The Decline of the Variety Show on American Television

Sonny & CherIt was on this date that The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour debuted on CBS. In many ways, along with The Flip Wilson Show, it was a last hurrah for variety shows. The format had been popular on American television from their inception in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but while the 1970s the majority of variety shows saw only moderate success. Some only lasted a few months or a few weeks.Variety shows were an old form entertainment even as they made their way to television in the late Forties. They had their origins in the music halls of United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States during the Victorian Era. Both the music halls of the United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States often featured a variety of acts on one evening's bill. For instance, a singer might be followed by a magician who might be followed by acrobats and who in turn might be followed by a comedian. The British music halls faded after 1918, while American vaudeville largely…