[.ca] Hee Haw - Premier + Laffs

finally!!:
after years of hoping someone would issue classic full-length Hee-Haw shows on video or either DVD, i was thrilled when Time-Life realized the demand that the show has built, really since the last show in 1992, all of us Hee-Haw fans at some point or another have made our desires of having the show's released on video/DVD. This DVD contains the first episode from 1969 with Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride. It also contains the famed "Hee-Haw Laffs" from 1996 as a bonus. Since it's the debut episode, the show is comprised of the same routines throughout the hour because that's all they had at the time. Minnie Pearl and Sheb Wooley make guest appearances. Sheb does his Ben Colder character, singing a parody of "Hello Walls". The Hager Twins perform. The show's opening didn't contain the signature cast credit, though. This cast run-down happened at the end of the show. Clearly, the stand-outs for me are anything with Archie Campbell, Gordie Tapp, Grandpa Jones, Don Harron, and Junior Samples. Loretta sings "Your Squaw Is On The Warpath" while Charley sings "I Can't Help It" and "Kaw-Liga". Grandpa Jones does a wild, bopping banjo song! The character actor, Pat McComick, famous as being "Enos" on the Smokey and the Bandit movies, appears in the silent sketches which all start with an out-house falling over!! Pat, in one silent sketch, is dressed as Superman who trips and falls down a hill! Then, on Buck's song, "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass?", the program shifts to a bunch of people out in a field mowing grass in what could be one of the first country music videos! Don Harron's KORN news-anchor "Charlie Farqueson" was as hilarious and the master of mangling words on the debut as he became over the course of the next 17 years he was part of the show {1969-1986}. Once again, because it was the first episode, not many sketches had been created and so you'll see "The Moonshiners", "The Culhanes", "Pffft! You Was Gone!", "The Haystack", and the trademark "Kornfield Jokes" over and over in between the singing. Archie's barbershop appeared, by the way. Archie and Roy do a routine called "That's Good-That's Bad". All in all, a wonderful DVD and one that'll cause Hee-Haw fans to clamor for more and more and more and...you get the point!!

Well Where Are You Tonight?:
This tune mentioned and the title as well as "Gloom Despair and Agony on Me" (not included in this DVD) will bring smiles to any child of the 70s who was too young to go out on Saturday night and watched this with your family. Yes, Jr. Samples, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl and Buck & Roy are all back with good old fashioned country corn. This is the first episode from 1969 and the extras only feature some other gags that already exist in this same show. The show never changed that much over the next 20 odd years, which was part of its charm. Country music fans will also be pleased to see a young Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride (singing "Kaw Liga") along for the ride, although neither of them interact with the Kornfield Kounty gang as later guests would. People who did not see this the first time around may not "get it" or be amused at all. Your kids in particular may look at you like idiots while you laugh and smile at this. But if you remember this at all, you'll join in with the Kornfield Kounty Krew as they sing HEE HEE HEE HAW HAW HAW HEE HAW without worrying about what anyone else thinks!

Hee-Haw at it's best:
Charlie Pride's version of kawliga is worth the price alone. Loretta looks great and their are other great music from roy Clark and Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. This is a very silly show, and sometimes it's hard to understand the deep southern drawl. The rewind on the remote gets used alot on this serie. I will be buying the other Hee-Haw DVDs

Hee Haw...a different place in time that was special.:
Hee Haw was one of those shows that presented us with a lot of laughs and a lot of good music despite it's tendencies to appear corny. Every Saturday night at 6 PM it would come on. My dad and I would come in from cutting wood all day. He would start a roaring fire in the fireplace. Mom would have a huge pot of homemade stew and hot cocoa waiting for us. Then, we would all go downstairs to the family room, sit before the snap, crackling fire and watch Hee Haw. Those are special times. I miss them. I sincerely hope they bring Hee Haw back to us on DVD.

Finally!:
"Hee-Haw" can best be described as a country version of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in," with plenty of good music thrown into the mix. Dropped into the CBS schedule in June 1969 as a summer replacement for "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" (not the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" as indicated on the DVD cover--their show had come to an abrupt and controversial end several weeks earlier), "Hee-Haw" was to run a scant 13 weeks and then disappear forever...but Nielsen numbers attract attention, and the show was a ratings favorite throughout its summer '69 run...CBS returned it to the air at the earliest opportunity a few months later, and the rest is history ("Hee-Haw May Have the Last Laugh" declared a TV Guide news brief in mid-summer '69, describing the show's unexpected ratings success and CBS' desire to continue with the program as soon as there was room on the schedule). Though the show lasted many years, my favorite episodes remain those first 13--this DVD showcases the premiere episode, plus a compilation bonus called "Hee-Haw Laffs," which first appeared on VHS tape several years ago. "Hee-Haw" was fast-paced, funnier than "Rowan and Martin's Laugh in," and the musical breaks always featured top country talent showcased at their best. Time-Life's presentation of the show is wonderful. Even the opening slate, featuring the scheduled broadcast date, is included, as is the brief Burma Shave inspired "We'll be back in a minute" station break blurb that was only a part of those first 13 episodes. I'm so grateful someone preserved these tapes--though some chroma noise is evident, quality is remarkably good overall. This was such a welcome DVD discovery, and a mail order catalog received yesterday indicates that future volumes are forthcoming quickly! I hope so, as I'll be eagerly awaiting their arrival.