When Television Was Completely Unpredictable

In the 1970s, variety shows were essential viewing, and they could feature live moments that audiences never saw coming in a million years. Often these moments were a delightful surprise, while others...haven't aged particularly well. But either way, in the 1970s, live television was always unpredictable—and that's what made it so great.

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), Lucasfilm, Disney

Carol Burnett Wears The Curtains

In 1976, Carol Burnett appeared in a Gone with the Wind parody wearing a dress made from green curtains. Costume designer Bob Mackie left the curtain rod attached across her shoulders. Her grand entrance transformed a simple wardrobe joke into one of television's most recognizable comedy moments.

Screenshot from The Carol Burnett Show, CBS (1967-1978), Enhanced 

Mrs. Wiggins Turns The Office Upside Down

Tim Conway originally imagined Mrs. Wiggins as an elderly, forgetful secretary. Bob Mackie instead created a glamorous, exaggerated look for Carol Burnett, completely changing the character's comic potential. Conway's Mr. Tudball then had to endure her workplace incompetence, creating a recurring sketch built around increasingly ridiculous office frustrations.

Screenshot from The Carol Burnett Show, CBS (1967-1978), Enhanced 

Foster Brooks Joins Johnny Carson's Roast

Dean Martin's 1973 celebrity roast of Johnny Carson featured an extraordinary collection of performers, including Foster Brooks, Jack Benny, Bette Davis, and Redd Foxx. Brooks was famous for his convincing drunken comedy persona. The occasion belonged to an era when celebrity insults and alcohol-fueled humor were standard television entertainment.

Screenshot from The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, NBC (1974-1984), Enhanced 

Sonny And Cher Introduce The Vamps

The first episode of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour aired in August 1971 and included a comedy segment called "The Vamps." The series blended glamorous costumes, broad sketches, and the couple's teasing exchanges. Cher's elaborate Bob Mackie wardrobe became almost as important to the spectacle as the music.

Screenshot from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, CBS  (1971-1974), Enhanced   

Sonny And Cher Joke About Their Divorce

Sonny and Cher reunited on television in 1976, even though their marriage had already ended. Their opening conversations sometimes acknowledged the divorce and Cher's subsequent marriage to Gregg Allman. In one memorable exchange, Sonny responded to a compliment by joking about what Cher had said in court.

Screenshot from The Sonny & Cher Comedy Show, CBS  (1976-1977), Enhanced   

Cher And David Bowie Attempt Everything At Once

David Bowie appeared on Cher's solo variety show in November 1975, performing "Fame" and joining her for "Can You Hear Me." Then things became considerably stranger. The pair launched into a six-and-a-half-minute medley containing portions of thirteen different songs, an extravaganza even Bowie's official website describes as remarkably unusual.

Screenshot from Cher, CBS  (1975-1976), Enhanced   

Cher And Tina Turner Share The Spotlight

On April 27, 1975, Cher welcomed Tina Turner to a show that also featured Tim Conway and Kate Smith. Turner performed "Nutbush City Limits" with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue before joining Cher for "Shame, Shame, Shame." The episode even ended with the guests participating in a Beatles tribute.

Screenshot from Cher, CBS (1975-1976), Enhanced   

Cher And Raquel Welch Trade Barbs

Raquel Welch visited Cher in February 1975, but this wasn't simply another glamorous celebrity appearance. Welch entered the world of Cher's recurring character Laverne, and the two engaged in a verbal confrontation. The sketch let two major sex symbols abandon their polished public images for broad television comedy.

Screenshot from Cher, CBS (1975-1976), Enhanced  

Flip Wilson's Geraldine Takes Over Television

Flip Wilson's Geraldine Jones became one of the defining characters of his hugely successful variety series. Geraldine's outspoken personality and memorable catchphrases made her instantly recognizable. Wilson also challenged convention by becoming one of network television's most prominent Black entertainers, although some aspects of the character remain debated today.

Screenshot from The Flip Wilson Show, NBC (1970-1974), Enhanced 

The Gong Show Needs A Censor's Bleep

The Gong Show specialized in performances that ranged from genuinely talented to astonishingly bizarre. One act, billed as "Scarlett and Rhett's Vulgar Poetry," required censorship bleeps. The premise was apparently to entertain audiences with deliberately inappropriate verse, which tells you quite a lot about the program's wonderfully unpredictable approach.

Screenshot from The Gong Show, NBC  (1976-1978), Enhanced  

A Dentist Plays A Power Drill

Among the acts remembered by the Television Academy was a dentist who performed "Stars and Stripes Forever" using a dental drill. Somehow, this qualified as prime daytime entertainment. On The Gong Show, audiences never knew whether the next contestant would demonstrate genuine talent or something nearly impossible to explain.

Screenshot from The Gong Show, NBC  (1976-1978), Enhanced

The Unknown Comic Hides Behind A Paper Bag

Comedian Murray Langston appeared on The Gong Show with a paper bag covering his head. He initially wanted to conceal his identity while earning some extra money. Instead, his deliberately corny jokes and habit of insulting host Chuck Barris made the Unknown Comic one of the show's best-known personalities.

Screenshot from The Gong Show, NBC  (1976-1978), Enhanced

Gene Gene Gets Everybody Dancing

Gene Patton worked as an NBC stagehand before Chuck Barris noticed him dancing during rehearsals. Barris brought him onto The Gong Show as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. Whenever he appeared, the music started and the studio joined the celebration, turning an ordinary employee into an unexpected television favorite.

Screenshot from The Gong Show, NBC  (1976-1978), Enhanced 

KISS Invades Paul Lynde's Halloween Special

ABC's Paul Lynde Halloween Special aired in October 1976 with an unlikely musical guest: KISS. The costumed rock band performed songs including "Detroit Rock City" and "Beth." Seeing them share a television special with sitcom personalities and family entertainers remains one of the decade's most extraordinary programming combinations.

Screenshot from Paul Lynde Halloween Special, ABC (1976), Enhanced  

Two Famous Witches Share A Mansion

The same Halloween special reunited audiences with Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. She appeared alongside Billie Hayes, familiar to children as Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf. Writer Bruce Vilanch later described how the production brought these recognizable witches together for Lynde's supernatural adventure.

Screenshot from Paul Lynde Halloween Special, ABC (1976), Enhanced   

The Brady Family Gets A Swimming Pool

In 1977, the Bradys abandoned their familiar sitcom surroundings for The Brady Bunch Hour. Their variety series featured musical production numbers and a swimming pool occupied by professional performers called the Water Follies. Apparently, television executives believed America's favorite blended family needed synchronized swimming to stay entertaining.

Screenshot from  The Brady Bunch Hour, Paramount Television (1976-1977), Enhanced 

Jan Brady Suddenly Looks Completely Different

Nearly the entire original Brady Bunch cast returned for the family's variety experiment. However, Eve Plumb didn't reprise Jan, so actress Geri Reischl took over the role. The switch created the enduring nickname "Fake Jan," making an already unusual musical reunion even more memorable for longtime viewers.

Screenshot from  The Brady Bunch Hour, Paramount Television (1976-1977), Enhanced 

Donny And Marie Spoof Star Wars

In September 1977, Donny & Marie presented a musical Star Wars parody. Donny played Luke Skywalker, Marie portrayed Princess Leia, and Kris Kristofferson appeared as Han Solo. Other Osmond siblings became dancing stormtroopers, creating a thoroughly peculiar interpretation of the year's biggest movie phenomenon.

Screenshot from Donny & Marie, ABC (1976-1979), Enhanced   

David Bowie Performs With Marianne Faithfull

For his 1973 Midnight Special appearance, Bowie assembled an elaborate production called The 1980 Floor Show. Among its performances was a duet of "I Got You Babe" with Marianne Faithfull. Her nun-inspired costume made the surreal pairing particularly memorable, while Bowie continued experimenting with his changing stage persona.

