The Captain and Tennille

The Captain and Tennille series erupted on the scene in 1976 and 1977 and it aired every monday night at 8pm on ABC. I think this was the finest form of muscial entertainment an hour could be spent with, no offense to the Sonny and Cher show but they simply could not hold water to the talent, versatility and fine theme The Captain and Tennille had on their series. Although Cher has done well for herself, I must tell you Toni Tennille did as well. She now exercises her stage talent along with the lush sounds of the combined muscial keyboarding of her husband the Captain (Daryl Dragon). I would love to be able to view the re-runs from the original series, they were such good entertainment and their music was always appreciated, with their new CD "Twenty years of Romance" , their music will remain timeless and in closing, once again, there just is no topping their series.....

The Captain and Tennille were a husband and wife musical duo that burst on the scene in 1975 with "Love will Keep Us Together", which was a huge hit that year. In the following months they had subsequent top 40 hits, none as popular as their first though. With the onset of the disco era, their sound was distinct and of a higher quality than the disco dreck that often permeated the airwaves.

Since visually they seemed like a bit of a gimmick and they had their on unique sound, they got their own variety show in the fall of 1976 on ABC. The guests look like a who's who of that rather unique period of time in entertainment history - mid to late 70s. The first show alone had Gabe Kaplan, Penny Marshall, Ron Palillo, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Jackie Gleason as guest stars. What do all of these guest stars have in common? They all were on popular TV shows that were also on ABC, with the exception of Jackie Gleason. I don't know if it was in their contracts to help out on new shows like this for the same network, but it probably boosted their own shows' ratings too.

The show was largely musical, since that is where Captain and Tennille's talents lay. Any comedy would usually involve them interacting with each other or their guests. The problem was that for them to be a top 40 group, they were just over-exposed in an era when appearances by prominent musical groups were supposed to be savored. Captain and Tennille decided to not renew for a second season, but they probably would have faded in popularity as a weekly TV show even if they had decided to go on. There are copies of entire shows on youtube. If you don't think you'll have flashbacks from all of the glittering disco balls, I'd recommend watching it for the nostalgia.

Wow - this DVD set is like going right back to 1976, sitting on your upholstered couch, drinking some Hi-C and eating some Fiddle-Faddle. I have a movie group and we get together to watch strange and off cinema 9you know - that stuff that is soooo bad it is good) and this variety show falls into that category. Now Im not talking about Cap'n/Tenille as a pop group - they obviously had many big hits and when they come on the oldies station, I do find myself tapping my toes - fine. BUT as a TV show - this thing is a nightmare - a fun, enjoyable nightmare but a nightmare nonetheless. First off, the Captain (Daryl dragon) did NOT want to be a TV star, hated being on camera unless he could play his music and yet the network was damned determined that he would do that Vegas banter with his wife just like Sonny and Cher did. But the Captian has NO screen prescence, zero comic timing and no personality. So Toni Tenille tries to make up for that by going completely overboard on her line readings and guest intros - she is giving a THOUSAND percent of energy to make up for the black hole of energy from the Captain. My group and I are now hooked on these 70's variety show collections - we always throw an episode of Sonny & Cher or Tony Orlando & Dawn or Capn & Tenille on in between our feature showings and it is a blast. TV or faded film stars are trotted out to appear in awful sketches - everyone from John Travolta to Don Knotts to Jackie Gleason to Bob Hope to Vincent Price. The jokes they give Tenille to do with her husband make you cringe - so he is reduced to doing "hat jokes". Get it? He wears that captain's hat so.....yikes!!!! Great 70's cheese time capsule stuff (plus check out the disc where Toni Tenille trots out her two sisters to sing with her or appear in sketches - one of them has NO talent whatsoever - no rhythm - she is actually "off" when everyone else is waving their arms to the song. It is amazing.

Per the user comment above:

It was just announced (12/04) that this series will be released on DVD in Spring 2005. However, word has it that it will not be complete episodes but highlights from throughout the series (there is a question as to how many episodes there were -- some claim as few as 20 or as high as 26).

Another variety series of that era, The Tony Orlando & Dawn Show, will have a similar Spring release.

These shows were not very high quality productions; however, they had elements of fun and musicality that made them enjoyable to watch and, certainly, acquiring them today on DVD will give many of us a tremendous nostalgia lift.

Finally! I can't wait! I used to record parts of the show with my cassette recorder while my Mom made fun of me. It'll be great to see those episodes again. I remember Daryl fishing for a giant letter E, and I think a steam roller in "Lonely Nights." Toni's spaghetti strap sequenced gowns, and all the different colored captain's hats. I was too young to remember much more.

I hope Neil Sedaka is on one of the episodes. That would be doubly delightful! With any luck, they'll have some behind the scenes extras and any music videos they made. I think there was one for "Do that to me one more time."