BEAUTIFUL PHYLLIS DILLER SHOW, THE {JOHNNY CARSON, SONNY AND CHER, ROWAN AND MARTIN, THE PEARCE SISTERS} {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this short-lived comedy/variety series hosted by Phyllis Diller. Diller opens the episode with a stand-up routine about her disappointing husband "Fang"; her desire to live to one hundred; and the challenges of the "sexual revolution." Diller then begins to introduce her first guest, Johnny Carson, though she is interrupted by Carson's sidekick, Ed McMahon, who teaches her the proper way to welcome the famous late-night host. Carson explains that he is there in an "official capacity" to welcome Diller to NBC, and he presents her with several outlandish "welcome gifts." Next, the young Pearce Sisters band take the stage to play a song featuring an impressive drum solo, though the girls quickly depart when Diller attempts to join them on the saxophone. Carson then performs a sketch in which he portrays a wedding planner chatting with President Johnson about his daughter Luci Baines' 1966 marriage to Patrick Nugent and is taken aback by Johnson's many odd requests.
Next, Sonny and Cher perform "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," after which Diller joins them onstage and plays the harpsichord in an attempt to create a "trio," and the ensemble performers join them for a number saluting the works of Bach. Diller then introduces a sketch in which she is visited by Mrs. Stone of the welfare department, who declares that the little Pearce Sisters must be removed from Diller's "weird house" at once. Diller, however, manages to distract her by promising her an appointment with her own high-strung hairdresser Paul Pasadena, played by Rip Taylor. Diller then sits down in her "living room" with comedy duo Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, bantering about their long time spent performing on the road and the pros and cons of settling down with a spouse.
Finally, Diller introduces a historical segment honoring the eleventh American president, James K. Polk, and she and the other guests present a brief biography of the politician, featuring an appearance from noted songwriter Stephen Foster, portrayed by Bono. Carson introduces Polk's inaugural speech, though Polk is absent and the speech is instead delivering by the malapropping Harold Untermeyer. All of the guests then perform "The James Knox Polka," featuring a snippet of "The Beat Goes On." Diller previews the following week's guests and bids the audience goodnight with a song. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:58
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:02332
- GENRE: Comedy/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy/Variety; Music
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1968
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bob Finkel … Executive Producer
- Saul Turteltaub … Producer, Writer
- Bernie Orenstein … Producer, Writer
- Norman Morrell … Associate Producer
- Barry Shear … Director
- Bob Weiskopf … Writer
- Bob Schiller … Writer
- George Balzer … Writer
- Keith Fowler … Writer
- Stan Dresen … Writer
- Gordon Farr … Writer
- Hart Pomerantz … Writer
- Lorne Michaels … Writer
- Jack Elliott … Music by
- Allyn Ferguson … Music by
- Ed Scott … Music by
- Jack Regas … Choreographer
- Phyllis Diller … Host
- Norm Crosby … Co-Host
- Pearce Sisters, The … Guest, Performer
- Johnny Carson … Guest, Performer
- Cher … Guest, Performer
- Sonny Bono … Guest, Performer
- Rip Taylor … Guest, Performer
- Ed McMahon … Guest
- Dick Martin … Guest
- Dan Rowan … Guest
- Fritzi Burr … Cast
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Stephen Foster
- Luci Baines Johnson
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Patrick Nugent
- James K. Polk