Since Don Imus' rural-themed cable channel has begun running episodes of Hee Haw, chronologically from the beginning (along with other great vintage country music variety shows), I've rediscovered the joys of Cornfield County.
Like many of my generation, I grew up watching Hee Haw every Saturday evening. To be sure, I didn't appreciate much about the show then, but with only five channels of TV to choose from, it was probably the most interesting thing on at the time. Besides, I spent every weekend with my grandparents, who were huge country music fans.
In this blog, I'll mainly be reviewing the show's great musical performances, with occasional asides for other interesting things. The much-maligned "humor" of Hee Haw was indeed pretty throwaway, ranging from the so-cornpone-it's-painful to the so-dumb-it's-kinda-surreal. It has to be said, though, that Junior Samples could make just about anything sound hilarious, particularly if he flubbed it up, which he frequently did.
I know a lot of this stuff is available on DVD now, but there's something about having to wait for the "same time, next week." And besides, I'm cheap.
Thanks to TV.com's Hee Haw episode guide and Risa's Hee Haw site for reference material. http://www.rissystreasures.com/heehaw/
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