The ABC Comedy Hour

The ABC Comedy Hour is an American television variety series that aired on ABC in 1972. Seven of the 13 episodes featured a guest host and a team of comedy impressionists known as The Kopykats (Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, Joe Baker, Marilyn Michaels, George Kirby, and Fred Travalena, with single appearances by Charlie Callas, Will Jordan, and Peter Goodwright). Guest hosts included Steve Lawrence, Orson Welles, Ed Sullivan, Raymond Burr, Robert Young, Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. The remaining six episodes were variety specials and included two Friars Club roasts and a revival of the musical Hellzapoppin' starring Jack Cassidy and Ronnie Schell.[1] The show was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety or Music."[2]

The ABC Comedy Hour
Ed Sullivan (left) and Rich Little (right) in a show skit.
GenreVariety
Written by
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseJanuary 12 (1972-01-12) –
April 5, 1972 (1972-04-05)

The show originally aired on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Summer reruns of the seven Kopykats episodes were aired under the title The ABC Comedy Hour Presents the Kopykats. The same episodes aired in Great Britain simply as The Kopykats.

The Kopykats first appeared on U.S. television as an episode of Kraft Music Hall on November 11, 1970, on NBC. The cast included Gorshin, Little, Jordan, and Kirby along with Mark Andrews, David Frye and Edie Adams,[3] and appeared a second time with a somewhat different cast on Kraft Music Hall in 1971.

References
  1. Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
  2. "The Kopykats Kopy TV Kraft Music Hall".
  3. Harris, Harry (1970-11-13), "'Copykats', 'Nader', 'Civilisation' Air at the Same Time", Philadelphia Inquirer, Oxford University Press, p. 10
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