On the Flip Side

Dolly & Carol in Nashville is a television special starring Dolly Parton and Carol Burnett that was shot at The Grand Ole Opry and broadcast on CBS on Valentine's Day in 1979. It was part of a promotional campaign for Parton's recent album, Heartbreaker.

A Celebration at Caesars was the first concert residency by Cher. Shows were performed at the Circus Maximus Showroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Shows in September and October 1980 were performed at the Stateline Showroom at Caesars Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada.

The opening of Cher’s Take Me Home Tour, featured in this 1981 HBO special, perfectly captures her star power and wit. True to her love of spectacle and self-parody, the show began with a drag queen impersonating Cher in her iconic Take Me Home album outfit, lip-syncing the titular disco hit. Just as the audience embraced the illusion, the real Cher appeared—not as herself, but as Laverne, her brash housewife character from her '70s TV show. This unexpected, campy juxtaposition was pure Cher: audacious, hilarious, and clever. The “real” Cher emerged only after this self-referential intro, highlighting her playful awareness of her larger-than-life persona. The opening set the tone for a tour brimming with theatricality and charm. In one climactic moment, Cher soared above the stage, carried by dancers as the audience’s ecstatic cheers cemented her dominance as a live performer. Decades later, the footage retains its magic, a testament to Cher’s ability to captivate like no one else.

Once Upon a Mattress is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. The musical story of THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA, this television adaption of the 1959 Broadway hit was videotaped in black and white in front of a live audience and featured Burnett, Bova, Gilford, and White from the original Broadway cast, as well as new principals Bill Hayes as the Minstrel, Shani Wallis as Lady Larken and Elliott Gould (in his first appearance on any screen) as the Jester. Due to the reduced running time of 90 minutes, several songs and scenes were either cut or shortened. The conflict concerning Sir Harry and Lady Larkin was downplayed so that they were married in secret.

Based on the semi-hit Broadway musical of 1968 and starring original stage star Joel Grey, this TV version has been re-fashioned in significant ways. The premise here is that a small group of modern-day performers have gotten together in a rehearsal studio to celebrate George M. Cohan's life and work. Bernadette Peters also returns from the original cast, along with a cohort of movie, television and stage stars as the other cast members.

A mulitcultural musical potpourri, Barbra's fifth television spectacular is her most adventurous. Performing a startling array of new songs and classic hits, with genre-bending arrangements, Barbra Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments is a feast for the eyes and ears. Featuring an extended sequence with Ray Charles and The Ralettes

Barbra Streisand's second television special, aired in 1966 just after the singer-songwriter had completed a successful Broadway run of hit show 'Funny Girl'. Streisand sings surrounded by animals in a circus dream sequence and wanders the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a moody eight-minute piece. Filmed in spectacular colour, this companion piece to her first special is one for the ages. The vibrant colours become a metaphor for imagination, inventiveness, fantasy, and sheer brilliance.

In her first variety special, Olivia Newton-John performs with guests including Elliott Gould, Lynda Carter, Tom Bosley, Ron Howard and Lee Majors.

Richard Pryor's stand-up act includes his frank discussion about his freebasing addiction, as well as the infamous night on June 9, 1980 that he caught on fire.

Her first television special to feature guest-stars, The Belle of 14th Street celebrates, in ways both comedic and heartfelt, "The Golden Age of Song". A marvelous showcase for such evergreens as Sophie Tucker's "Some of These Days", "How About Me" (written by "a young new talent" Irving Berlin), the poignant "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", and the sublime "My Buddy" - all classics of the vaudeville era, reinvented by "the greatest star" of our time.

Barnum the musical traces Phineas Taylor Barnum's career from 1835 to 1881 when he joined James A. Bailey to form the circus which was called The Greatest Show on Earth. Barnum is a defender of "the noble art of humbug" with a philosophy, and has a free wheeling ambition to make a fortune. He buys the oldest woman in the world, named Joyce Heath, as a sideshow attraction. Barnum builds a museum of curiosities supported by his wife Charity, who would like him to settle down.

ABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and original musicals. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company on September 14, 1966 with Murray Schisgal's The Love Song of Barney Kempinksi, directed by Stanley Prager and starring Alan Arkin as a man enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City in his last remaining hours of bachelorhood. Arkin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama and the program was nominated as Outstanding Dramatic Program. Future programs included appearances by Petula Clark, Bobby Darin, Sir Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Peter Sellers, David Frost, and Jack Paar. ABC's effort to bring culture to the masses was a noble but unsuccessful experiment. Scheduled first against I Spy on Wednesdays and then The Dean Martin Show on Thursdays, the show consistently received low ratings. Its last production, an adaptation of Jean Cocteau's one-woman play The Human Voice starring Ingrid Bergman, aired on May 4, 1967. "Stage 67" was not actually a part of the primary ABC facilities in Los Angeles. It was produced at the old Monogram Studios backlot that was later sold to KCET.

An orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan, Annie believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to let an orphan live at his home to promote his image, Annie is selected. While Annie gets accustomed to living in Warbucks' mansion, she still longs to meet her parents. So Warbucks announces a search for them and a reward, which brings out many frauds.

Adapted from the book by Charles Tazewell. Michael, a shepherd boy living in Biblical times, finds himself transported to Heaven on his eighth birthday. Michael doesn't fully understand where he is, or why he's there. A guardian angel named Patience is given the task of showing Michael the joys of Heaven and helping him find his place in the Hereafter.

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battle evil Imperial forces to help Chewbacca reach his imperiled family on the Wookiee planet - in time for Life Day, their most important day of the year!

TV special, adapted from Raquel Welch's live 1973 dinner club production, featuring Welch and puppets from the World of Sid & Marty Krofft.