Viva Variety

This show was probably a little too intelligent for average viewers (hence it didn't last long) but if you saw it you know it was good. The bickering couple who hosted the show were very funny. I remember one episode when Ben Stiller was the guest. The gag was that Henry Winkler was supposed to be the guest and they got stuck with Ben Stiller. They made Stiller wear a black leather jacket and ride a motorcycle. Then they asked him questions ("What was it like playing Fonzi?") that were written for Henry Winkler. Very funny stuff. Any show that was able to keep up with a comedy giant like Ben Stiller must have been good. If you somehow get a chance to see this do what you can to catch it. This was real comedy.

I thought that this show was better than average. The whole gimmic with the "#1 show in Europe" thing was cool. I like Johnny Bluejeans the best, especially when he said things like "I got me a bad case of the herpes." Once or twice they even had a cool musical guest. It was O.K, but who cares, we will never see it again.

This show was incredible, but too esoteric for most people. If you had never truly seen a European variety show in the 70's or 80's (or at least a Mexican one) the entire show would probably be lost on you. If you had, this show was a dead on skewering satire of the phony spectacle and shallowness that these shows dive into at their worst. Helmed by a chain-smoking suave wannabe with a pencil moustache and his ultra-glamorous and immasculating harridan of an EX-wife, "Viva Variety" is a variety show that tries to get off the ground every episode but always descends into in-fighting and acts gone very wrong. The hosts are joined by "Johnny Bluejeans", a dim witted side-kick who seems to have been named because blue jeans are a very popular product in his country and that means the kids will like him, which of course, they don't.

The result was a hilarious spoof of variety shows in general. Imagine the arguing that probably happened BACKSTAGE during the last days of the "Sonny & Cher Show". Now imagine it's happening ONSTAGE in front of you and the stars are trying to keep their composure. Now add cheesy acts and a Euro-riche mentality (tuxedoes, gowns, booze, accents and smokes). NOW you have "Viva Variety".

Have you ever heard a musician whose music was pretty much written for other musicians? Too conceptual? Viva Variety did this for comedians. WAY too esoteric for the standard American audience. It was funny as Hell. And doomed.

Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney and Michael Ian Black of the comedy group "The State" did a real variety show that was both homage to and parody of this near-forgotten (in the U.S., anyway) type of TV show. They had name celebrities mixed in with weird novelty acts of the type you can only find at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. They never made fun of the acts, but created characters at whom they could jab. It was too original and weird to survive, alas. I hope they all put together another original creation this good!

This was one of my fave shows of all time. It was hilarious and great parody! She was so sexy and he was such a great parody TV host. The variety acts and music and dancing were always so entertaining and the show always made my sister and I laugh our guts out. I can't believe people barely remember this show now, so sad.