditório (lit. "auditorium show"). Among the longest-running variety shows on Brazilian television have been SBT 's Programa Silvio Santos (1963–present), which was originally hosted by SBT's owner and founder Silvio Santos (and is presently hosted by his daughter Patricia Abravanel ), and TV Globo 's Domingão do Faustão (1989–2021), which

11682-461: The show returned the next year in syndication, it had been reformatted as a talk show, under which format it ran until 2004. Fox's Osbournes Reloaded , a variety show featuring the family of rocker Ozzy Osbourne , was canceled after only one episode had been telecast in 2009. More than two dozen affiliates refused to telecast the first episode of the show. This series had been slated for a six-episode run. NBC has made repeated attempts at reviving

11800-528: The sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France. Their mother Miene "Minnie" Schoenberg (professionally known as Minnie Palmer, later the brothers' manager) was from Dornum in East Frisia . She came from a family of performers. Her mother was a yodeling harpist and her father a ventriloquist ; both were funfair entertainers. Around 1880, the family emigrated to New York City, where Minnie married Sam Marx in 1884. Samuel ("Sam"; born Simon) Marx

11918-474: The star in a set meant to look like their home, welcoming singers and other guests to perform duets of Christmas songs . The popularity of these Christmas shows outlasted that of weekly variety shows. In 1973, for example, even as variety shows were starting to fade in popularity, variety Christmas specials hosted by Williams and Como both attracted an enormous 40% of the American television audience. Williams's and Johnny Cash 's annual Christmas specials outlasted

12036-663: The succeeding years. Recently many other TV networks are different formats of variety. ABS-CBN's It's Showtime has also shown great popularity and interest to Filipino viewers. Siempre en Domingo premiered in 1969 with Raúl Velasco hosting. It became Mexico's longest-running variety series, remaining on Televisa until 1998. Other long-running variety shows, most of which have been Televisa productions, have included La Carabina de Ambrosio , Anabel , Al Fin de Semana , Silvia y Enrique , La Parodia , Muevete , Desmadruga2 , and Sabadazo. . Most, if not all, of Televisa's variety shows have aired in other countries, including

12154-446: The time slot prior to The Honeymooners , his own series. In 1956, Jack Carter , a frequent guest, became the permanent host. The June Taylor Dancers made regular appearances. Bobby Darin made his national TV debut on the program in early 1956, singing " Rock Island Line ". Placed against the popular The Perry Como Show on NBC , Stage Show' s ratings declined. The final telecast, September 18, 1956, came only two months before

12272-415: The title as "Groucho — Chico — Harpo — Marx Bros", with the same ordering in the cast list. Unlike the free-for-all scripts at Paramount, Thalberg insisted on a strong story structure that made the brothers more sympathetic characters, interweaving their comedy with romantic plots and non-comic musical numbers, and targeting their mischief-making at obvious villains. Thalberg was adamant that scripts include

12390-465: The variety format since the late 2000s (the network's last successful variety series, Michael Nesmith 's short-lived but influential Television Parts , was broadcast in the summer of 1985) . A pilot episode for Rosie Live was telecast the day before Thanksgiving Day in 2008 and, after receiving middling ratings and extremely poor reviews, was not picked up for its originally planned run in January 2009. In May 2014, NBC aired The Maya Rudolph Show ,

12508-482: The variety show format was practically extinct, due largely to changing tastes and the fracturing of media audiences (caused by the proliferation of cable and satellite television ) that makes a multiple-genre variety show impractical. Even reruns of variety shows have generally not been especially widespread; TV Land briefly broadcast repeats of some variety shows (namely The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ) upon its launch in 1996, but within

12626-400: Was A Night at the Opera (1935), a satire on the world of opera, where the brothers help two young singers in love by throwing a production of Il Trovatore into chaos. The film, including its famous scene where an absurd number of people crowd into a tiny stateroom on a ship, was a great success. It was followed two years later by an even bigger hit, A Day at the Races (1937), in which

