Today in Pop Culture: Last Dance With Lawrence Welk

By Jeffery X Martin

Let’s call it synergy. A television show comes along that loves and understands its core audiences so well will inspire a kind of devotion that borders on obsession. We’ve seen it happen with sci-fi shows like Firefly, Star Trek, and The Twilight Zone. Do you think today’s audiences would feel the same kind of adoration and allegiance to a show that regularly featured polka music?

It was on this date in the year 1982 that the final episode of The Lawrence Welk Show was broadcast. Known for his heavy German accent, Welk was a big band leader. He and his troupe of performers, known as the Musical Family, were the most wholesome thing on television and their audience, mostly comprised of senior citizens, loved them for it.

The show was a combination of music and dancing from the 1940s and a hefty dosage of ’60s schmaltz. Each episode began with soap bubbles floating through the air. The audience would hear a cork popping out of a champagne bubble while Welk’s big band played “Bubbles in the Wine.” That sound effect was actually Welk, popping his finger out of his mouth and then hissing to mimic the sound of gasses escaping the bottle.

It was cheesy. The show looked California and felt Minnesota. After the bubbles and the creepy finger-sucking bit, Welk would introduce the theme of the episode. It could be anything from patriotic songs to old spirituals. You might get show tunes. You might get TV theme songs. What you wouldn’t get was heavy rock and roll. The show was certainly more Debby Boone than Grace Slick. Welk had definite ideas about morality and what should be presented on television. Those ideas leached over to his Musical Family, who were expected to stick to a rigid code of behavior both on and off the screen. Welk was convinced that if his audience didn’t find a performer to be wholesome enough, that the ratings would drop.

In 1959, singer Alice Lon was performing a number which required her to sit on an office desk. She crossed her legs during the song. Welk believed she showed too much skin. Welk didn’t want any of his Family inflaming his beloved viewers with carnal lust, so he fired her.

Welk also didn’t get along with Pete Fountain, the famous clarinetist. When Welk refused to let Fountain use a jazz arrangement for a Christmas tune, Fountain left the show.

Many of the Family who complied became stars. Names like The Lennon Sisters, Jo Ann Castle, and Ava Barber were fan favorites. Myron Floren and Bobby Burgess were particularly popular with the ladies. Unfortunately, all those ladies were over the age of 45. The ABC network canceled Welk’s show in 1971 because he wasn’t capturing the important youth demographic.

Welk moved his show into syndication after that, where it flourished for 11 years. In 1982, with the show still going strong, Welk decided to retire at the age of 89. At that time, he was the oldest living host of a television series.

The popularity of The Lawrence Welk Show is easy to understand. He was a nostalgia act as soon as he began. People who had grown up in the Big Band era, or who had lived through the times of piano acts like Ferrante & Teicher, found comfort in the show’s attitude and format. It was like spending an hour where time stood still. The Vietnam War never happened. There was no such thing as riots in Watts or Kent State University. There were only beautiful people, singing and dancing, champagne and bubbles, and it was all wunnerful.