CARPENTERS T.V. SPECIALS

[ullalume]

Hello all,

Well, we know they hosted 5 specials between Dec '76, and May '80. (like the first, love the last. . . no comment on those in between).
We know that their first came in at No. 6 for the week it aired on the Nielsen Ratings.
We know they were due to host at least 1 more.

What I wanted to know was how well the other specials did. I've never seen any mention of ratings for the other 4 and so I'm assuming they did merely averagely, or badly. Anybody know?

Also I wondered if anyone knew how many more specials they were contracted for with ABC. I haven't a clue how these sort of deals come about, but to have Weintraub secure a deal for 6 plus specials at one meeting back in mid '76. . .it seems pretty ambitious. Don't get me wrong, if anyone could make it happen it was Weintraub, but even so. . .it's a hell of a lot of TV. Presumably future specials would be based on the performance of "Their Very First Special" and when that did so well the rest were secured.

I do get the idea that the powers that be probably expected the duo to complete their last 2 specials in '79, (the first of which would no doubt tie in with their planned 10th anniversary album and have a celebratory anniversary theme), and were none too pleased when that dragged into '80.

I can only imagine Bob Henry's face when Richard and Karen approached him with their idea for MMM. As Richard says they were pissed at them for coming up with a "PBS" type format (i.e. intelligent and worthy). In fact, from watching the hour or so of behind the scenes footage from MMM, their does seem to be an atmosphere between the director and the duo, no doubt fuelled by the tone of the special.

No special was forthcoming in '81 (I'm guessing they expected the new special in the spring. . .but due to work on MIA stretching into the new year that was a no-no). Then '82 was out due to Karen's therapy.

We know they were due to go back into the studio in March of '83 for a summer album release, followed by a domestic tour. Maybe they would have completed the final ABC special Xmas of that year.

Would love to hear your thoughts, guys (particularly on the ratings of the latter specials).

laters

neil

 

[A&M Retro]

I've always wondered about the success of the other specials, too. Would be interesting to find out somehow.

On another note, they were actually scheduled to go back into the studio on Friday, February 11th, to continue work on their next album. They were also scheduled to be presenters at the February 23rd, 1983 Grammy Awards. Thus, February would have been a busy time for them had things turned out differently.

 

[ullalume]

I had no idea they were due back in the studio the following week. God. Thanks for the info A&M Retro.

Neil

 

[A&M Retro]

No problem. Yeah, I know that because I knew a guy who worked for A&M and had literally bumped into Karen on the street in Beverly Hills only a week before she passed. He told her he was a huge fan, and had just started working for the label. Karen was very nice, and said she and Richard would be starting their new album on February 11th, and that he should stop by the studio to hang out while they were working. She passed just days later, so that obviously didn't happen.

Bob

 

[Actorman]

I don't think the ratings really mattered much. "Specials" were extremely popular during the late '70s and the networks were cranking them out left and right (ABC especially!). They were inexpensive programming designed to be aired once or twice to fill time on the schedule. ABC would have most likely let Carpenters do as many specials as they were willing to do until the whole "special" craze fell out of popularity in the very early '80s.

John Denver, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Captain & Tennille, Helen Reddy, The Osmonds, Mikhail Baryshnikov, David Copperfield, Paul Lynde, Dorothy Hamill and even the Bradys all had specials on ABC during that period.

 

[song4u]

I don't think the ratings really mattered much. "Specials" were extremely popular during the late '70s and the networks were cranking them out left and right (ABC especially!). They were inexpensive programming designed to be aired once or twice to fill time on the schedule. ABC would have most likely let Carpenters do as many specials as they were willing to do until the whole "special" craze fell out of popularity in the very early '80s.

John Denver, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Captain & Tennille, Helen Reddy, The Osmonds, Mikhail Baryshnikov, David Copperfield, Paul Lynde, Dorothy Hamill and even the Bradys all had specials on ABC during that period.

It was really fun to have all of those variety type specials on back then, in the tradition of Carol Burnett and Ed Sullivan. I guess people stopped tuning in to them because they disappeared eventually. Now you can find most anything on line.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Thank Bob...I didn't know that info...you know Karen had gained weight by then so she appeared to look at least better than she did in the past so it would make sense they would begin recording again. The last video of her on the grammy's backstage, you could feel the energy she still had, she looked happy and ready to go.

