Song and Dance Finds Partner on Cable TV

Who says the musical variety show is extinct on television? Certainly not Harold and Don Reid, Phil Balsley or Jimmy Fortune.

Uh, who?

You’re no fan of cable TV’s “The Statler Brothers Show” if you cannot identify those four singer-musicians, whose variety show has just begun a second season on the Nashville Network.

The basic-service network says the hourlong Saturday night program is the most popular on TNN and also ranked last year as the highest-rated original adult series in prime time on basic cable.

Not bad for a show that comes across as a nearly perfect throwback to the days when the musical-variety format could be seen throughout prime time. Remember? Such figures as Dinah Shore, Garry Moore, Perry Como, Carol Burnett, Dean Martin and even the Smothers Brothers presided amiably over lots of song-and-dance and corny small talk.

Adding to the throwback feel are the stagy sets, the skimpy-skirted women who turn over cards to preview and introduce each segment and the basic simplicity of the music presentations.

For it’s music that drives the show, presented on stage in front of an audience and with none of the gimmickry now commonplace on TV. No video clips, no fancy lighting, no editing tricks--just plain, three-chord country music. Regulars Janie Fricke and Rex Allen Jr. contribute to the mix.