"Pink Lady & Jeff"

[Sammy Reed]

This show lasted 5 episodes on NBC in 1980. Some people call this the worst show on TV. Pink Lady, a Japanese female duo, was the #1 group in Japan at the time, and after having a #37 hit in the US, somebody had the idea to put them in an American comedy-variety show.
My personal memories of it are this: I was a sensitive kid then, and I thought of the ladies as being "mean" because they kept getting "poor Jeff" to go in the hot tub all the time when he didn't want to go. Then came one time where Pink Lady find Jeff in the hot tub already without them "making" him go in. So they surprise him by showing a newspaper headline about a shark sighting. Then a shark fin rises above the water, scaring Jeff out. The "shark" turns out to be their Japanese "bodyguard" guy wearing a shark-fin hat. I had enough then, and I never wanted to watch that show anymore.
I went on thinking maybe the show went on to last a year or something, but when I got DVD set of the show last year, I found out this was the last episode before NBC cancelled it.
There is a website called Pink Lady America which is an excellent source for info on how the Pink Lady girls are doing nowadays, their 70's-80's singing career in Japan, the heck they went through to do the "Pink Lady & Jeff" show, and other things.
The DVD set has all 6 episodes that were ever made of the show, with the 6th one being a "lost episode". I look at it now as being enjoyable because of the dumb stuff to laugh at of course, but also because it does have some entertaining moments.
Some things I found of note include: Guest star Larry Hagman looking so much like he didn't want to be there, and I'm just now starting to notice the few times Kei looked in real life like she didn't want to get in the hot tub more than Jeff didn't, and Jeff wound up having to drag her in.
Now that I have seen these episodes, I could write more about my feelings about this show - I may sometime later on, but this is it for now.

[douglasjc]

Pink Lady and Jeff did as much damage to US-Japanese relations as Pearl Harbour. This Pearl Harbor sized bomb of TV show was behind any description. Getting a Root canal was less painful then this show. The question for me is why release it on DVD?
is it to explose a new generation to pure horror? Or is it to stop Jeff from acting again

[*PinkLady*]

Hey, it's my show!

[bry]

where can i get the DVD?

[Sammy Reed]

The DVD set is available from Amazon. It's called "Pink Lady & Jeff Box Set". Hope this helps. (If you can possibly connect "Pink Lady & Jeff" with the word "help" )

[Sammy Reed]

Originally posted by Sammy Reed
If you can possibly connect "Pink Lady & Jeff" with the word "help" )

Come to think of it, you might scream the word a few times while you watch these shows

[Dean Winchester]

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!

Have the DVD. Yes, it's awful, but IT RULES

[Sammy Reed]

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY!

The show began on March 1 and ended on April 4, 25 years ago!

[treky]

I remember reading or hearing somewhere once, that one of the problems with it was, the producers were told "Pink Lady" could act and speak perfect english, and by the time they found out that they couldn't, it was too late to do anything about it.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...it was NBC's president and chief programmer, Fred Silverman, who had the idea for the show; at that time, he was looking for ANYTHING that would become a big hit for his struggling third-place network {sound familiar?}. One day in late 1979, he saw Mie and Kei's picture in a magazine, heard their Elektra LP, and decided, I'm gonna make them another "Sonny & Cher" and "Donny & Marie" (as he made previously them variety show icons while an executive at CBS and ABC, respectively)....he had to settle for "Tony Orlando & Dawn", after he discovered the girls barely spoke a word of English- by then, it was too late to cancel the deal. He chose Jeff Altman as their "Tony", and used Sid & Marty Krofft [who initially produced "DONNY & MARIE"] as producers, hoping their patented mix of visual glitz and glamour camouflaged Mie & Kei's lack of English, as well as "big name" guest stars including Larry Hagman, Jerry Lewis and Sid Caesar, and rock stars Blondie, Cheap Trick and Alice Cooper. (Oh, yes, and for "sex appeal", let's have a segment at the end of each week's show where the girls wear bikinis and jump into a hot tub with Jeff and the week's guest stars). Silverman insisted "PINK LADY" receive the maximum amount of NBC publicity and promos several weeks before its premiere on March 1, 1980. In the end, though, the show looked "thrown together", and viewers stayed away in droves. It was quickly dumped before the sixth and final show had a chance to air.

Fortunately, for posterity's sake, the Kroffts NEVER erased or disposed of their programs, as NBC often did. That's why "PINK LADY {& JEFF}" is available on DVD today!

[TV_on_the_Porch]

In the opening the announcer said "Welcome to Pink Lady!" while a winged logo flew by which said only Pink Lady on it. That's my recollection anyway, I haven't seen it since March of 1980! I definitely recall publicity of the time referring to it as "Pink Lady And Jeff" and apparently that designation has endured in spite of the official title (ISTR TV Guide listings of time confirm it to be simply Pink Lady)

[catlover79]

Here's the theme song:

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Pink_Lady_and_Jeff.html

Love the canned applause and cheers, btw.

[TMC]

Lost in translation case file #48: Pink Lady And Jeff

[king of comedy]

Never saw that show and I'm glad I didn't.

[TMC]

The term 'Worst Show Ever' gets bandied around quite a bit, sometimes as a matter of subjective opinion or sometimes as simply hyperbole. In this case, it's widely agreed that Pink Lady's "Pink Lady" (also known as Pink Lady and Jeff) is a horrible mess with very little in the way of redeeming qualities. Perhaps it is the worst show ever. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't - but let's put it this way, they haven't let J-pop idols on American TV since.

This video is the story of Pink Lady from its formation, to the disastrous television show, and then finally to the aftermath.

Chapters:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:26 The beginning of Pink Lady
• 3:41 The hit streak begins
• 7:36 The path to the US, part one
• 11:24 T&C Music
• 13:38 The path to the US, part two
• 18:00 In America
• 21:54 The song with the Beach Boys
• 23:12 Fred Silverman discovers Pink Lady
• 34:15 The slow-motion car crash begins
• 46:37 The reviews are in! (They're bad)
• 52:02 After the show
• 58:08 Outro

Slip into the hot tub with NBC's colossal variety flop, "Pink Lady!"