The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show

Same here. I gotta find an episode of this somewhere...

The cut away from Family Guy animated show lasted FOREVER so had to check!! Lol

Sure I remember, I was about 8 when it aired, we loved it. Esp. the Emu, this was the best. Old 'Spaghetti legs' if I remember right, was his nickname. We used to argue as kids as to whether it was a Real bird or not, which goes to show you how long ago this was.

There was a fun skit parodying Buck Rogers stuff, 'Space Cadets SALUTE!' owowowowowowowowowowowowowow....Trust me, you hadda be there. It was goofy but harmless stuff.

One of these guys in the Hudson Bros wound up wirting a bunch of stuff for Aerosmith, I think it was Mark.

Anyways, dated kid stuff but not bad.

**1/2 outta ****

That's a lot of amazing information, "rcj5365"!

I think your memory has lumped all three series together, though. Mine had too, so I had to do a bit of digging to sort them out.

I just got the DVD box set of all 16 episodes of "Razzle Dazzle" (which includes some bonus material from the Hudson Brothers' prime-time summer variety show, which led to the Saturday morning series, "Razzle Dazzle", and "Bonkers"). This is what I learned from it, and from a bit of digging on my own:

The prime-time summer replacement variety series included the Hudsons, Ronny Graham, Stephanie Edwards, announcer Gary Owens, and guest stars like McLean Stevenson and Danny Thomas. None of the bonus material on the DVDs includes any mention of Katie McClure, so I can't determine if she was on the series or not. One segment from this series was included in an episode of "Razzle Dazzle", in the form of a film "projected" by Rod Hull (with the usual "help" from Emu). In it, Rod & Emu appear as guests on a talk show hosted by McLean Stevenson & his announcer Gary Owens. This series introduced the caricature logo of the Hudson Brothers.

"Razzle Dazzle" was made in Toronto, Canada, and featured Hudsons, plus Billy Van, Peter Cullen, Murray Langston, Freeman King (all formerly of "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour"), Avril Chown (of the original Canadian production of "Godspell", which had included Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, and many other future stars), Rod Hull & Emu, Scott Fisher (as Fabulous Freddie), and an uncredited Jack Duffy in various supporting roles. I'm still trying to find out who physically played "The Bear", although I know that Peter Cullen did the voice. This series used the same caricature logo, as the summer series did---which could be why it's often confused with the other series.

"Bonkers" was made in the UK, and syndicated to North America. It included the Hudsons, along with Bob Monkhouse and several other regular cast members. I haven't been able to screen any episodes, so I can't determine any other cast members, or whether it also used the caricature logo.

One more little correction...

Although "Tony Orlando & Dawn" used animated opening titles by John Wilson (the same animator who did titles & bumpers for "Sonny & Cher" and "Razzle Dazzle"), this series was produced by Saul Ilson & Ernest Chambers. I think, at that time, CBS was trying for a uniform look with the opening titles & bumpers for its variety shows, which could be why so many of them used John Wilson's animation.

Wilson also did animated music videos (including "Dark Lady", "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", "Brand New Key", and "Black & White") for "Sonny & Cher". But his most famous work was the opening titles for the movie "Grease". If you look really hard, you can find a VHS tape of his animated music videos, but it's now quite rare and very expensive.

This was one of those shows that stuck out in the 1970's. The Hudson's were pretty much promoted as a combination bubble gum act/Marx Brothers act. The brothers had a prime time summer variety series and it pretty much was decided to move the boys to Saturday mornings where their talents would be more in line with the audience they were trying to reach. However, this was a pretty good show. It was a combination of "Laugh In" and "American Bandstand". The brothers, Bill, Brett and Mark, showed off both their musical and comedic talents backed with a great ensemble cast. Also, this was one of the few shows that were on during that year that didn't try to be overly preachy and try to teach the kiddies how to be good little boys and girls. This is definite lost gem of the 1970's.