Tonight on TBS (9:00 ET), Ellen DeGeneres recreates the magic of variety shows. If you love The Carol Burnett Show, Sonny & Cher or even American Idol, you’ll probably enjoy Ellen’s Really Big Show. I’m definitely looking forward to this. When I was a wee thing, variety shows gave stars the chance to be artists in a broader sense. They could just do their thing – not necessarily the thing they were most famous for, but whatever they wanted to explore. Yeah, sometimes they chose to explore plate-spinning and finger puppets, but nowadays that might seem refreshing. They just don’t make ’em like The Shields & Yarnell Show anymore. Not to mention Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (Irlene!) or Pink Lady and Jeff.
Ellen’s star-studded show features Mary J. Blige, Barry Manilow and Sheryl Crow, but presumably no WGA members or pet adoption agencies.
Here are some sneak peeks:
