Hee Haw wasn't very high on the TV viewing priority list in my house. This isn't to disparage the fine product put out by Gaylord Entertainment and WLAC in Nashville (yet), especially since - on any given night - at least one Aaron Spelling production would be airing at Chez Vonder Haar. No, we just weren't quite the target demographic, i.e. folks who understood truck stop humor or the humorous "life lessons" of the Rev. Grady Nutt.
Apparently, we identified much more closely with two streetwise cops plus a snitch pimp and three improbably attractive private investigators who solved crimes in bikinis. Go figure.
Unlike just about every other show on TV, Hee Haw aired for decades. Debuting in 1969, it was a victim - along with Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies - of CBS executive Fred Silverman's notorious "rural purge" (Silverman showing for the first time the same forward thinking that would later cause him to champion such shows as Supertrain and Father Dowling Mysteries).[1] Hee Haw survived in first-run syndication, however, finally running out of steam in 1993, seven years after the departure of Buck Owens and 20 years after the murder of David "Stringbean" Akeman.
I could make fun of Hee Haw because...well, it's easy. The jokes were shit, the skits were painful, and the whole thing made Laugh-In look like Curb Your Enthusiasm. Still, I never would've gotten my first taste of bluegrass - and I wouldn't have been able to cleverly add that Ren and Stimpy quote in the title - without seeing Messrs. Owens and Acuff those many years ago.
And then there was this, thoughtully forwarded by The Thing That Walks Like a Man:
You can almost see the light bulb going on over Robert H Brooks' head.
[1] Silverman also executive produced Jake and the Fatman, which has no relevance to this post except for my recollection of the guy in my college German class who swore he watched nothing else on TV and would regale me with a recap of their exploits every Thursday. He asked several of us to watch it with him a few times, an invitation I regrettably declined.
HeeWho: What, exactly was the effect of Minnie Pearl on your horniness?
Hee Haw was must-see TV in our house every saturday night until I escaped to college. Although I hated it at the time, seeing that clip makes me nostalgic for it. I even remember one very good Hee Haw joke:
Two guys are laying out in front of the moonshine shack.1st guy: I read where scientists say the Sun is going to explode in three billion years.
2nd guy: WHAT?!
1st guy: The sun is going to explode in three billion years.
2nd guy: Oh, that’s a relief! At first, I thought you said three million!
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
What, exactly, was the effect of Minnie Pearl on your horniness? — Michael
Oh, please. HWREtc only has eyes for Lulu Roman. She filled out a muumuu like no one’s business.
And I’m glad y’all red-blooded Sons of the Soil enjoyed the clip. They don’t make The Ladies like that anymore, do they?
(I felt that I had to share the glories of Hee Haw after catching a marathon on (shudder) CMT. At about the 5-hour mark, while my consciousness ebbed in and out of an inebriated haze, I touched Nirvana—for, truly, the Face of God and Grandpa Jones have to be one and the same.)
What, exactly, was the effect of Minnie Pearl on your horniness? — MichaelSee, that’s what I’m trying to measure, TTTWLaM. Is it LR +40, LR with MP +20? Is she neutral or a suppressor?
Oh, please. HWREtc only has eyes for Lulu Roman. She filled out a muumuu like no one’s business.
And I’m not sure I’d really want to touch Nirvana. Isn’t it all grungy? Couldn’t you have touched the Speed Force instead?
Personally, Hee Haw always reminds me of my grandparents, in whose home I would often watch either Hee Haw or Hogan’s Heroes. So while I can objectively look at Hee Haw as utter garbage, subjectively it brings me back to a place that, while maybe not accurately described as “happy”, still ain’t so bad. Plus, jug band. It’s like “the Juggies” from the Man Show, and seriously, who doesn’t like the Man Show? OK, maybe it’s more like Benny Hill. Either way - comedy gold.
I must’ve been really young when I last saw Hee Haw, because if I’d been aware of, or interested in talent like that, I might’ve slowed down on the dial (remember, before remotes?) a couple of times.
I used to sing. Once I sung at Tulsa city limits (TCL) when it was
open. Where alot of familiar Artist performed. But based over an illness I’m not
able to sing anymore. My illness grew worse over time. Now the only time I sing is
like around the house. I do write songs and I have a website if you would
like to check the site out. I try to get in contact with all singers and
songwriters-publishers and producers so on. If you have any questions
let me know.
Thank you,
Karen Johnson
1009 west caddo
Cleveland, Ok. 74020
These two websites are
www.countrymusicplanet.com/karenjohnson
I also have another site that displays the songs I have written.
This site can connect you to the country music planet. This other website is:
www.monk-music.com
i liked the bit where they asked Grandpa Jones, “Hey, Grandpa, what’s for supper?”
and he’d rattle off something like, “Black eyed peas and cornbread and fried chicken gizzards” … it was always something different.
Mmmm, I’m hungry now.
After viewing that clip, I find myself ten points dumber and twenty points hornier.