Kathie Lee Talks "Hee Haw Honeys" (VIDEO)
by Nick Zaino
posted Sep 6th 2011


Before Kathie Lee Gifford found success on the daytime talk circuit, she was an actress who had her share of TV failures.

Tuesday on "Today" she recalled a show that critics savaged - "Hee Haw Honeys".



"Once TV Guide said that one of my shows was one of the worst ever on television, 'Hee Haw Honeys'. I loved it.

I played Kathie Lee Honey and they hired three girls to be like a young 'Charlie's Angels' except we weren't. The pilot didn't sell but they kept me and then they surrounded me with all of the 'Hee Haw' people.

Hey, I loved it! I met all of the country music people doing that show."

http://www.aoltv.com/2011/09/06/kathie-lee-gifford-hot-in-cleveland-today-video/

...and Kathie Lee was correct when she said the original pilot (sort of a country music variation of "CHARLIE'S ANGELS", in which she and two other former "HEE HAW" regulars were supposed to be travelling across the country by bus as a vocal group, with a thin storyline inbetween musical numbers) was scuttled [although TV GUIDE mentioned the original format in a "Fall Preview" issue, and repeated that information in one of their TV history books in the '90s, without bothering to check out the "updated" format they omitted]....and the version that was finally syndicated was a weekly half-hour in which the "Honey" family {Kenny Price, Gailard Sartain (as "Willie Billie Honey"), Kathie Lee and Lulu Roman] operated a small truck stop/roadhouse- sort of a country version of "DUFFY'S TAVERN"- where they performed musical numbers inbetween a wispy sitcom plot of the week, often featuring a well-known country music star as a guest. In New York, it aired on WNBC-TV early Monday mornings at 1:30am, right after "THE NBC LATE NIGHT MOVIE". 26 half-hours were produced for the 1978-'79 season.

It wasn't that bad, compared to what passes for musical variety these days.


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