The lovely Gunilla Hutton, of both Petticoat Junction and Hee Haw fame.
Posted on 05/18/2004 12:27:45 PM PDT by GSWarrior
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Saaa-lute! The straw hats and braying cartoon donkey of ``Hee Haw'' are back. Time-Life is releasing full ``Hee Haw'' shows for the first time on VHS and DVD on Tuesday, the 35th anniversary of the show's first season.
With its pickin', grinnin' and hayseed humor, ``Hee Haw'' was an American TV institution, on the air almost continuously from 1969 to 1997. The hourlong program started on CBS for two years, then went into syndication until 1993 and finally wound up on cable's old Nashville Network.
``'Hee Haw' won't go away,'' said Roy Clark, host or co-host of the show for its entire run. ``It brings a smile to too many faces.''
The format was folksy comic skits interspersed with performances by country music stars like Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson and Alan Jackson. There were no serious issues debated, no cliffhangers, no drama and no wardrobe malfunctions--just down-home silliness accompanied by grins and guitars.
``Everywhere I go, people talk about it,'' Clark said.
The show's most memorable prop was the cornfield where guests and the show's regulars told jokes.
Example:
Grandpa Jones to Junior Samples: ``I saw you riding on a mule and your wife was walking behind you. Why was that?''
Samples: ``My wife ain't GOT no mule.''
There were 24 years' worth of original ``Hee Haw'' shows--14 years more than ``Friends'' and 15 more than ``Seinfeld.'' All the shows were taped in Nashville, home of country music and the Grand Ole Opry.
Critics mostly hated the show because of its Dogpatch look, simple humor and twangy country music. And sometimes the show still gets criticized for perpetuating stereotypes.
There was a bevy of curvy Southern belles such as Barbi Benton, Gunilla Hutton (who played Nurse Good Body) and Misty Rowe. The men were most often harmless rubes in straw hats and overalls.
But TV viewers embraced it, and even non-country stars such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Regis Philbin were among the celebrities eager to appear on the show.
``They just wanted to be part of the fun,'' Clark said.
Clark, who played the hapless clerk at the show's Empty Arms Hotel, was joined by singer Buck Owens as co-host for 17 seasons. There were about 600 original episodes.
The show even had an impact on the national lexicon. The phrase ``pickin' and grinnin''' became popular after a segment with Clark and Owens playing guitar while smiling and telling jokes.
A video based on the show has been on the home market for 10 years, but it featured just parts of the program and no music. The new product, costing $14.95, has full ``Hee Haw'' shows including music performances. There will be at least four one-hour programs.
``The viewers were sort of part-owners of the show,'' Clark said. ``They identified with these clowns, and we had good music.
What you said!
This is the moment I've been waiting for. How many Saturday nights have I pined for Hee Haw! Now I know exactly what to ask for for Christmas!
"The musicians on Hee-Haw were outstanding."
Ditto the Oprey. In fact it was radio that started the "virtuoso" country trend. When radio was the big high tech innovation some little station down there started showcasing local talent and some of the talent that came out of the hollers and knobs for a shot at being "on the air" absolutely blew the minds of the listeners.
Its a tradition that goes way back.
You forgot your sarcasm tags !!
Now Rindercella?s mugly other and her two sad blisters, they went out to buy some drancy fesses, you know, to wear to this bancy fall, but Rindercella couldn?t go, because all she had to wear was some old rirty dags. So finally the night of the bancy fall arrived, and Rindercella couldn?t go, so she just cat down and shried. She was kitten there shryin?, when all at once there appeared before her, her gary mudfather! And he touched her with his wagic mand. And there appeared before her a cage boach and hix white sources, you know, to take her to the bancy fall. But he said, now, Rindercella, you be sure and be home before nid might or I?ll purn you into a tumpkin!
So when Rindercella arrived at the bancy fall, this prandsome hince met her at the door because he?d been watching all this time behind a widden hindow. And Rindercella and the prandsome hince nanced all dight. And they lell in fuv!
And all at once the midclock struck night and Rindercella staced down the rairs, and just as she reached the bottom, she slopped her dripper! So the next day the prandsome hince went all over this corn funtry, looking for the geautiful burl who had slopped her dripper.
Finally he came to Rindercella?s house. Well, he tried it on her mugly other and it fidn?t dit. He tried it on her two sigly usters and it fidn?t dit. Then he tried it on Rindercella and it FID dit! It was exactly the sight rise. So they got married and lived heavily after hampers.
Now the storal of the mory is this: if you go to a bancy fall and you wanna have a prandsome hince lall in fuv with you, don?t forget to slop your dripper!
hey, with my grandmother it was lawerence welk....so,quit yer bellyachin'
Old Sarge,Big bump.
Haven't seen HeeHaw on TV in years, used to be our Saturday night ritual. Remember when TV was safe for the whole family?
He should have been the one to walk and let his wife ride the mule.
"Every car at Samples Sales comes with factory air, in the tires."
I was always in awe of those segments -- it must have been hard as hell delivering those lines skewed like that. I'd think that you'd have to keep fighting the urge to say them the "right" way. And it's a lot harder to memorize lines made up of "nonsense" words than lines which are more like natural speech.
"Hey, Grandpa!! What's for supper?"
Grandpa Jones was a national treasure.
Hee Haw got cancelled, along with Mayberry RFD, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction, when CBS decided that their network was "too rural." These shows were all hits (Mayberry RFD was in the Top Ten when it was cancelled!), but CBS decided to skew urban, which brought us All in the Family et al.
The lovely Gunilla Hutton, of both Petticoat Junction and Hee Haw fame.
>>That and the Dukes of Hazzard and I should be set for at least a good eight to ten years of TV...
My teenaged son found a Dukes of Hazzard PS/2 game that's great! You need both a wheel and gun controller for best play, for of course one player drives, while the other player shoots, team effort. We had a good time with it.
"You'll letting them get away!"
"Well if you could hit anything!"
"Hurry up!"
There used to be a mom and pop restaurant in my town called BR549.
Have not heard it yet, but I'll go look it up and check it out! Many thanks!
My national anthem for country music these days is George Jone's ol' faithful "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes'.
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