Pink Lady and Jeff

Infobox Television
show_name = Pink Lady


caption =
show_name_2 = "Pink Lady and Jeff"
"Pink Lady Starring Mie and Kei with Jeff Altman"
genre = Variety
creator =
writer = Jim Brochu
Mark Evanier
director = Rudy De Luca
Art Fisher
starring = Pink Lady
Jeff Altman
Jim Varney
country = USA
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 6 (1 unaired)
producer = Sid and Marty Krofft
runtime = 60 mins.
channel = NBC
first_aired = March 1, 1980
last_aired = April 4, 1980

"Pink Lady", also known as "Pink Lady and Jeff", is a short-lived American variety show that aired for four weeks on NBC in 1980. The series ranked #35 on "TV Guide"'s Fifty Worst TV Shows of All Time list.

ynopsis

The series starred Japanese female singing duo Pink Lady, which was comprised of two singers, Mitsuyo Nemoto ("Mie") and Keiko Masuda ("Kei"), and American comedian Jeff Altman. The format of the show consisted of musical numbers alternating with sketch comedy. The running gag of the series was the girls' lack of understanding of American culture and the English language (in reality, Pink Lady also did not speak fluent English [cite book|last=Hofstede|first=David |title=What Were They Thinking: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History|publisher=Backbeat Books|date=2004|pages=135|isbn=0-823-08441-8] ). Jeff would then attempt to translate and explain the meaning of things which led to more confusion.cite web|url=http://www.tvparty.com/pink.html|title="Pink Lady and Jeff"|last=Phillips |first=Brian |publisher=tvparty.com|accessdate=2008-08-29]

The series also featured Pink Lady performing various songs along with interaction with celebrity and musical guests. The group would end the show by jumping into a hot tub together. After the poorly rated series premiere, NBC moved "Pink Lady" to Friday nights and added Jim Varney, who achieved later fame as "Ernest P. Worrell" in the "Ernest" series of movies and television shows, as a character actor. The series was also retitled "Pink Lady and Jeff", however, the move and retooling failed to help ratings and the series was canceled after five episodes.

After the series end, Pink Lady returned to Japan where they performed their farewell concert in 1981. The duo reunited in 1996 and celebrated the 25th anniversary of their first hit in 2003 with a successful concert tour.cite book|last=Hofstede|first=David |title=What Were They Thinking: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History|publisher=Backbeat Books|date=2004|pages=137|isbn=0-823-08441-8]

Jeff Altman went on to host "Solid Gold" and returned to stand-up comedy.

Guest stars

* Byron Allen
* Blondie
* Red Buttons
* Sid Caesar
* Blondie
* Greg Evigan
* Lorne Greene
* Larry Hagman
* Florence Henderson
* Hugh Hefner
* Sherman Hemsley
* Jerry Lewis
* Donny Osmond
* Bert Parks
* Bobby Vinton

Production notes

The show was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and its head writer was Mark Evanier.

yndication and DVD release

"Pink Lady and Jeff" reruns were seen on Trio for a brief period.

In 2001, Rhino Entertainment released the complete series on Region 1 DVD in the United States. [cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Pink-Lady/3334|title="Pink Lady and Jeff" DVD info|publisher=tvshowsondvd.com|accessdate=2008-08-29]

In popular culture

The show was the subject of the "Not My Job" segment on National Public Radio's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" [http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35 show] on [http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35&prgDate=11-18-2006&view=storyview November 18, 2006] .

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0080262|title=Pink Lady
*Tv.com show|id=2838|title=Pink Lady
* [http://www.povonline.com/notes/Notes071402.htm Writer Mark Evanier's notes]
* [http://www.pinkladyamerica.com Pink Lady fan site with info about the series]