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Aired: 1970 - 1974
Show Type: Live Action
Country of Origin: US
Nearly 40 years after its debut on network TV, "The Flip Wilson Show" is remembered as being one the first â if not the first â variety series starring a black performer to have widespread appeal with white audiences. It also broke ground as being staged in a "theatre-in-the-round" setting (meaning, the audience was seated in four sections around the stage).
The show was named for its host, comedian Flip Wilson. Wilson gave a monologue and would interact with his hosts for the week, usually one or two black performers and musical guests from all races. In addition to musical performances, the show's most famous hallmark was its comedy sketches.
Those comedy sketches featured Wilson playing a wide variety of characters, most famously Geraldine Jones, a sassy, modern woman (with frequent innuendo hinting that Geraldine wasn't all "feminine"; and Reverend Leroy, a con artist who presided over "The Church of What's Happening Now!"
African-American singers appearing on the show ranged from greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Lena Horne and Ray Charles, to more contemporary artists of the period such as The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Pointer Sisters, Charley Pride and The Temptations. White performers also graced the stage, including Roy Clark, Helen Reddy and many others.
After the series ended first-run production in 1974, half-hour versions of the shows were edited for syndication.
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