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The Lawrence Welk Show began as a local program in 1951 on KTLA in Los Angeles. And since Elton John was playing both host and musical guest this time around, it was a great opportunity for a Liberace-esque 'confirmed bachelor' character.
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Welk became famous for his so-called “Champagne Music," as fans likened it to drinking champagne: light and bubbly. We love it when SNL visits the bizarrely wholesome Lawrence Welk Show world, with its bubbles, satin curtains and not-quite-perfect singing sisters. In his younger years, Welk fronted a ten piece band called the Hotsy-Totsy Boys as he made a name for himself across the upper midwest. “I think it's great of his father also to say, ‘OK you want to do this, but let's make it serious’”, said Armisen. His father sold a cow to pay for Welk’s first accordion and, in exchange, Welk worked on the farm until he was 21 and turned over any monies earned from gigs. Welk, the child of German immigrants who made their way to the United States by way of the Ukraine, was raised on a farm in Strasburg, North Dakota. “I mean it really was just imitation from you know hearing him and watching him.” Said Armisen. “Just keep going, just keep going.”Īrmisen famously parodied Welk during his tenure as a cast member on SNL, mastering his famous accent. “Could it be seen as something a little bit like … what the Grateful Dead did?” asked Armisen. On this week’s episode, CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent Mo Rocca sits down with Saturday Night Live legend and star of HBO’s Los Espookys Fred Armisen to memorialize the accordionist, band leader, and television host who drew a weekly audience of as many as 30 million people.
#SNL LAWRENCE WELK SERIES#
When the series ended its run in 1982, it was television’s longest running musical variety show. See more ideas about saturday night live, costumes, snl skits. (“The Rural Purge”, as it was known, put all those shows out to pasture.) However, Welk would take his show into syndication and attract an even larger audience. Explore Lara Hannahs board 'Sat night live costumes', followed by 101 people on Pinterest. Welk and his show were swept up in a series of mass cancellations that included shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction. In 1971, following two decades on air, ABC cancelled the Lawrence Welk Show, a musical variety show led by the German-accented bandleader and accordionist, Lawrence Welk.