The Lawrence Welk Show

The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 to 1971, followed by 11 years in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. Repeat episodes are broadcast in the United States by PBS stations. These airings incorporate an original program — usually, a color broadcast from 1965 to 1982 — in its entirety. In place of the commercials, newer performance and interview clips from the original stars and/or a family member of the performers are included; these clips are occasionally updated.

The Lawrence Welk Show

Lawrence Welk

Bubbles in the Wine (1951–1956)
Champagne Time (1956–1976)
Fanfare (1976–1982)

Bubbles in the Wine (1951–1971)
Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen (1971–1982)

United States

1,065 (black-and-white, 1951 to September 1965; in color from September 1965 onwards to 1982)

44 minutes

KTLA (1951–1955)
Teleklew Productions (1955–1982)
American Broadcasting Company (1955–1971)

KTLA (1951–1955)
ABC (1955–1971)
Syndicated (1971–1982)

May 11, 1951 (1951-05-11) –
April 17, 1982 (1982-04-17)

1964–65: No. 30 (22.00 rating)

1965–66: No. 19 (22.40 rating)

1966–67: No. 12 (22.79 rating)

1967–68: No. 17 (21.90 rating)

1968–69: No. 29 (20.50 rating)

Producers and directors[edit]

James Hobson (also known as Jim Hobson) served longest as producer (1962–1982) and director of The Lawrence Welk Show.^[22] Hobson died on April 26, 2013, in Santa Monica Hospital, California.

1991 – "A Champagne Toast to the Big Bands"

1992 – "The Lennon Sisters: Easy to Remember"

1993 – "From the Heart: A Tribute to Lawrence Welk and the American Dream"

1994 – "The Lawrence Welk Holiday Special: Great Moments & Memories"

1995 – "Lawrence Welk: Then & Now"

1995 – "A Lawrence Welk Family Christmas"

1997 – "From Lawrence Welk: To America With Love"

1998 – "Lawrence Welk’s Favorite Holidays"

1999 – "Lawrence Welk’s Songs of Faith"

2000 – "Lawrence Welk Milestones & Memories"

2003 – "Lawrence Welk: God Bless America"

2005 – "Lawrence Welk Precious Memories"

2007 – "Lawrence Welk's TV Treasures"

2009 – "Welk Stars Through The Years"

2011 – "Lawrence Welk's Big Band Splash"

Accordion pop/rock band recorded "The Story of Lawrence Welk" on their 1994 album Squeeze This!, a comic retelling of Welk's life story which references his television series, incorporating musical bits from "Bubbles in the Wine" and name-dropping series regulars Alice Lon, The Lennon Sisters and even its sponsorships from Dodge and Geritol.

Those Darn Accordions

Comic , known for recording authentic, often scathing satirical renditions of hit songs of the 1950s, created a parody of the show in a song called "Wun'erful Wun'erful (Sides uh-one and uh-two)", which became a Top 30 hit in 1957. Originally performed on Freberg's CBS Radio series, the single spoofed the musicianship among some of Welk's musicians (including Welk himself). The record was arranged by Billy May, who handled the music on Freberg sessions and was known to despise Welk's style of music. Working with May and Freberg, who portrayed Welk, were some of Hollywood's best studio musicians, some of them jazz veterans who held Welk's music in equal contempt. Welk was not pleased by the record, built around satirical out-of-tune performances and an out-of-control "bubble machine" that sent the entire Aragon Ballroom out to sea.

Stan Freberg

also used Welk as a source for inspiration and a target of satire on his 1959 novelty single, "Stagger Lawrence", which featured an episode of the show being repeatedly interrupted by Lloyd Price's version of the blues piece "Stagger Lee."^[23]

Dickie Goodman

The show is one of two that serve as the main subjects of the 1972 song "," the other being Hee Haw (Hee Haw host Roy Clark sang the song). Both programs had been canceled by their respective networks in 1971, only to continue in first-run syndication (and be enormously popular) for several years thereafter.

The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka

(1956–1957)

James Narz

Lou Crosby (1955–1960)

Bob Warren (1960–1982)

Contains information on one continuous page, with photos.

"America's Biggest Little Band Made History" by Jay Landers

Available for download from the Internet Archive, it was made to get the "local" television show picked up as a network series.

1955 28 minute The Lawrence Welk Show - Pilot

Official Welk Musical Family Blog

List the release dates past and future (actual airdates on local PBS stations could be slightly later) with capsule description of the edited shows being broadcast on public television. Missing are references to the airdates of the original shows.

OETA's Lawrence Welk Show page

Includes complete synopsis and song lists for the edited shows from OETA with air dates of the original shows; complete information not available for new shows until after they are released.

WelkNotes.com

at IMDb

The Lawrence Welk Show

Provides access to some 10,000 music arrangements used on the Lawrence Welk Show, now preserved at North Dakota State University.

Lawrence Welk Music Arrangements database

Stars of the Lawrence Welk Show

on Hulu (currently consisting only of 21 black-and-white episodes from prior to 1965)

The Lawrence Welk Show