The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show was an awful Saturday morning program that aired in 1974 and 75. It had a lot of similarities to Krofft productions in that it was both surreal and cheesy.
The brothers were actually decent musicians and had achieved a degree of chart success in the late sixties and early seventies. But their real claim to fame is brother Bill (on the left in the image below), who was one of the biggest playboys of his day.
He married Goldie Hawn (his daughter is Kate Hudson), and then Cindy Williams from Laverne & Shirley. He also was romantically involved with Jill St. John, Candice Bergen, and Ali McGraw!
Their show is great to watch for the outrageous fashions, psychedelic sets, and groovy music; however, it gets old real fast. This is primarily due to the fact that every single episode was composed of the exact same skits with little to no variation!
For example, in one episode a group of Frankenstein's monsters are gathering around their new creation. When they unveil their creature, it turns out to be a fireman! (insert canned laughter)
In the next episode, the exact same thing happens except this time it's a nurse! (insert canned laughter) My God, it's like the writers sat down and wrote the entire season's gags over lunch.
From time to time, you can catch glimpses of Murray Langston, otherwise known as The Unknown Comic. You remember him - the comedian who performed with a bag over his head on The Gong Show. Murray can be seen in the image below - he's in the back, far left wearing a light green shirt.
And finally, one last complaint about the show.... the laugh track. Sweet Lord, the canned laughter is so obnoxious it will blow your mind. Even the most low key gag, barely deserving of a chuckle is given a shrill, tinny laugh track that sounds like a crowd of millions laughing maniacally. It is so startling, I reflexively jumped back when I first heard it.
