Tony Charmoli

After taking her successful Broadway show to Las Vegas, Lily Tomlin is faced with a tough decision: soften her act for mass appeal, or keep her material the way she originally intended?

5.9/10

Musical Special designed to showcase the minimal talents of Raquel Welch. Highlights include: a scene featuring Welch and Mickey Rooney, portraying a cab driver with seemingly magical abilities; a scene featuring Welch in a subway station performing a medley and dance sequence; a scene wherein Welch attempts to sing “Money Makes the World Go Round”; Raquel performing a version of “We Are Family” in a martial arts training class; Rooney and Welch performing “Heaven on Earth”; Welch performing “Don’t Rain on My Parade” while escaping from a straitjacket; Welch performing “A Quiet Thing”; and Welch and Rooney performing “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”

In this beloved holiday classic, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and all the Muppets join the singer for a heart-warming Christmas celebration, with traditional carols as well as lesser-known holiday songs.

7.8/10

Mitzi Gaynor and her guests Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat), John McCook (The Young and the Restless), and musician Benny Goodman explore trends of the 1970's ranging from Jazz and Disco to Soap Operas and King Tut-mania. Songs include "Satin Doll," "I'm Hip" (with Goodman), "Nice Work if You Can Get it," and "Can't Smile Without You."

In this musical salute to Spring, Mitzi Gaynor is joined by country music star Roy Clark (Hee Haw), actor Wayne Rogers (MASH) and the US Olympic Gymnastics Team for a colorful tribute in song, dance and comedy sketches to the earth's season of renewal. Songs include "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "Isn't it Romantic," and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critcally acclaimed Emmy nominated production. The thisspectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both chowcased at the peak of the their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

8.3/10

The host and his family travel back in time to an early 19th century Christmas in England.

4.8/10

Mitzi Gaynor welcomes her guests Carl Reiner (Dick Van Dyke Show), Ken Berry (Mayberry R.F.D.) and Tony-winner Linda Hopkins to an hour, blending animation and live action, celebrating the era of flappers, speakeasies and great jazz. Songs include "Everything Old is New Again," "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)," "Runnin' Wild," and "The Charleston."

Hosted by the chart-topping husband and wife team, this 1976-1977 television variety series features a mix of hit music and comedy.

6/10

Musical Special featuring Shirley MacLaine in her tribute to the chorus dancers - known as "gypsies". Produced by Cy Coleman and Fredd Ebb, the special uses a self-referential show business plot in which the star rehearses for her television special about the life of a dancer. MacLaine performed a wide range of songs including "Lucy's Back in Town", during which Lucille Ball made a "surprise" appearance. The programme won Outstanding Special - Comedy-Variety or Music at that year's Emmys as well as awards for writing (Ebb), music composition (Coleman) and choreography (Tony Charmoli).

8.2/10

One of several television specials starring actress and singer Mitzi Gaynor. This special includes guests Jack Albertson and Michael Landon. Songs performed include: “I’ve Got the Music in Me,” Gaynor and Landon performing “Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me),” Gaynor performing “Oh My My,” “Keep On Trucking,” and “Got to Get You Into My Life,” Gaynor and Albertson performing “When the Girl in My Arms is You” and “Four or Five Times,” Gaynor with a version of “Did You Happen to See the Most Beautiful Girl in the World” and “Always,” Albertson singing “Mandy,” Gaynor and Landon with “Delightful, Delicious, Delovely,” joined by Albertson for “We Got Us,” a dance number, and finally Gaynor singing “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.”

7.9/10

The Julie Andrews Hour is a television variety series starring Julie Andrews that was produced by ATV and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It aired on the ABC network in the United States. In order to secure Andrews for the series, Sir Lew Grade and ABC offered her an extremely lucrative contract. In 1963, when another major star, Judy Garland was signed to a weekly television variety series, it failed to catch on with the public. One of the main reasons for its demise was its constant change of format and the fact that critics and audiences felt that Garland was not shown off to her best advantage. In order to avoid that error, Andrews asked producer Nick Vanoff what the premise of the show would be about. Vanoff immediately answered her by saying "Julie Andrews...without Julie Andrews there is no 'Julie Andrews Hour'". The show premiered on ABC Wednesday, September 13, 1972 at 10:00 P.M. ET to rave reviews. Unfortunately, its time slot proved to be daunting because it was up against the popular CBS detective series, Cannon. Another reason for the low ratings was that the lateness of the hour was not conducive to family viewing since children were in bed by that time. On Thanksgiving Eve, November 22, 1972, "The Julie Andrews Hour" devoted an entire episode saluting Walt Disney. To make it more of a "family special", ABC switched the time slot of "The Julie Andrews Hour" that night to 8:30 P.M. and The ABC Wednesday Movie Of The Week to 9:30 P.M. The ratings improved a little so ABC then made a decision to alternate Andrews' time period each week This continued until January, 1973 when the series was moved to Saturday nights at 9:00 P.M. The ratings went from bad to worse as Andrews' chief competition was The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show on CBS. "The Julie Andrews Hour" was finally canceled by ABC after its 24th episode in April, 1973.

8.7/10

A filmed version of Sid and Marty Krofft's 1968 live puppet show, set at a medieval fair. The special was a pilot for a weekly series.

8/10

Made-for-TV musical inspired by the real-life travels of a celebrated 1800s female newspaper columnist.