opryman65

For all the yeas and nays that I have read about this kids' show from the early seventies (I was six when it came out), I really liked this program as the Sid and Marty Krofft shows were the most remembered and best loved shows of my childhood. Too many people read too much into these programs - they are designed for children and for even young adults as FANTASY with no underlying themes or something that would be a "gotcha" like many things are today. They are not violent and are good for any child of any generation. I loved these shows and look forward to sharing them with my young relatives and I recommend them for any group of children. I loved "Lidsville", but also "PufNStuf", "Land of the Lost", and "The Lost Saucer". Sid and Marty will be remembered for generations to come.

This program was the very best in country music entertainment by two folks - Teddy and Doyle Wilburn - who knew how to entertain. Among many other things, this program was responsible for launching the career of Loretta Lynn. She was a regular on the show for it's entire run, and joined the great comedian and banjoist, Harold Morrison (who played banjo on some of Loretta's hits, of which "Blue Kentucky Girl" was one). The great Don Helms was a regular steel player for most of the years that this show was on television, and Hal Rugg played on the rest of the programs when Don was not there. The band also included such greats as Buddy Spicher on fiddle and brothers Lester and Leslie Wilburn who played guitar and bass. I do not recognize the drummer. You may still see these great shows (as of Feb 2006) on the RFD TV channel on satellite. Many great performers from the world of country music have been guests on this show, such as Roy Acuff, Bashful Brother Oswald, Karen Wheeler, Dottie West, Sammi Smith, Dave Dudley, Del Reeves, and many others too numerous to mention. I give it five stars.

Here is the first time in the history of the Grand Ole Opry that it was telecast live on a weekly basis, beginning Saturday night, April 13, 1985. I happened to be in the audience for that very first night and was there many Saturday nights, as I spent a lot of weekends at the Opry during the 80's and 90's, and this show telecast live at 7 pm in the beginning. By the end of the eighties, the show time was moved to 7:30 and an interview segment was added to the show beginning at 7 pm. The entire cast of the Opry was given a slot on the live show and you saw different ones each week rotated, but by the end of the nineties, the owners of the show decided to go more uptown with the show, and more and more of the unknown names were placed on the televised segments, the announcers who were staples on the show were let go, and New York came in to take over the production of the program. The stage set was redesigned in 2002 and the Opry continues to be telecast to this day, only the interview segment of the live Opry show was discontinued and the stage show now runs for one hour. If you want to witness history as it happens at the Opry, watch the televised segment of the Opry. But if you want to see a real Opry show, go and see what the televised segment no longer shows, especially in the winter. The televised segment no longer represents truly what is regular on the Grand Ole Opry anymore.

Sadly, I must state, after over thirty years as a fan and also an employee in the eighties, that this show is not as good as it once was. I give it three stars.