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[Andymeets1880s]

Oh man! How could I forget Hee Haw?!?!

SAAAAAAAAAALUTE!

[Junior]

I was lucky enough to work at the Hee Haw Theater in Branson from 1981-1983. Got to meet over a dozen of the stars of the TV show. Hee Haw was where Mickey Gilley Theater is now. My boss was a writer for the TV show...his name is Tom Lutz. Nice guy to work for, and I enjoyed my time at the theater. Hee Haw was one of those shows that I had to watch every weekend. I remember in 1981 Roy Clark and the whole Hee Haw gang saluted the Hee Haw Theater, Branson, Missouri, population 1,000 seats!

[Tony from Tulsa]

That show was fun indeed. We saw an episode in our hotel room in Branson just a few weeks ago that featured "Miss Kitty" from Gunsmoke. I didn't even know she could sing. I loved those old sets and backgrounds from that show. Simpler times.

[Andymeets1880s]

When I relocate, ya'll can give me a call at BR-549. LOL!

[betamike]

Junior Samples!  Ha!  Larry the Cable guy owes Junior his entire career.   

I love Hee-Haw too!  As a kid not so much because I grew up in Missouri and thought I was too civilized for such a thing, but now I see the true humor in it.  Also, once I found out that my grandpa served in the same regiment that Grandpa Jones did, I had new respect for the show.

As an adult, besides the humor of it, I just love looking at the color saturation of those sets.  Oh my goodness!!!!!

[Andymeets1880s]

When I was a kid, I would sometimes go up to my Grandma when we were eating at their house and ask loudly "Hey Grandma, what's for supper?!"  LOL!!

[Junior]

Funny you mention the "Hey grandpa, what's for supper thing..." When Grandpa Jones appeared at the theater in Branson in winter of 1981, it was one of the first attempts at off season shows in Branson. He appeared in November. Out of 1,000 seats, only about 30 were filled at the three or so performances he made. Nobody was in town, even the locals didn't come out for the show. It's too bad, 'cause Grandpa was great....in every show, a heckler in the crowd would shout the what's for supper line, and Grandpa would completely stop what he was doing, and run down a menu. Each time it was different, and each time it was funny. The audience loved it, and he got a big laugh.

I was 19 years old at the time...and rather intimidated at meeting and talking to the stars from the TV show. When George "Goober" Lindsey spent a week with us in 1981, I could not believe he was standing in front of me, as I had just come from home where, on my day off, had watched the Andy Griffith Show three times that day on different local channels! I come to work, and GOOBER is standing in front of me, asking me for a Coke from the concession! Surreal, to say the least.

I remember that Kenny Price brought his whole family with him to Branson, and I met his daughter, Jennifer, who was about my age. I tried, unsuccessfully, to pick her up, and ask her out for a date. She was gentle with me, she let me down easy, and we never went out, but I tried. She was darn good looking, too.

[KBCraig]

aaaahhh-OOOO-gah!

Yeah, I remember the young Ms. Price. Not until you reminded me, but yeah. Right there with you. ;-)

Kenny Price did a great show. Aside from his singing, he was a great comic. I remember him delivering what was probably the most risqué line ever uttered at a Branson show in that era: "When I was born, I weighed 19 pounds. It took my mother six months to get over it. Of course, Dad said she never did really get over it... "

[Junior]

Speaking of the Hee Haw show in Branson...one night I took off to hang out with some friends and when I came back the next night everybody was talking about how Leslie Neilson from the movie Airplane! had stopped by to visit our boss...they knew each other from Hollywood. Airplane! was a huge hit around that time, and of course Leslie would go on to do the Police Squad movies...we did have a "wall of fame" backstage that all the stars and cast and crew signed, and he signed our wall. Man, I was sorry to have missed him...everyone said he was really a great guy. He watched the show from our "green room" backstage, and I think he popped out to wave to the crowd.

[Junior]

Anyone interested in the Hee Haw Theater in Branson can learn more by reading an article I wrote for the August, 2010 issue of Life in the Ozarks Magazine, which is based in Shirley, Arkansas. Included a few pictures, too. Also new to the site is a story about SDC's Terry Sanders. Here's a link to my Flickr site:

                                  http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan
                                 

[okiebluegrass]

Dukes of Hazzard, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres