Ray Stevens Show, The

First Aired in 1970

This variety series occurred during the summer of 1970 as a replacement for "The Andy Williams Show," which was canceled in 1971. One of the regular performers, "Mama" Cass Elliot, was a very successful singer who made many TV appearances from the 1960s until her untimely death in 1974.

The United States

First Telecast: June 20th, 1970

Last Telecast: August 8th, 1970

These episodes aired on Saturdays at 7:30PM

This show was basically full of different sketches and musical performances by the cast. It was taped in Canada and aired in the US on NBC and in the UK on BBC.

The show was originally a Canadian sketch series.

But the series is perhaps most interesting in hindsight, affording an early view of the movie comedy superstar-to-be Steve Martin.

The show produced 8 episodes, each about an hour long.

It's a shame that the show only ran for the summer.

Canada

First Telecast: Unknown

Last Telecast: Unknown

The United Kingdom

First Telecast: September 18th, 1970

Last Telecast: December 6th, 1970

There were 7 "editions" of the show in the UK, which aired on BBC-2 on Sundays at 7:25PM.

Although this was only a short summer series, it was a landmark. Andy Williams' production company had had a deal with NBC to provide Andy's summer 1970 replacement series, and Canadian producers Alan Blye and Chris Beard worked through their friend, CTV Network President Murray Chercover, to have the one-hour Ray Stevens Show produced in Canada. Stevens had had several hit novelty records – Ahab the Arab, Gitarzan and Harry The Hairy Ape among them. He added a new hit with the show's theme song, Everything Is Beautiful, sung by a children's chorus as the opening titles were revealed as a fence was painted blue and chromakey did the rest.

British singer Lulu, American comedian Steve Martin and former Mamas and Papas singer Cass Elliot were among the regulars, along with the comedy talents of Canadians Billy Van and Carol Robinson. Jimmy Dale led the all-Canadian orchestra, and Doug Riley's Dr. Music vocal group was also much in evidence.

Produced at CTV's Toronto affiliate CFTO, the Ray Stevens Show debuted on Saturday, June 20, 1970 on CTV and NBC, and ran through to August 8th.

Singer-composer-comedian-impressionist Ray Stevens starred in this summer replacement for The Andy Williams Show. Ray, who was a frequent guest on Andy's show, was featured in production numbers and comedy skits in this summer program, which was taped in Toronto. The skits tended to be very broad and often verged on the physical violence associated with Mack Sennett slapstick.

NOTE: A lot of this information was taken and copied/pasted from other websites via Google. The last paragraph was taken from The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Shows 1946 - Present: Eighth Edition

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Episodes:

1. Episode 1
2. Episode 2
3. Episode 3
4. Episode 4
5. Episode 5
6. Episode 6
7. Episode 7
8. Episode 8

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Stevens

Stevens, Henry

Stevens, Wallace

Stevens, Thaddeus

Stevens Point

Fielding, William Stevens

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