Donny & Marie (1976 TV series)
Donny & Marie is an American variety show that aired on ABC from January 1976 to January 1979.  The show starred brother-and-sister pop duo Donny and Marie Osmond. Donny had first become popular singing in a music group with his brothers, The Osmonds, and Marie was one of the youngest singers to reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts (with "Paper Roses", in 1973).

The siblings were offered a weekly show by ABC-TV President Fred Silverman after he saw the duo co-host a week on The Mike Douglas Show which followed their series of popular remakes of oldies, such as "I'm Leaving It All Up to You", "Morning Side of the Mountain" and "Make the World Go Away".  Donny and Marie (18 and 16 years old, respectively, when the program premiered) were the youngest entertainers in TV history to host their own variety show. A year later, The Keane Brothers would break this record.

Overview
Donny & Marie was a Friday night show that consisted of an ice skating number intro, comedy skits, followed by songs performed by the duo. The most famous song performed on the show was "I'm a Little Bit Country, I'm a Little Bit Rock and Roll", which formed the basis of a weekly segment (the "Concert Spot") in which Marie ("a little bit country") would trade off singing a country music song with Donny ("I'm a little bit rock and roll") singing a rock and roll song. Each episode concluded with a musical finale and a cascade of balloons from the ceiling, matched to the colors of the sets and costumes. Donny and Marie would then sing their trademark closing song which was written by Alan Osmond, "May Tomorrow Be a Perfect Day". Occasionally, the show would feature roughly 15-minute musical adaptations of famous feature films, such as Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz, with a mix of original cast members and celebrity guest stars (Paul Lynde and Ruth Buzzi were semi-regulars for the tun of the series; Lynde's appearance was part of a burn-off to fulfill Lynde's contract with ABC).

The show was shown in the UK on Sunday afternoon on BBC1, where it was always billed as "The Osmonds".

The show's popularity declined after it was revealed that teen heartthrob Donny was dating (and eventually married) fellow Utahn Debbie Glenn, therefore taking him 'off the market' of eligible bachelors. According to an edition of the VH1 series Behind the Music, many female viewers started to tune out at this point. The series also underwent a format change in the final season, eliminating segments such as the ice skaters and country/rock-n-roll segments in favor of more concert-style disco numbers. The show was also retitled The Osmond Family Show near the end, and was moved from the Friday night timeslot that it had occupied since its debut to Sunday night; the program increasingly featured the Osmond Brothers in larger roles. The variety show genre as a whole, at the time, was in steep decline, and the success of Donny & Marie was somewhat of an aberration compared to the trends of television in the late 1970s (two of the last successful variety shows, The Sonny & Cher Show and The Carol Burnett Show, left the air in 1977 and 1978, respectively).

The 1980–1981 TV season featured Marie with a Bob Mackie fashion make-over and starring in her own solo variety series on NBC called Marie, which was also produced at Silverman's behest and attempted to follow a similar format. It was a replacement series and contracted for only seven episodes.

Donny and Marie teamed up again in 1998 to co-host Donny & Marie (also known as The Donny and Marie Hour and The Donny and Marie Show), a talk show that ran for two seasons. They continue to perform live, most recently for a long-term residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Merchandising
Donny & Marie dolls with an accompanying "TV Studio" play set were released in August 1976.
A Donny & Marie wireless toy microphone, that transmitted to AM radio frequencies, was released in 1977.  The design was based on the white Shure SM61 mics used on the show.  (The songs on the show were all lip-synched.  The mics were just props, with an XLR plug and an antenna attached, to make them look real.)
Tiger Beat published a Donny & Marie magazine during the run of the series that focused on the personal lives of the two singers, as well as frequent profiles of other Osmond family members. The magazine, which ended around the same time the TV series did, was published with the support of the family and included advertisements for Osmond-related merchandise.

Production notes
Originally, the show was created by Sid & Marty Krofft and videotaped in Los Angeles at KTLA Studios (known as the Golden West Videotape Division, and now known as the Old Warner Brothers Studio), but creative control of the show was given to the Osmonds after a long battle, and Donny & Marie was moved to the Osmond Studios (known as the Osmond Entertainment Center) in Orem, Utah in November 1977.

