Tuesday, June 5, 2007

‘Hee Haw’ on UBM-TV

Never let it be said that I am inconsiderate of my white readers. I got a little “Hee Haw” going on for y’all in the Video Bar!

Actually, if you’re black and over the age of 45, you probably have fond memories of “Hee Haw” too. Our parents’ and grandparents’ generation – especially if they were raised in the country – enjoyed a bit of country music. (My folks also watched “The Porter Wagoner Show” every week.)

And us as little kids could appreciate the corny jokes. So don't act like you don't know.

Plus, Roy Clark was a bad motherfucker on that gitbox!

(As for the sailboat video… that’s got former “Hee Haw” comic Archie Campbell hustling timeshares or condos or some shit. The thing about the Video Bar is, you have to take what the machine gives you.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I grew up a poor black child in the suburbs surrounding Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. I'm under 45 (seven months under), but I too have very fond memories of Hee Haw.

Can you find any "Andy Griffith" vids?

-Nikki

Undercover Black Man said...

Welcome, Nikki. Thanks for the comment.

And I do take requests. So I'll see what kind of a Mayberry mix I can pull together for you. ;^D

Unknown said...

And slightly older kids could get an eyefull of the Hee-Haw honeys...busting out of those Daisy Dukes before Daisy did.

One thing that disturbed me about the show as a kid was I worried that the dog was sickly.

Beyond Roy Clark, they had plenty of great musicians going at it and Buck Owens was a fantastic songwriter.

Wasn't this the longest running show in syndication at one time?

Undercover Black Man said...

Oh yeah, CJB, the "Honeys" were hot. Misty Rowe, Barbi Benton, and my fave... Gunilla Hutton.

I just found out something surprising. Gunilla Hutton had been Nat King Cole's mistress!

Here's what Margo Jefferson wrote in her 1999 New York Times review of a Nat Cole biography:

"In 1964, at the age of 44, he discovered he was dying of lung cancer and fell recklessly in love with a young Swedish dancer, Gunilla Hutton, who was touring with his stage show. He was soon hospitalized, and a byzantine melodrama unfolded. Maria blocked all incoming telephone calls and sat by his bed while they went from lethal words to lethal silences. Gunilla called Maria at home and asked her to give Nat the divorce he wanted. Maria went back to the hospital, dialed Gunilla's number for Nat (he was too weak to hold the phone), then listened as he told her that he was dying and must remain with his family."

Undercover Black Man said...

And you're right about the longest-running-in-syndication thing. It was on for 22 years (I had no idea it was still on throughout the '80s.) "Wheel of Fortune" eventually beat it out as longest-running syndicate show.

But 22 years? Some people got really, really rich.