“We’re gonna razzle dazzle you...” – “The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show” theme song
The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show: The Complete Series DVD Review
By Casey Richards
The Hudson Brothers Show, a variety show starring the comedic singing trio of Bill, Brett, and Mark, joined CBS’ primetime lineup as a summer replacement series in 1974. The series wasn’t exactly a hit, but network execs still believed that the brothers’ shtick would appeal to kids. Thus, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show was reborn as a half-hour Saturday morning variety show that fall.
The brothers were joined by a motley crew of performers, including, as the wacky opening credits intoned, “Ted Zeigler, Billy Van, and Peter Cullen; Murray Langston & Freeman King; Avril Chown; the Bear; Rod Hull and his extraordinary Australian Emu; sets, lights, and all sorts of fun things.”
It is evident from the first moment of the opening credits that this isn’t going to be your usual Saturday morning fare. As each cast member is announced, he or she is sent down a conveyor belt into a psychedelic van. When the van is fully loaded, it takes off from the Razzle Dazzle Warehouse and goes on a wild ride to the studio—crossing football fields, going round and round and round a traffic circle, and weaving in and out of traffic. When the van arrives at the studio, everyone is unceremoniously dumped into a heap on the floor. An animated crankyold man lights a bottle rocket, and the mess disappears in a puff. The set then starts to put itself together—caricatures of the brothers light up in the background, groovy set pieces appear at the sides of the stage, and the floor slowly becomes filled with blobs and shapes colored in wildly electric tones. If you’ve seen this opening once, you’re not likely to have forgotten it.
The show itself is like a less sophisticated version of Laugh-In with music...and we mean that as a compliment. It is a charming mix of bad jokes (“Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Lettuce.” “Lettuce who?” “Lettuce sing.”), badly but energetically lip-synced versions of then-contemporary songs like “Free Ride” (which are often interrupted by a chorus line of Superman wannabes or a weird band of bearded goons), and goofy run-ins with the network’s Vice President of Kids Programming (a ten year old square named Fabulous Freddie).
In the weekly “Razzle Dazzle Wrap Up of Everything, Including the Kitchen Sink,” recurring skits include Sam Bear, P.I., the not-so-groovy singing trio The Three Galoshes, a band of Frankenstein’s monsters who have terrible luck creating a new creature, and a group of knights who are hectored by the king into doing nearly impossible physical activities while wearing their full armor (like pole vaulting and jumping hurdles). It’s all slapsticky, kooky fun.
One of the highlights of each show is the appearance of Rod Hull and his Australian Emu. The emu is a full-sized puppet that Hull controls with his right arm. Hull is a gifted physical comedian, bringing the emu to life in a way that makes them seem like separate beings. The emu is as aggressive and sly as Hull is calm and collected.
The sixteen episodes that make up The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show: The Complete Series are divided onto three discs. The discs are held in a standard sized keepcase with an interior swinging arm.
