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.....

Wow, does this one ever bring back some memories. When this was running in prime time all those years back, I was a klutzy, hyper-shy, buck-toothed eleven-year-old with glasses and a boy's haircut, and felt like the original Ugly Duckling. C&T were my favorite musical artists, and I was the world's most rabid fan, which undoubtedly both amused and annoyed my parents by turns. My father had the amazing prescience to suggest, about six weeks into the series' run, that I put the episodes on audio cassette. I immediately agreed, and I have all but about six of the shows on tape as they originally aired. The tapes can still be played.

In regard to the questions from "Otto", most of the shows that made it to the DVD were edited in one way or another (only one or two made it through intact and untouched). But the editing, for the most part, is to the benefit of the DVD. I was in the unusual position of being able to compare my old cassette tapes with the same shows on the DVD, so that I know exactly what's been cut, or what was taken from episodes that didn't make it onto the DVD and spliced into other ones that did. It was the most amazing treat to be able to see the shows again; I had forgotten nearly all the visuals, so that all the songs and dialogue were very familiar but the sights that went with them were practically new to me. There are a couple of bits that got chopped out here and there, which I wish had been left in, but overall this was very good work and is a creditable treatment of the series. Us 70s kids were so much luckier than people think -- I'm glad I remember those days!

The Captain and Tennille have released a very good 3 DVD package with minimal editing. Unlike most variety show releases these shows have not been hacked to bits. The musical and dance numbers are included with the skits just as they were when first broadcast. I suspect that some musical numbers on the DVD may have been edited into shows in which they did not originally appear but have been unable to verify that suspicion. I've noticed a few inconsistencies between what is on the DVD and program information I've found on the net. I've been unable to verify whether the net information is inaccurate or if the musical performances have been edited into the shows on the DVD. Whatever the truth may be, I'm very appreciative of the efforts made by the production company. I wish every variety show released would show the same respect for the format. I would guess about half the shows broadcast are included. I believe they ran into rights problems on the shows which weren't included. Hopefully those issues can be resolved and a Volume 2 can be released sometime in the future. There are some individual music videos along with a dance rehearsal among the extras. I recommend this DVD to any C&T fan.

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.

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.