Pink Lady and Jeff

Pink Lady and Jeff is a 1980 American variety show that aired on NBC starring the Japanese female pop duo of the same name and co-star Jeff Altman. It lasted for 5 episodes (the 6th and final one never aired on TV, but it did see a DVD release along with the previous 5 episodes ) and for approximately 5 weeks.

Plot
The series starred the Japanese female singing duo Pink Lady, composed of Mitsuyo Nemoto ("Mie") and Keiko Masuda ("Kei"), and American comedian Jeff Altman. The format of the show consisted of musical numbers alternating with sketch comedy. The running gag of the series was the girls' lack of understanding of American culture and the English language; in reality, Pink Lady did not speak any English at all. Jeff would then attempt to translate and explain the meaning of things, which led to more confusion.[plagiarized from Wikipedia]

The series also featured Pink Lady performing various songs (usually English-language disco and pop songs such as "Boogie Wonderland" or "Yesterday", which the duo sang in English) along with interaction with celebrities and musical guests. The group would end the show by jumping into a hot tub together.[plagiarized from Wikipedia]

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The show's biggest problem is that both members of Pink Lady knew nothing about the English language and so they had to learn their lines phonetically.
 * 2) Whenever the duo sing in their native language, the songs they sing are not subtitled.
 * 3) The comedy is not funny.
 * 4) The sketches are worthless and forgettable.
 * 5) It could be considered racially offensive to some viewers.
 * 6) It is a huge ripoff of another Krofft production, Donny and Marie.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Jim Varney would end up having a highly successful career after this show ended, as months later, his character Ernest P. Worrell appeared in local commercials.
 * 2) Sid & Marty Krofft, Jeff Altman, and writer Mark Evanier have since apologized for the show and went on to do better work.
 * 3) Pink Lady did end up coming back for reunion performances in their home country.

Reception
The show is notorious for being one of the worst-reviewed TV shows in existence. TV Guide, in particular, ranked this show #35 on their "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list in 2002, and claimed it killed off the variety show genre (while the genre was already on its last legs, this show arguably hastened its demise). The show was so bad that the recap website The Agony Booth did an entire rundown of all 6 episodes from the show's official DVD.[citation needed]

Trivia

 * Saturday Night Live spoofed Pink Lady and Jeff in the episode that aired on May 10, 1980, with a cold opening sketch called Pink Lady and Carl, which featured Carl Sagan (played by Harry Shearer) instead of Jeff Altman, with Laraine Newman as Mie and Gilda Radner as Kei.