Viva Variety (1997–1999) User Reviews

Horribly underrated

[jsblakemore · 8/10 · 4 October 2007]

This show was incredible, but too esoteric for most people. If you had never truly seen a European variety show in the 70's or 80's (or at least a Mexican one) the entire show would probably be lost on you. If you had, this show was a dead on skewering satire of the phony spectacle and shallowness that these shows dive into at their worst. Helmed by a chain-smoking suave wannabe with a pencil moustache and his ultra-glamorous and immasculating harridan of an EX-wife, "Viva Variety" is a variety show that tries to get off the ground every episode but always descends into in-fighting and acts gone very wrong. The hosts are joined by "Johnny Bluejeans", a dim witted side-kick who seems to have been named because blue jeans are a very popular product in his country and that means the kids will like him, which of course, they don't.

The result was a hilarious spoof of variety shows in general. Imagine the arguing that probably happened BACKSTAGE during the last days of the "Sonny & Cher Show". Now imagine it's happening ONSTAGE in front of you and the stars are trying to keep their composure. Now add cheesy acts and a Euro-riche mentality (tuxedoes, gowns, booze, accents and smokes). NOW you have "Viva Variety".

Have you ever heard a musician whose music was pretty much written for other musicians? Too conceptual? Viva Variety did this for comedians. WAY too esoteric for the standard American audience. It was funny as Hell. And doomed.

A Bright And "Sonny" Show To "Cher"

[DeanNYC · 7/10 · 7 February 2007]

Viva Variety was a unique hybrid program that was both a parody of and a tribute to the programs it represented.

It was most directly a mock up of the classic 1970s favorite, "The Sonny & Cher Show," With Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney playing a divorced show biz couple who were somehow forced to host this program together, the female of the pair towering over the male, and the constant barrage of "insult humor" the couple tossed at each other, plus sketch comedy bits and performances from what are most kindly described as "specialty" acts!

The "hybrid" was the mix of fact and fantasy. Of course, there was no "Mr. and Former Mrs. Laupin," and the program's announcer, Johnny Bluejeans, was likewise equally fictional. But all the acts that performed were certainly real, and some were even entertaining! But there were also some acts that would have clearly been better suited for the old Chuck Barris "Gong Show."

The show itself was really more like an extended sketch from "SCTV" (it was borne from the MTV series, "The State," after all), and some would suggest that it would have been better as a five minute bit in the mix of a program like that one, rather than a stand alone series. But "Viva Variety" certainly should get high marks for original concepts, and even though it was often more odd than funny, it was certainly worthwhile, especially when they road tripped to Las Vegas and brought in even glitzier acts to perform. It's unlikely we'll ever see anything like this on television again.

Underappreciated Gem of Wackiness

[BonzoDog · 9 May 2000]

Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney and Michael Ian Black of the comedy group "The State" did a real variety show that was both homage to and parody of this near-forgotten (in the U.S., anyway) type of TV show. They had name celebrities mixed in with weird novelty acts of the type you can only find at Circus Circus in Las Vegas. They never made fun of the acts, but created characters at whom they could jab. It was too original and weird to survive, alas. I hope they all put together another original creation this good!

Hilarious!

[gabrielkoot · 10/10 · 21 July 2018]

This was one of my fave shows of all time. It was hilarious and great parody! She was so sexy and he was such a great parody TV host. The variety acts and music and dancing were always so entertaining and the show always made my sister and I laugh our guts out. I can't believe people barely remember this show now, so sad.

I liked this show

[wmattifo · 7 March 2004]

This show was probably a little too intelligent for average viewers (hence it didn't last long) but if you saw it you know it was good. The bickering couple who hosted the show were very funny. I remember one episode when Ben Stiller was the guest. The gag was that Henry Winkler was supposed to be the guest and they got stuck with Ben Stiller. They made Stiller wear a black leather jacket and ride a motorcycle. Then they asked him questions ("What was it like playing Fonzi?") that were written for Henry Winkler. Very funny stuff. Any show that was able to keep up with a comedy giant like Ben Stiller must have been good. If you somehow get a chance to see this do what you can to catch it. This was real comedy.

Quirky, funny show

[jkiernan · 28 January 2003]

I came across a film clip from this show at a web site that specializes in strange media. The mustachioed host introduced a pair of pianists who walked on stage, stood behind a piano, dropped their pants, raised their arms over their heads, and played a medley of songs with their units. It was goofy and silly, and vaguely familiar.

I recognized the host, but couldn't recall much of anything else. Some creative searching at Google helped me nail the title of the show, and when I looked up "Viva Variety" on IMDb, it all came flooding back to me. How could I have forgotten Johnny Bluejeans and the Laupins? Shame on me!

This show was funny and original. It's too bad that the variety format seems dead in America. I would have liked to see more of it. If you happen to catch any of these episodes in the great cable wasteland, it's a refreshing change of pace from the banality of current offerings on TV.

not too shabby

[Jabe-2 · 31 March 2000]

I thought that this show was better than average. The whole gimmic with the "#1 show in Europe" thing was cool. I like Johnny Bluejeans the best, especially when he said things like "I got me a bad case of the herpes." Once or twice they even had a cool musical guest. It was O.K, but who cares, we will never see it again.

Weird parody of a variety show that showed why variety is dead.

[StudentDriver · 7 October 1999]

This was a strange show. In an era that hasn't seen a successful variety show, we get a parody of one. Many of the guests and performers were real, but the whole show revolved around the fact that VV was supposedly the American version of "Europe's #1 variety show.". The hosts were bad parodies; the bickering ex-husband/wife team, and the (Latvian?) Johnny Bluejeans who, though not entertaining, was better than Yakov Smirnoff.

Comedy Central pushed this show incredibly hard, to an audience that really didn't care. No offense to the people who worked on the show, but the time, money, and effort spent on the show were wasted. Few found it entertaining; perhaps if the US market were familiar with over-the-top Euro variety shows, then we would have wanted a parody. As it stood, though, the point was lost.

Not Enough Comedy to be on Comedy Central

[caspian1978 · 20 June 2004]

Members of MTV's comedy series The State return to television on Comedy Centrals Viva Variety. On paper, the idea looked pretty good. A Variety Show from the 1970's for the 90's. Music, showgirl dancers, comedy sketches, and celebrity guests. The only problem, Viva Variety has hardly any of that! Only lasting a handful of episodes, the show only had 1 or 2 recognized celebrity guests and the comedy was only funny 1/4 of the time. With no original music of any Las Vega style dance numbers, the only thing that held up the show was the sketch comedy, which too, could not hold up on its own. The Premise of a Spoof style show had spoof sketches. So the idea of a spoof of a spoof was beyond most of the members of the audience that Comedy Central has. In the end, the idea was original and members of the show were talented, but nothing progressed. The show was a failure by the first episode back in the summer of 1996. From here, the creative team behind the show went on to create Reno 911.....here we go again!