Music Scene

This was one of the more interesting attempts to put rock and roll on prime time. In fact, the first episode featured performances by both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, however the Beatles appearance was nothing more than a promotional film. However, this was a show that not only featured rock and roll, but it even featured "old fogies" like Moms Mabley, Pete Seeger and Della Reese. Also, this was the fist show to showcase the talents of a young David Steinberg and a young Lily Tomlin. Too bad that it had a couple of things that helped to ensure its short run. One is the fact that it ran not only opposite "Gunsmoke", but it also ran opposite "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In". Ironically, Lily Tomlin would achieve her first big success on "Laugh-In". Another thing that helped seal its fate was its unusual running time. Usually, most shows run a half an hour to an hour. However, this show ran for 45 minutes, which probably worked against it. Too bad though. With all those factors running against it it wound up killing what could have been a great show.

What a wonderful discovery on DVD! Two DVD's comprise the complete series, which was only on from September, 1969, to January, 1970. David Steinberg is great as the host, and was one of the writers of the show as well. What a great showcase of the talent of the late 60's! It's an interesting variety of artists, and a neat time capsule of pop culture.

One of the coolest episodes, in my opinion, is the very last one, co-hosted by Comedy Legend Groucho Marx!! They did a little 'chat' session with Groucho and David Steinberg which is a classic! Apparently this show was cancelled due to low ratings and competition from 'Laugh-In' And 'Gunsmoke', and I bet the producers/writers/performers never thought it'd ever see the light of day in any form, but HOORAY for the DVD's!!!! Some of the best things about the DVD's are all the Extra Bonus Material! It appears to be segments/songs cut from the original episodes! It's some killer stuff, and I'm amazed that all this material got the AXE during the original run of the show! This is a must-see for fans of pop culture and music of the late 60's! I highly recommend it!