The Big Show

A big, glittery stage spectacle that plays like a cheerful, old-fashioned variety hour, easy to dip in and out of.

Genres

Comedy

Starring

Charlie Hill, Adolfo Quinones, Edie McClurg

Overview

The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first broadcast received high ratings, poor reviews and low ratings of succeeding episodes resulted in the program being cancelled after only a few months. The series nonetheless was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Costume Design. Regular performers included Joe Baker, Graham Chapman, Mimi Kennedy, Shabba-Doo and Pamela Myers. Guest hosts included Steve Allen, Nell Carter, David Copperfield, Geoffrey Holder, Gary Coleman, and Sid Caesar. Skaters who performed in the show included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, and Toller Cranston.

How it feels

Light, campy, whimsical and earnest. Brisk and fine in the background.

About

Music, art, celebrity

Content

Mild sexual content and language. No violence or gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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