The Captain and Tennille

Wow, does this one ever bring back some memories. When this was running in prime time all those years back, I was a klutzy, hyper-shy, buck-toothed eleven-year-old with glasses and a boy's haircut, and felt like the original Ugly Duckling. C&T were my favorite musical artists, and I was the world's most rabid fan, which undoubtedly both amused and annoyed my parents by turns. My father had the amazing prescience to suggest, about six weeks into the series' run, that I put the episodes on audio cassette. I immediately agreed, and I have all but about six of the shows on tape as they originally aired. The tapes can still be played.

In regard to the questions from "Otto", most of the shows that made it to the DVD were edited in one way or another (only one or two made it through intact and untouched). But the editing, for the most part, is to the benefit of the DVD. I was in the unusual position of being able to compare my old cassette tapes with the same shows on the DVD, so that I know exactly what's been cut, or what was taken from episodes that didn't make it onto the DVD and spliced into other ones that did. It was the most amazing treat to be able to see the shows again; I had forgotten nearly all the visuals, so that all the songs and dialogue were very familiar but the sights that went with them were practically new to me. There are a couple of bits that got chopped out here and there, which I wish had been left in, but overall this was very good work and is a creditable treatment of the series. Us 70s kids were so much luckier than people think -- I'm glad I remember those days!

The Captain and Tennille were a husband and wife musical duo that burst on the scene in 1975 with "Love will Keep Us Together", which was a huge hit that year. In the following months they had subsequent top 40 hits, none as popular as their first though. With the onset of the disco era, their sound was distinct and of a higher quality than the disco dreck that often permeated the airwaves.

Since visually they seemed like a bit of a gimmick and they had their on unique sound, they got their own variety show in the fall of 1976 on ABC. The guests look like a who's who of that rather unique period of time in entertainment history - mid to late 70s. The first show alone had Gabe Kaplan, Penny Marshall, Ron Palillo, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Jackie Gleason as guest stars. What do all of these guest stars have in common? They all were on popular TV shows that were also on ABC, with the exception of Jackie Gleason. I don't know if it was in their contracts to help out on new shows like this for the same network, but it probably boosted their own shows' ratings too.

The show was largely musical, since that is where Captain and Tennille's talents lay. Any comedy would usually involve them interacting with each other or their guests. The problem was that for them to be a top 40 group, they were just over-exposed in an era when appearances by prominent musical groups were supposed to be savored. Captain and Tennille decided to not renew for a second season, but they probably would have faded in popularity as a weekly TV show even if they had decided to go on. There are copies of entire shows on youtube. If you don't think you'll have flashbacks from all of the glittering disco balls, I'd recommend watching it for the nostalgia.

I was a big fan of Captain and Tennille back then, but I can't say the show was all that good. The skits were poorly written and not all that innovative, but who cared? I believe they had 2 Captain and Tennille singing segments that were great. They always had guest stars, I think they were always singers....like Leo Sayer, whoever was popular at the time. I still cringe at some of the jokes and skits...but Tennille had such a good voice, it was worth it to watch her sing the songs...remember there was no MTV back then. I remember they did "Gangster, you're no good", to the tune of "You're No Good"-by Linda Rondstadt. It was a tribute to "The Godfather" movies. I was mad when they cancelled it. I had no way to way to see Captain and Tennille. It was replaced by "Eight is Enough" on ABC. I boycotted the show.

Wow - this DVD set is like going right back to 1976, sitting on your upholstered couch, drinking some Hi-C and eating some Fiddle-Faddle. I have a movie group and we get together to watch strange and off cinema 9you know - that stuff that is soooo bad it is good) and this variety show falls into that category. Now Im not talking about Cap'n/Tenille as a pop group - they obviously had many big hits and when they come on the oldies station, I do find myself tapping my toes - fine. BUT as a TV show - this thing is a nightmare - a fun, enjoyable nightmare but a nightmare nonetheless. First off, the Captain (Daryl dragon) did NOT want to be a TV star, hated being on camera unless he could play his music and yet the network was damned determined that he would do that Vegas banter with his wife just like Sonny and Cher did. But the Captian has NO screen prescence, zero comic timing and no personality. So Toni Tenille tries to make up for that by going completely overboard on her line readings and guest intros - she is giving a THOUSAND percent of energy to make up for the black hole of energy from the Captain. My group and I are now hooked on these 70's variety show collections - we always throw an episode of Sonny & Cher or Tony Orlando & Dawn or Capn & Tenille on in between our feature showings and it is a blast. TV or faded film stars are trotted out to appear in awful sketches - everyone from John Travolta to Don Knotts to Jackie Gleason to Bob Hope to Vincent Price. The jokes they give Tenille to do with her husband make you cringe - so he is reduced to doing "hat jokes". Get it? He wears that captain's hat so.....yikes!!!! Great 70's cheese time capsule stuff (plus check out the disc where Toni Tenille trots out her two sisters to sing with her or appear in sketches - one of them has NO talent whatsoever - no rhythm - she is actually "off" when everyone else is waving their arms to the song. It is amazing.

Finally! I can't wait! I used to record parts of the show with my cassette recorder while my Mom made fun of me. It'll be great to see those episodes again. I remember Daryl fishing for a giant letter E, and I think a steam roller in "Lonely Nights." Toni's spaghetti strap sequenced gowns, and all the different colored captain's hats. I was too young to remember much more.

I hope Neil Sedaka is on one of the episodes. That would be doubly delightful! With any luck, they'll have some behind the scenes extras and any music videos they made. I think there was one for "Do that to me one more time."