The popularity of the series resulted in Donny and Marie filming the movie Goin' Coconuts during its spring 1978 production hiatus, in which they played fictionalized versions of themselves.

The show ranked 35th out of 104 shows for the 1977-78 season, with an average 19.3 rating, and ranked 63rd out of 114 shows for the 1978-79 season, with a 16.3/28 average rating/share.

List of guest stars

A
Jack Albertson
Paul Anka
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz Jr.

B
Pearl Bailey
Lucille Ball
Joe Baker
Carl Ballantine
Kylene Barker
Billy Barty
Dirk Benedict
Edgar Bergen
Milton Berle
Chuck Berry
Fred Berry
Ken Berry
Big Bird
Ray Bolger
Debby Boone
Tom Bosley
Tybee Brascia
Gary Burghoff
George Burns
Raymond Burr
Levar Burton
Ruth Buzzi

C
Glen Campbell
Harry Wayne Casey
Jim Connell
Cyd Charisse
Charo
Chubby Checker
Roy Clark
Robert Conrad
Bert Convy
Rita Coolidge
David Copperfield (illusionist)
Billy Crystal

D
Anthony Daniels
Johnny Dark
Mac Davis
Jack DeLeon
Bo Diddley
Joyce DeWitt

E
Barbara Eden
Georgia Engel
Erik Estrada
Dale Evans
Chad Everett
Greg Evigan

F
 Lola Falana
 Farrah Fawcett
Peggy Fleming
Redd Foxx

G
Leif Garrett
Andy Gibb
George Gobel
Arthur Godfrey
Grant Goodeve
Lorne Greene
Andy Griffith

H
Buddy Hackett
Merle Haggard
Monty Hall
Dorothy Hamill
The Harlem Globetrotters
Billie Hayes
Robert Hegyes
Sherman Hemsley
Florence Henderson
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Bob Hope
Ron Howard
Engelbert Humperdinck
Rick Hurst

J
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Sonny James
Tom Jones

K
Gabe Kaplan
Kaptain Kool & The Kongs
Alex Karras
KC and the Sunshine Band
Roz Kelly
Bruce Kimmel
Christopher Knight
Ted Knight
Evel Knievel
Don Knotts
Harvey Korman
Kris Kristofferson

L
Cheryl Ladd
Michael Landon
Lassie
Meadowlark Lemon
Jerry Lewis
Hal Linden
Art Linkletter
Little Richard
Rich Little
Mike Lookinland
Paul Lynde
Loretta Lynn

M
Gavin MacLeod
Peter Mayhew
Larry Mahan
Lee Majors
Patty Maloney
Barry Manilow
 Jim Marks
Penny Marshall
Tony Martin
Andrea McArdle
Maureen McCormick
Kristy McNichol
Anne Meara
Sidney Miller
Erin Moran
Donny Most

N
Jim Nabors
Haywood Nelson
Olivia Newton-John
Chuck Norris

O
Susan Olsen
The Osmonds

P
Ron Palillo
Minnie Pearl
Susan Perkins
Bernadette Peters
Mackenzie Phillips
Billy Preston
Vincent Price
Charley Pride

R
Robert Reed
Carl Reiner
Geri Reischl
Debbie Reynolds
Adam Rich
Susan Richardson
Cathy Rigby
Roy Rogers
Esther Rolle
Marion Ross
Nipsey Russell

S
Isabel Sanford
Neil Sedaka
Shabba-Doo
Buffalo Bob Smith
Jaclyn Smith
Kate Smith
Keely Smith
Suzanne Somers
Sonny & Cher
Ken Stabler
Connie Stevens
McLean Stevenson
Parker Stevenson
Gail Storm
Loretta Swit
The Sunshine Band
The Sylvers
Seals and Crofts

T
Fran Tarkenton
Rip Taylor
Danny Thomas
Ernest Thomas
Cheryl Tiegs
Mel Tillis
Fred Travalena
Joey Travolta
Tanya Tucker
Tina Turner

V
 Abe Vigoda
Karen Valentine
Barry Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Patten
Ben Vereen

W
Jimmie Walker
John Wayne
Raquel Welch
Betty White
Fred Willard
Andy Williams
Anson Williams
Barry Williams
Cindy Williams
Paul Williams
Henry Winkler
Wolfman Jack

Y
Robert Young