"What've you got in there? Your sisters?" - Dolly Parton to Barbara Mandrell, who is dressed as Dolly
Best of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Ah, the Krofft brothers. Starting the in late 1960s, Sid and Marty Krofft produced some of television's wildest, wackiest programming. H.R. Pufnstuf. Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters. Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters?! Yep, in fall 1980 the Kroffts produced a NBC variety series starring Barbara "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" Mandrell and her younger sisters Louise and Irlene. The Kroffts weren't strangers to producing variety shows - they were responsible, after all, for Donny and Marie, The Brady Bunch Hour, and the catastrophic misfire Pink Lady.
Like The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and Donny and Marie, Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters often relies on put-down and sibling rivalry humor. In this case, however, the tone is much gentler than those earlier shows. Barbara is the bossy one, Irlene is the dumb-but-sexy one, and Louise...well...she's the other one. A recurring comedy sketch has Barbara reminiscing about their childhood while youngsters reenact the vignettes. Irlene is often seen writing home to Mom about some sort of unusual experience she's had in the big city. Most of them seem to center on her encountering gay salespeople and the wacky things those darn homos try to sell her. Not that their sexuality is every stated overtly - it's just winked at.
The series also features much Olde Tyme vaudevillian humor. In one episode, the running gag is that Louise is a terrible cook. Barbara and Irlene spend the episode trying to avoid tasting her concoctions, but try to make up in the end:
Irlene: "Barbara, before we go, I'd like to publicly apologize to Louise for teasing her about her cooking tonight."
Barbara: "Me too, Louise. I'm sorry about all those terrible things I said about that banana cake you baked."
Louise: "Oh, you mean you really liked it?"
Barbara: "No, it was horrible. But I loved that butterscotch pudding that you made. That was good."
Louise: "Butterscotch pudding?"
Barbara: "Yeah, that butterscotch pudding that you left in my dressing room in that dish."
Irlene: "That wasn't butterscotch pudding. That was glue!"
Louise: "Well I was just trying to fix the heel on your boot."
Barbara: "What!?"
Louise: "Well, if you like it that much, I can always fix some more."
Barbara: "Is there a doctor in the house?"
Louise: "Oh, it was only simple wood glue."
Barbara: "Is there a carpenter in the house? My lips will be stuck together. I'll never talk again."
Irlene: "That's wonderful!"
Sort of funny, but also sort of familiar. Worse, though, is the time-specific humor. One episode focuses on the Pac-Man craze. It's sad to hear country legend Johnny Cash have to repeatedly say "gobble gobble gobble" in one of the Pac-Man segments. Another show features a Rubik's Cube sketch. Sure, it's unfair to judge a show for capitalizing on what was popular at the time it was produced, but Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters takes on these fads merely to seem hip. Yes, the Mandrells were talented. But hip? Not so much.
These episodes are also substantially incomplete. This is obvious from the moment the episodes begin - the opening production numbers have all been cut. This leaves each episode to start with the sisters thanking the audience for their terrific response to a number DVD viewers haven't even seen. When the sisters take their final bows, they sometimes thank guests who are not included on the DVD. The episodes also seem to be de-Krofft-ified. The Krofft Puppets are seen only in a couple of brief comedy sketches.
This pruning may be why even the music is so unsatisfying. Unlike Hee Haw, which featured top country artists performing some of their most well-known hits, the guests and song choices on Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters are often blah. Out of the six episodes represented here, no less than four include medleys of inspirational music and hymns. This provides for very little variation in tone.
Here is a complete listing of the songs found in each episode, along with the truncated running times:
Disc One
November 18, 1980 (26:05)
•"Lady" John Schneider
•"(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to be Right" Barbara Mandrell
•"9 to 5" Dolly Parton
•Medley: "His Eye is on the Sparrow"/"Gone at Last" The Mandrells, Dolly Parton, and John Schneider
November 29, 1980 (27:44)
•"Three Times a Lady" Kenny Rogers
•Patsy Cline Medley: "Crazy"/"I Fall to Pieces"/"Always" Barbara and Louise Mandrell
•"The Best of Strangers" Barbara Mandrell
•"I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again" Kenny Rogers
February 27, 1982 (31:51)
•"Old Time Feeling" Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
•"Oh Susannah" June Carter Cash and Barbara Mandrell
•"I Walk the Line" Johnny Cash
•Medley: "In the Garden"/"The Faith That Comes from You"/"Home Sweet Home"/"The Fourth Man"/"Diamond in the Rough"/"Will the Circle be Unbroken" Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and the Mandrells
Disc Two
January 3, 1981 (31:48)
•"Buttons and Bows" Bob Hope and Barbara Mandrell
•Medley: "St. Louis Blues"/"Beer Barrel Polka"/"Dueling Banjos" The Mandrells
•"Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" Barbara Mandrell
•Medley: "Tonight Carmen"/"Cool Water"/"El Paso" Marty Robbins with Barbara and Louise Mandrell
February 21, 1981 (29:03)
•"Old Flame" Alabama
•"Bonaparte's Retreat" Glen Campbell and Barbara Mandrell
•"Standing Room Only" Barbara Mandrell
•Medley: "Just a Closer Walk with Thee"/"Me and Jesus"/"Have a Little Faith"/"Power in the Blood" Alabama, Glen Campbell, and the Mandrells
February 23, 1982 (31:25)
•"You Don't Know Me" Ray Charles
•Medley: "Ridin'the Frets"/"Nine Pound Hammer"/"Johnson's Old Gray Mule"/"Uncle Joe's Boogie" Norm Hamlet, Merle Travis, Gordon Terry, Joe Maphis, and Barbara Mandrell
•Medley: "Help Me"/"You Light Up My Life"/"You Make Me Happy"/"Old Time Religion"/"Do Lord" Ray Charles, Sylvia, and the Mandrells
EDITOR'S NOTE: As of this writing, Best of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters is available only through Time/Life, although it will eventually be released in retail outlets
The six episodes that make up Best of Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters are divided onto two discs. The simple, static menus allow viewers to choose to play the episodes on each disc consecutively or individually. The index menu allows viewers to choose specific chapters from the episodes. The episode chapters are keyed in to musical performances.
