The Andy Williams Show

American television variety show (1962–1971)

The Andy Williams Show
Andy Williams in 1969
Genre	Variety show
Written by	John Aylesworth, Frank Peppiatt
Presented by	Andy Williams
Opening theme	Moon River
Composers	Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Barnaby Productions
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	1962 (1962) – 1971 (1971)

The Andy Williams Show was an American television variety show hosted by singer Andy Williams that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens).^[1] It became a half-hour syndicated series beginning in the fall of 1976.^[2]

Series regulars

The Andy Williams Show featured a number of regular performers including:^[1]

Dick Van Dyke (1958)
The New Christy Minstrels (1962-1963)
R.G.Brown (1962)
Marian Mercer (1962)
The Osmond Brothers (1962-1971)
Jonathan Winters (1965-1967, 1970-1971)
The Good Time Singers (1963-1966)
Professor Irwin Corey (1969-1970)
Ray Stevens (1969-1971)
The Lennon Sisters (1970-1971)
Charlie Callas (1970-1971)
Janos Prohaska (The Cookie Bear) (1969-1971)

Series synopsis

The first series began as a summer replacement on CBS in 1959. The weekly year-round series premiered on NBC in 1962, where it ran until 1967, when William reduced his workload to three specials a year. He returned to having a weekly series from 1969 through 1971.^[1]

At the beginning of the series The New Christy Minstrels were the backup singers, but on December 20, 1962 The Osmond Brothers appeared on the show, and they became the regular backup performers for the rest of the series run.^[1]

In 1967 Williams decided to cut back to three specials per year. However, two years later he returned to weekly television in a revised format that included rock and roll acts and psychedelic lighting.^[1]

Starting with the 1969 season more emphasis was placed on comedy.^[3] Hungarian acrobat and stuntman Janos Prohaska began appearing in a bear costume, asking for cookies. The bear never got any cookies on the series, but fans began mailing baked goods to Prohaska.^[4]

Five years after his second weekly run at NBC had ended, Williams hosted a half-hour syndicated weekly variety show with Wayland Flowers and orchestra leader George Wyle.^[5]

Awards and nominations

Year	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
1963	Outstanding Variety Series	The Andy Williams Show	Won	^[6]
1963	Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series	Andy Williams	Nominated	^[7]

Partial list of guest stars

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 – Present (first edition), pages 29-30, Ballantine, 1979
^ Between visits to London Andy Williams tours Midwest, The South Bend Tribune, November 16, 1976, page 18
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Andy Williams Show to Debut on Monday, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, October 18, 1969, page 11
^ Andy’s Bear Is Acrobat-Turned Stuntman, The Town Talk (Alexandria, LA), May 29, 1970, page 18
^ Vincent Terrace, Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2nd Edition, page 43, McFarland, Inc., 2014
^ 1963 Emmys Variety Program
^ 1963 Emmys - Performance in Variety Program
^ ^a ^b ^c Andy Williams Show, The Baltimore Sun, April 11, 1966, page 16
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Benny, Jonathan Winters Guest on Andy’s Premier, Santa Maria Times, September 22, 1964, page 30
^ ^a ^b ^c Andy Williams Show, The Evening Sun, November 15, 1965, page 28
^ ^a ^b Andy Williams Show, The Tampa Times, September 27, 1962
^ TV Programs, Portland Press Herald, March 28, 1963, page 7