The Jacksons 1976-77 Variety Show

On June 25th it will be 4 years since Michael Jackson passed away, and just a few days since his child Paris tried to commit suicide. I can't think of anyone who reached such heights in his career and made more of a mess of things. Only Elvis comes close.

Remember The Jacksons 1970's variety series? Not many people do, it debuted in the summer of 1976 and did well enough to return in the spring of 1977. It then fizzled in the ratings and was quickly gone for good.

It was your standard 1970s variety show fare, a song and comedy dialogue opening like Sonny & Cher, mostly unfunny skits like Tony Orlando & Dawn.



There were some really amazing musical numbers by the group like this version of their hit single, 'Enjoy Yourself.'



Michael wasn't sorry to see the series go, he didn't want to do it in the first place. It wasn't long after the variety show ended that his phenomenal solo album with Quincy Jones Off The Wall was released and the era of Michael Jackson was underway. If he'd been on TV every week I doubt if 'Off the Wall' would have had half the impact it did... and 'Thriller' might have been dismissed as a joke.

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