In past interviews Karen would always site Richard with so much credit in the duo's success...and it's true...but she was so equally important that I don't think she really got it...that she was the voice of it all. I've often wondered did she ever realize that without her voice...it would all come to an end. It's so sad to hear new stuff like this because it makes you wonder what they could have recorded or where they would be today, individually or as a duo. I strongly believe that had they not put weight on her so fast in such a short period of time, she may have lived long enough to get additional treatment and conquer that disease.

I agree many more shows would have been planned for tv release in the 80's. Karen had already opened the door by appearing on Olivia's Hollywood Nights show...something like that had never been done before and Karen was venturing out into new space and based on her looks on that show, she was having a blast!!

 

[A&M Retro]

You're very welcome. I agree on all counts, Chris! It was a new beginning, that's for sure. Karen had been through so much by 1983, and she still had such a positive attitude up until the very end. She was indeed a 'special soul', as Richard has said.

 

[byline]

I strongly believe that had they not put weight on her so fast in such a short period of time, she may have lived long enough to get additional treatment and conquer that disease.

While I agree that the rapid weight gain was not good for her, I don't feel optimistic that Karen would have survived ... even without that. What I recall of the ipecac poisoning is that it caused serious, irreversible damage to her heart, so if her heart hadn't stopped when it did, I fear it would have at some point later on. Her heart was just too damaged by the years of abuse she had put it through, and then the ipecac was the final nail. So very sad, because I'm sure she had no idea what she was doing to herself.

 

[adam]

Hi
Some information on Carpenters television specials ratings

carpenters first television special no 6 in nielson ratings
Carpenters at christmas 1977 ranking in the top 25 programmes for that week
Carpenters.space encounters 1978 ranking in at 15 most watched program of the week
Carpenters.christmas portrait 1978 ranking as 24 most program of that week
Carpenters.music music music 1980 did poorly in the ratings ranking at 49 out of 56 shows for the week.

So thers 1st television special was easily their highest ratings special.

 

[A&M Retro]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing with us. I'd heard that 'MMM' didn't do well, so this confirms it. But it didn't sour ABC on the Carpenters in any way, as they still had a least one more to do under contract. And 'MMM' is the best of all!

 

[song4u]

Hi
Some information on Carpenters television specials ratings

carpenters first television special no 6 in nielson ratings
Carpenters at christmas 1977 ranking in the top 25 programmes for that week
Carpenters.space encounters 1978 ranking in at 15 most watched program of the week
Carpenters.christmas portrait 1978 ranking as 24 most program of that week
Carpenters.music music music 1980 did poorly in the ratings ranking at 49 out of 56 shows for the week.

So thers 1st television special was easily their highest ratings special.

This just boggles the mind. The cornier the special, the better the ratings. The classier, musically oriented special did poorly. MMM was their finest special in my opinion.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Hi
Some information on Carpenters television specials ratings

carpenters first television special no 6 in nielson ratings
Carpenters at christmas 1977 ranking in the top 25 programmes for that week
Carpenters.space encounters 1978 ranking in at 15 most watched program of the week
Carpenters.christmas portrait 1978 ranking as 24 most program of that week
Carpenters.music music music 1980 did poorly in the ratings ranking at 49 out of 56 shows for the week.

So thers 1st television special was easily their highest ratings special.

It sure makes you wonder if the public tuned in just to watch Suzanne Somers or was it the space theme?
Either way...how sad the best of the best only got 49 out of 56? Something is wrong with this picture.

 

[A&M Retro]

Keep in mind 'Space Encounters' was followed by a special starring Olivia Newton-John, with special guests ABBA and Andy Gibb. I'm sure that helped viewership.

 

[Harry]

Based on the info I could glean from the Internet, MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC would have aired on May 16, 1980. That date is a Friday evening, traditionally, one of the lowest nights for ratings in the TV week.

ABC's regular program for the 8 PM timeslot was FANTASY ISLAND that year, running opposite CBS' THE INCREDIBLE HULK and NBC's HERE'S BOOMER and THE FACTS OF LIFE.

