Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters

I am truly offended by the comments of others about this show. If you were forced to watch it, then you probably weren't nor are you now a country music fan. If you thought it was a lamefest, as someone put it, then you are failing to realize it was in the early 80's and not much from the 80's holds up well, e.i. clothes and hair styles. Country music as a whole(along with all genres from the 70's) are campy now looking back I personally loved this show as a kid and am still a fan of Barbara's to this day. This show was totally awesome from opening to the closing. My whole family always sat down to watch this show and my parents went to watch a live taping and they said it was great. Her piano player at the time, Gary Smith, is my pastor's brother-in-law, and they went with him to the show.

Barbara was the first woman in country music to become a huge star! Yes Patsy's and Loretta and Tammy were pioneers, but Barbara became one of the first international music stars! Some would say Dolly was the first, but Dolly actually didn't hit her mega stardom until the 80's also, even though she hit the seen in the 70's with the Porter Wagnor show.

Just thought I would stand up and defend!!!!!!!!!!

FYI... They did not end this show due to the 1984 car accident! The show ended after Barbara was at physical exhaustion which forced her to quit.

This show revealed the enormous talent this family has. It was a refreshing treat each Sat. night for all families across the country. A 60 min. variety show combining country, gospel, comedy and a wonderful line-up of guest stars which was enjoyed by both the young and old. Each show ended with a 10 min. gospel segment. Country music fans as well as any music lover enjoyed the show. Would be wonderful to see it released on video soon.

This show was one of the best things about Saturday nights when I was a kid. I used to love the kraft puppets. we looked forward to Sat at 7:pm at our house. Mandrell was a big star, that led to other big stars doing her show.

I was just thinking about the night before the 1981 Super Bowl I was staying with my grandparents in rural Kansas and we watched the show and laughed and had a great time.. some people may have thought the show was corny. but when you are a kid you do not care. you just like TV. The shows's humor was vary much family based. It centered around Mandrell and her two sisters.

I've got to say that I can't stand country music. I like rock and roll. However, Barbara Mandrell and her sisters show I liked. It had humor and not only just country music stars but pop stars as well. They seemed to work well and play together. Their musical ability with the many instruments that they were able to play was awesome. The only other group that I can think of that has that kind of talent is the Osmonds. I was sorry when the show went off of the air.I thought Ilene and her dumb blond routine was also funny. She'd have to be pretty smart to pull that off. I don't care for the country music part, but I did like the skits.

Actually, Barbara had to cancel this show well before her car accident due to physical exhaustion and damage to her vocal cords. As variety shows go, this one was quite entertaining, although I'm sure it does seem lame to those used to the junk on TV today...

The Mandrell sisters wrote a lot of the material for this show based on actual experiences in their lives, which gave it a more legitimate air and made the show that much more credible.

This show was nominated for several awards, including a Golden Globe. It won several Music City News Awards. It would be great to have this show on DVD so that a new generation can experience the innocent humor of the Mandrell sisters, rather than the 'reality' TV garbage we are all exposed to nowadays.

And to those who 'swear' that the show was on until Barbara's car wreck, just do the math. The show ended in 1982; Barbara's car wreck was in 1984. Hmmmm, not rocket science.