Screenshot from The Midnight Special, NBC (1972-1981), Enhanced   

Alice Cooper Offers The Muppets A Deal

Alice Cooper appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978, bringing his theatrical horror persona into Jim Henson's family entertainment universe. He performed "Welcome to My Nightmare" and "School's Out." Between musical numbers, Cooper offered the Muppets fame and riches in exchange for their souls.

Screenshot from The Muppet Show, ITC Entertainment (1976-1981)

Rita Moreno Battles Animal's Drumming

Rita Moreno appeared during the first season of The Muppet Show in 1976. Her memorable performance of "Fever" featured Animal providing increasingly energetic percussion. Moreno maintained her composure throughout the comic musical encounter and subsequently won an Emmy for her work on the series.

Screenshot from The Muppet Show, ITC Entertainment (1976-1981)

Raquel Welch Dances With A Giant Spider

When Raquel Welch visited The Muppet Show in 1978, the producers placed her in a prehistoric dance routine alongside an enormous spider. She also performed an "I Am Woman" parody with Miss Piggy. The combination of Hollywood glamour, giant creatures, and musical comedy was unmistakably seventies television.

Screenshot from The Muppet Show, ITC Entertainment (1976-1981)

Rudolf Nureyev Dances Swine Lake

Legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev joined The Muppet Show in 1978 for a spectacular collision of classical culture and puppet comedy. His performance included "Swine Lake," featuring an enormous ballerina pig. Miss Piggy also cornered Nureyev in a steam room for a duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

Screenshot from The Muppet Show, ITC Entertainment (1976–1981), Enhanced  

Bea Arthur Closes The Star Wars Cantina

The 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special gave Bea Arthur an unexpected role as a cantina bartender. When an Imperial curfew threatened her business, she performed a farewell musical number called "Goodnight But Not Goodbye." Singing to a room filled with alien customers was certainly a departure from Maude.

Screenshot from The Star Wars Holiday Special, CBS (1978), Enhanced 

Diahann Carroll Serenades A Wookiee

The same holiday special featured Diahann Carroll as a holographic entertainer viewed by Chewbacca's father, Itchy. Her performance was deliberately suggestive, with a glamorous costume designed by Bob Mackie. It remains a baffling example of how adult-oriented variety entertainment ended up inside a Star Wars television production.

Screenshot from The Star Wars Holiday Special, CBS (1978), Enhanced 

Richard Pryor's Job Interview Gets Ugly

During a December 1975 episode of Saturday Night Live, Richard Pryor appeared opposite Chevy Chase in a job interview sketch written by Paul Mooney. An ordinary word-association exercise escalated into an exchange of racist insults. The deliberately confrontational scene exposed prejudice rather than treating the language as harmless.

Screenshot from Saturday Night Live, NBC (1975–) 

John Belushi Meets The Real Joe Cocker

John Belushi's wildly exaggerated Joe Cocker impression was already a television favorite when the actual singer appeared on Saturday Night Live. On October 2, 1976, Belushi joined Cocker onstage during "Feelin' Alright." Watching a rock star perform beside his own comic impersonation was wonderfully uncomfortable television.

Screenshot from Saturday Night Live, NBC (1975–) 

Elvis Costello Changes The Song On Live Television

Elvis Costello famously interrupted his planned performance of "Less Than Zero" on Saturday Night Live in December 1977. Instead, he launched into "Radio Radio," defying the agreed musical arrangement. The moment caused controversy, although producer Lorne Michaels has since disputed claims that the show formally banned Costello.

Screenshot from Saturday Night Live, NBC (1975–) 

Bing Crosby Meets David Bowie At Christmas

Few television pairings were stranger than Bing Crosby and David Bowie sharing a Christmas duet in 1977. Their performance combined "The Little Drummer Boy" with the newly arranged counterpoint "Peace on Earth." Crosby died before the special aired, leaving behind one of the decade's most unexpectedly moving musical moments.

Screenshot from Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas,  CBS (1977) 

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