May 16th would also coincide with the traditional end of the TV season and the final sweeps month, meaning that the shows running opposite the Carpenters special might have been end-of-season shows that were heavily promoted. If memory serves, both THE INCREDIBLE HULK and THE FACTS OF LIFE were rather popular shows, so that might help explain the low ratings for the music special, especially one from a music act that had not been near top-of-mind nor the top of the charts in a few years.

The special actually looks more like something one might see on PBS than a mainstream network in 1980. It was very classy.

Harry

 

[ullalume]

Thanks for the info, Adam. very interesting stuff.

Neil

 

[adam]

Hi
Regarding the Tv specials i wonder why Karen and Richard had B grade celebrities on their shows.Of course with the xception of john denver,ella fitsgerald,Gene kelly.

 

[Chris May]

Hi
Regarding the Tv specials i wonder why Karen and Richard had B grade celebrities on their shows.Of course with the xception of john denver,ella fitsgerald,Gene kelly.

Most likely to keep the audience's focus on Karen and Richard.

 

[GaryAlan]

Some of the guest ('-stars') were managed by Jerry Weintraub. (e.g. : John Denver, John Davidson, Dorothy Hamill.)
Charlie Callas was involved with (at least one) of the Frank Sinatra Specials, executive producer Jerry Weintraub.
Howard Cosell emceed on a 1974 Sinatra Special, executive producer Jerry Weintraub.
Suzanne Somers was, apparently, a good friend of Jerry Weintraub.
Do I detect a trend ?

 

[tomswift2002]

Well it would be nice if Richard put these specials out on DVD for those of us who were not around when they aired, and are tired of trying to watch VHS-SLP Recorded copies that have been over compressed into garbage on YouTube.

 

[carpenters96]

To me the specials are great just because i can see karen,any footage of karen is an absolute boon for me no matter whether a carpenters special or a guest apperance on another acts special.When i first discovered the carpenters in the mid nineties it was a near impossibility to see any footage of them on tv until seeing the tom jones special in which i heard karen speak for the first time and although what she said was scripted i gained a great sense of her persona and she was exactly as id imagined her from listening to the albums.So i for one love all the specials they did.

 

[newvillefan]

When i first discovered the carpenters in the mid nineties it was a near impossibility to see any footage of them on tv.

I remember that period too...I got into them "after the event", so my enquiring mind was blown away when I started finding websites on the Internet dedicated to them. The best one by far was Barry Bilicki's photo page. That's where I saw pictures from Karen's solo venture for the first time. The site had literally hundreds of pages of photos. Then, when the various documentaries started being made during their 1990s resurgence it felt like another level...all of a sudden we could see archive footage of the television specials and rare interviews that had rarely if ever been seen, particularly in the UK. It was such a great time .

 

[moog]

Most likely to keep the audience's focus on Karen and Richard.

That's exactly it. I forget who they were interviewing that worked on the TV specials, but they said that the reason they had Georgia Engel on (for example) would be so the audience couldn't WAIT to have Karen & Richard back (!)

 

[GaryAlan]

Then, again, the 1978 duet---German Language version of Silent Night---
performed by Karen and Georgia, presents further difficulties in analyzing
Why? certain entertainers were guests on these Specials.
Are those vocals, Karen and Georgia duet , 'locked' into the same track ? (i.e., inseparable).
The sibling McNichols seem to have been--again--a Jerry Weintraub selection.
And, again, duet vocals of Karen and Kristy (as Richard Carpenter states) are 'locked' into the same track for Christmas Alphabet.
Why were these decisions made?--'locking' Karen's awesome vocals onto the same track with
inferior female 'singers' (I use that term loosely--as, Karen Carpenter is the true singer in these duets.).

 

[Harry]

As often happened back in those variety-special days, a non-singer type would end up doing a duet with a singer. It was a way of presenting the singer in a good light, helping out the non-singer. And as such, the professional singer usually was given the task of doing the harmony while the non-singer put his or her all into managing the melody.

So I can see where, although we know that Rich & Karen liked to preserve their own parts, these would be cases of Karen's part largely being just harmony vocals. If they'd cared enough about it, they might have had her do her own lead on top of it, but I think these songs "Christmas Alphabet", "Stille Nacht", etc, were viewed as little throwaway segments that wouldn't ever need revisiting - and if they did both would be around to do it.

Harry