The King Family Show (1965–1969) User Reviews

The King Family Show, laying it on thick.

[princeandrew100 · 7/10 · 29 May 2006]

I saw this show in the 70's when I was either on school holidays or home sick. They'd air it in Australia during the afternoon soap opera bracket and in short this show used to lay it on thick.

Big blond hair do's for the ladies and platinum neat hair for the men. There were heaps of family members coming from all directions. Even when I was a kid I thought yow this is too much. Kind of like over eating your favorite goody food.

The ending of the show seemed to have the whole extended family from children to old folk and had this golden tinge to it. Kind of like the type of family the neo cons would like very family to be.

I am surprised this showed hasn't been shown on some comedy show cause it's just too much, so golden LOL, lots of fun here folks. Don't remember the music much apart from the outgoing tune was smaltzy.

You probably remember a later version of the show...

[stdriggs · 4 May 2006]

The King Family had several incarnations up through the early 70's. The show was renewed for the 1966-67 season, and made a brief comeback as a regular series in the Spring of 1969. They also did several guest appearances on Ed Sullivan and Hollywood Palace. In 1967, they began producing a series of holiday specials, beginning with Thanksgiving and Christmas. By 1971, they ended up with a special for every month of the year (there was a joke about "Groundhog Day with the King Family"), many of which were repeatedly aired in syndication for years after. The last special was a new Christmas show in 1974. The "pastel colors" you remember were not from the first two seasons - they were black & white. How do I know all this? I was one of the kids in the show.

Exceptional Variety Series on DVD and VHS

[dnewwmann · 10/10 · 14 October 2007]

THE KING FAMILY SHOW ran 1/2 season in a one hour format on ABC. The following year it ran 30 minutes for 1/2 season also on ABC. It was then followed by about five years of 1 hour syndicated color Holiday Specials. Several of the shows and specials are available on DVD and VHS on Marilyn King's (one of the King Sisters) website. The reason the memories have lingered so many years after the shows aired, was the warmth...happiness...and great musical moments each show in the all too short series presented! Many of the King Family (Donna, Alyce, Luise, Alvino Rey, Robert Clarke, Jim Conkling, Don Driggs) are no longer alive, but their talents are still evident in this fantastic....and memorable...family program.

King Family Show---still memorable after all these years.

[wtander · 10/10 · 19 January 2008]

TV viewers either seemed to like them a lot, or consider them corny. Actually the music was highly professional....The King Sisters had been singing stars for years, and were a big part of the series, especially Yvonne, who was the hostess of the show. She's now 88. The sisters' kids, The King Cousins, were musical, too, and went on to spin off a group called The 4 King Cousins, which performed for years. Given the times--the turbulent late 1960s, it was no small feat for the group to star in 2 network series, make dozens of specials, and guest on all the variety shows. They toured for years, as well. The youngest King Sister, Marilyn, is still singing as a solo act. People have wondered about getting DVDS--check out Marilyn's web site. Cam Clarke, who did the station breaks with his cousin Laurette, also has a website (he's a major voice-over star). Cam also markets DVDs of the King Family shows. They were, and are, fun people. Despite the sometimes square image packaged for TV, they were hip individuals. They enjoyed being together as a family, and isn't that what most people, cynics included, want? The King Family act finally broke up in the late 1970s. The King Sisters continued to sing together professionally until the late 1980s. One of the later gigs was the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan.

is my opinion worth anything?

[silvrdal · 12 February 2006]

Honestly, I don't know how I remember this show so vividly. I was TWO years old when it aired. This was my introduction to the King Sisters and Tina Cole, who later appeared on My Three Sons. Maybe it was Tina who was the funny, clumsy 'King Cousin', my memory gets spotty. What I do remember is that the stage was over-run with relatives, most of them blond, and lots of pastel colors. The only King Sisters song of which I have a recording is "San Fernando Valley". I'm sure they had lots of other hits, otherwise, why did they have their own show? The King Family Show was entertaining and amusing, but what do *I* know -- I WAS ONLY TWO!!