Flip

The 70s had a number of shows that broke new ground and changed TV. Before there was All in the Family, there was The Flip Wilson Show. It was the first variety show to be hosted by an African-American comedian and it was a major hit in its first two seasons.

I remember watching the show on Thursday nights and I thought it was very funny. It proved that Flip can handle a variety show as he interacted well with celebrities such as Redd Foxx and George Carlin and as characters he created such as Geraldine and The Reverend Leroy. To me, he was one of the best comedians to perform in drag since Monty Python debuted on British TV in 1969.

But in the fall of 1972 a new show came on the scene which would cause Flip's ratings to flop. It would be the most successful family drama of the 70s, The Waltons. Although the ratings took a tumble, the show would hang on for two more seasons until NBC canceled it in 1974.

Before NBC had "Must See TV" in the 80s and 90s, The Flip Wilson Show was a must see that was a groundbreaker. The past tense of one of Geraldine's catch phrases best described the show "What you saw was what you got."

This is one of the funniest shows ever. It features excellent writing, largely due to its star, Flip Wilson, and frequent guest Richard Pryor, one of the funniest comics ever. The acting is great, and the film quality is the normal for the time. All in all a great show that will keep you laughing loud and often. Check out the TV Land reruns if you can.

This show was the first major variety show hosted by an African-American (NBC had tried before in the 1950's with Nat King Cole, but the racial attitudes of the time doomed it to failure). The late, great Wilson was funny. His humor came out of situations and people's personality quirks; Wilson depended little on racial humor, which is probably why his appeal was so across-the-board. One of my favorite bits was the funky handshake that was done at least once during each episode. My favorite character, outside of the sassy Geraldine, was the Rev. Cleothis Wilson, pastor of the Church of What's Happening Now. Another bit Wilson used always involved meeting a woman for something naughty: "Meet me in the booth, in the corner, in the back, in the dark." New school comedians owe a lot to Flip Wilson.

Not only a groundbreaking variety offer for the early '70s, this blast from many of our pasts preserves appearances of guest stars that later made it big, in addition to showcasing the Geraldine routines of Wilson he honed in clubs and on Tonight show guest hosting gigs. This sort of thing is cable's promise: since most new stuff seems to be utter garbage, the multiplicity of pay channels can (potentially) mine the past for all the programming that ever bested the latest levels of drivel.

One The Funniest Shows I have ever seen. I now watch The Re runs on TV Land and love it when the infamous Gereldean says "What you see is What you Get!"