Marie (1980 TV series)

Fred Silverman, then the President of NBC, had attempted to replicate the success of the 1976–79 variety show Donny & Marie (which Silverman had commissioned while at ABC) when he green-lit Pink Lady and Jeff earlier in 1980.[1] That show proved to be an all-around disaster and was canceled after only five episodes.

The Osmond family was in a lull in their career in the late 1970s after the cancellation of Donny & Marie; though their last album, Goin' Coconuts in 1978 had sold platinum. In 1979 Marie was signed to do a sitcom entitled Marie, which failed to be picked up based on the pilot. Wanting to work, and with Silverman in need of an established hit, Marie Osmond returned to variety television in December 1980 and headlined her own show on NBC in an attempt to repeat the success of her earlier variety series. She was contracted to do seven shows for NBC.

The new show showcased Osmond's singing, acting and comedic talents in the same format of a traditional variety series (similar to Donny & Marie) which featured musical numbers, comedy sketches and various guest stars each week. Guest stars included TV personalities and musical artists such as Gavin MacLeod, Jeff Conaway, Tony Orlando, The Pointer Sisters, Andy Williams, Scott Baio, Sally Struthers, David Copperfield, Nell Carter, Bob Hope, The Commodores and Andy Gibb. Noticeably absent on-camera were Marie's brothers; of them, only Jimmy Osmond appeared on the show as a guest in one episode, though Donny Osmond appeared as a surprise during the closing number of the premiere episode to tell Marie he thought she was great and had a winner. (Alan and Jay were listed as executive producers.)

Though only 7 episodes were ordered, NBC aired the program somewhat sporadically: for the first four weeks it ran weekly; December 12th 19th 26th 1980 and Jan 2nd 1981. It then did not return until several months later in September 1981, again airing weekly for the remaining three weeks before ending with the 7th and final episode that had been ordered. This was not meant to be an on going series. Seven were produced and seven aired. The series was produced by the Osmond family's production company, Osmond Productions.

• The Talk

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present

Notes

• Marie on IMDb