12744-416: Was Pauline, or "Polly". Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx was the eldest of the brothers, born in 1887. Adolph "Harpo" Marx was born in 1888, Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx in 1890, Milton "Gummo" Marx in 1892, and the youngest, Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx, in 1901. Family lore told privately of the firstborn son, Manny, born in 1886 but surviving for only three months, and dying of tuberculosis. Some members of

12862-549: Was a Groucho. Herbert was not nicknamed by Art Fisher, since he did not join the act until Gummo had departed. As with Groucho, three explanations exist for Herbert's name "Zeppo": Maxine Marx reported in The Unknown Marx Brothers that the brothers listed their real names (Julius, Leonard, Adolph, Milton, and Herbert) on playbills and in programs, and only used the nicknames behind the scenes, until Alexander Woollcott overheard them calling one another by

12980-536: Was a native of Mertzwiller , a small Alsatian village, and worked as a tailor. His name was changed to Samuel Marx, and he was nicknamed "Frenchy". The family lived in New York City's Upper East Side in the Yorkville district centered in the Irish, German and Italian quarters. The Marx Brothers also had an older sister (actually a cousin, born in January 1885) who had been adopted by Minnie and Frenchy. Her name

13098-413: Was hosted by Fausto Silva until he departed the network to host a short-lived variety show on Rede Bandeirantes . Two notable Taiwanese variety shows are Guess (1996–2012) and 100% Entertainment (1997–present). East Asian variety programs are known for their constant use of sound effects, on-screen visuals and comedic bantering. Many of the shows are presented in a live-like presentation in

13216-561: Was in 1905, mainly as a singer. By 1907, he and Gummo were singing together as "The Three Nightingales" with Mabel O'Donnell . The next year, Harpo became the fourth Nightingale and by 1910, the group briefly expanded to include their mother Minnie and their Aunt Hannah. The troupe was renamed "The Six Mascots". One evening in 1912, a performance at the Opera House in Nacogdoches, Texas , was interrupted by shouts from outside about

13334-531: Was instrumental in bringing many acts to prominence in the United States, including Elvis Presley and The Beatles . One year after Sullivan's premiere, Music & the Spoken Word first aired on television. Having carried over from an already 20-year run on radio, the series airs a program of religious music, messages, and occasional interviews, and remains the longest-running variety show in U.S. television history. " The Arthur Murray Party " (1950–1960)

13452-411: Was named Harpo because he played the harp, and Leonard became Chico (pronounced "Chick-o") because he was, in the slang of the period, a "chicken-chaser". ("Chickens" – later "chicks" – was period slang for women. "In England now," said Groucho, "they were called 'birds'.") In his autobiography, Harpo explained that Milton became Gummo because he crept about the theater like

13570-555: Was only the 22nd-most watched show of the year. By 1980 viewer interest in TV variety shows was rapidly waning. Most of the few new variety programs being produced were of remarkably poor quality (for instance, the infamous Pink Lady and Jeff ), hastening the format's demise, though a few moderately successful shows remained, such as Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters (November 1980 to June 1982). A brief revival of

13688-515: Was open to any of these types of show; in 2015, the academy separated late-night talk shows and sketch comedy series into separate categories. During Johnny Carson 's tenure on The Tonight Show on NBC from 1962 to 1992, the show dominated late night ratings, and the other networks attempted late-night talk shows only sporadically. This changed with Carson's retirement, and other networks began to air their own talk show competitors, starting with Late Show with David Letterman on CBS in 1993. As of

13806-404: Was their most popular film yet, and won them the cover of Time magazine. It included a running gag from their stage work, in which Harpo produces a ludicrous array of props from inside his coat, including a wooden mallet, a fish, a coiled rope, a tie, a poster of a woman in her underwear, a cup of hot coffee, a sword and (just after Groucho warns him that he "can't burn the candle at both ends")

13924-516: Was wildly popular and one of only 5 shows in the history of television to appear on all four major networks at the same time. The premise was a large dance party hosted by Kathryn Murray and Arthur Murray that showcased a new dance and a celebrity guest along with dozens of professional dancers. The show also hosted the only television appearance of Buddy Holly and The Crickets . The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982) would go on to become one of U.S. television's longest-running variety shows; based on

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