That’s Right, Hee-Haw Could Be Coming Back
Hee-Haw—the Roy Clark and Buck Owens-hosted show that ran for 30 years could soon be coming back to the airwaves with a brand new cast and fresh episodes. But don’t get your hopes up too high because it ain’t a done deal just yet.
According to a report out of a Nashville business function last week, Ryman Hospitality Properties CEO Colin Reed said the company is exploring the possibility of bring back the corny country music-based variety show after they’ve had such great success with the show Nashville. The hour-long drama that started on ABC has now moved to CMT, and is underwritten by Ryman Hospitality.
Though Nashville hasn’t been a huge ratings hog, interest has remained strong enough where producers think the show will stretch to 100 episodes, allowing it to be eligible for syndication in the United States and other countries. Beyond the viewership itself and the revenue generated from it, Ryman Hospitality also sees the Nashville franchise as a way to promote the city and country music. This is also what’s at the heart of attempting to revive Hee-Haw.
“We think humor around country [music] is a good thing,” CEO Colin Reed said at the City Winery in Nashville. “We want to be in the content-distribution business and communicate country music and humor to people who don’t see this stuff.”
Ryman Hospitality owns the Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium, The Gaylord Opry resort, the General Jackson Showboat, and many other properties throughout Nashville. There is also talk of starting a country-themed play in New York. Ryman Hospitality recently unveiled plans for an Opry-themed venue on Times Square in the Big Apple, and has been looking to expand its business wherever possible.
Hee-Haw was first a production of CBS, but then transferred to Gaylord Entertainment when the show went into syndication. Ryman Hospitality used to be Gaylord Entertainment before restructuring into a more real estate-based business in 2012. Along with offering entertainment, Hee-Haw was a huge promotional vehicle for country music artists and other entertainers. It was originally inspired as a rural version of Laugh-In, but it incorporated a lot of country music’s Vaudevillian roots.
February 6, 2017 @ 8:41 am
I want to like this, but I have a feeling it would be done in such a way that I won’t.
February 6, 2017 @ 10:34 am
Hee-Haw, just like all of the legacy country music institutions, doesn’t belong to THEM, it belongs to US. If you’re afraid of what this might become, all the more reason to speak up and share what you believe the new Hee-Haw should be.
February 10, 2017 @ 2:58 pm
I believe it’s probably comfortable where it is now.
April 11, 2017 @ 11:02 pm
Well you never know. I am for the old stuff. There is already an exhibit at the Country Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. I am not sure how far the exhibit is from the elevator, but they tell me it’s on the third floor of the museum.
February 6, 2017 @ 8:53 am
Odd this was a topic last week on a forum, “What happened to comedy in country “, no mention of hee- haw returning, but a lot of reverence for it and Roger Miller, red Simpson, junior brown, and the like.
Now I’m not sure how it works, but I will say isn’t Nashville already in syndication. It is played on channel 55 the tube i think for a while now. Not sure if it sill currently shown, but 100% positive it was for awhile..
I am not sure how this revival would work out, I am sure that it has the potential to be great. But I doubt that will be the case, the only comedy besides wheeler (which is inappropriate) is the cma bags with brad, Carrie, Luke, and such which isn’t funny to me in the slightest. Oh yeah Jeff foxworthy too.. But all seems a little dated.
I wish they would have picked up that shooter Jennings show live from cash cabin. That was awesome.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:23 am
Luke’s not funny, but I’ve enjoyed Brad and Carrie in their years of hosting the CMA’s. And I tend to like Brad when he’s at his corniest.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:26 am
Oh, I just remembered when Luke played “Move” immediately after Stapleton and Yoakam at this past CMA Awards. That was hilarious! Okay, it was unintentional and Luke was unawares, but hilarious nonetheless!
February 6, 2017 @ 10:32 am
The success of these shows is not just dependent on the personalities, it is dependent on the writing and production. Bad writing will either ingratiate the personalities to the audience, or expose them.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:21 am
please God don’t let the PCniks get their fangs into this
February 6, 2017 @ 9:44 am
Yeah, this could go any sort of way. I’ve never watched the Nashville show, so I don’t have much point of reference there. Hee Haw was the very definition of “corny.” I have fond memories of my childhood, when the whole family would gather around the old Magnavox, which went up to channel 13. I remember silly jokes and skits, and buxom women bouncing around the cornfield, and some plinky, twangy music. I didn’t really appreciate the music at the time so much, but as an adult, I really grew to appreciate the talent that people like Roy Clark brought to the table.
February 6, 2017 @ 10:17 am
Absolutely!!!!!!! Yes, that could ruin it before it gets off the ground. Spot on, Corncaster. Hee Haw was a part of my childhood and it wasn’t political, it was a family show with cornball humor and great music.But these days humor is under attack if it doesn’t bow to popular media politics. That coupled with the insane hypersensitivity of millenials, it could make the show a bust. Who would host it? My pick would be Marty Stuart, but chances are they would want someone younger. I suppose Brad could work though.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:54 am
I wonder who would makeup a modern day Hee Haw cast.
Brad Paisley is an obvious pick because of his pickin’ and grinnin capabilities.
Elizabeth Cook would be a natural fit.
Maybe Granger Smith’s Earl Dibbles character (He was here Friday. It was a game time decision, but I forgot).
February 6, 2017 @ 7:33 pm
I was just talking about this with a friend: who is currently at the level that Roy Clark and Buck Owens were in the late 70s when they signed up (basically older – but not old – acts who could use the steady paycheck and can tell a joke/actually have a little charisma)? Paisley isn’t coming off the road long enough to tape ever how many eps they will green light for this, and they can’t tape his pieces in advanced because he’ll have to interact with the guests.
The only name I could come up with is Vince Gill.
February 6, 2017 @ 7:47 pm
Hee Haw actually premiered in 1969 and at that time Buck Owens was still one of the biggest acts in country music. By some metrics in fact Owens was the most successful country act of the 1960s. From what I have read he was starting to get burned out by touring and wanted a more stable schedule and that was why he signed up for Hee Haw. He actually left the show in the early 1980s while Roy Clark stayed until the end in the early 1990s.
As for a current performer with how these shows are made it wouldn’t really be that big a time commitment as they could tape a number of episodes in a week or two similar to how game shows like Jeopardy tape a months worth of shows in a week.
Whether they could find someone to front this though I don’t know.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:02 pm
I was reading up on Hee-Haw when putting together this story, and word is the artists would come to Nashville for about two weeks every year and record all the episodes at once. The way they did it was not by recording episodes front to back, but the various segments end to end, and then cut them up into episodes later. It would be a time commitment, but they could do it in a way where it doesn’t completely restrict them like being a judge on a reality show does or something.
February 7, 2017 @ 10:13 am
I could see Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart hosting.
August 1, 2023 @ 6:05 am
That would be cool to have Travis and Marty do it or Brad Paisley would work or Vince Gill or Trace Adkins. And maybe you could get Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the cable guy, and Cledus T. Judd to be cast members.
February 6, 2017 @ 10:15 am
“Hey Blake, I heard you had a great frog huntin’ trip last week!”
“Sure did, Brad! Fired the gun once, and about 15 of ’em croaked!”
(Banjo music intensifies)
February 6, 2017 @ 10:25 am
How ’bout just put the original shows on NetFlix and leave well enough alone.
February 6, 2017 @ 5:59 pm
Does anyone own this show on DVD in any form? A Collector’s Edition (14 DVDs!) was released by Time Life/WEA last year, and I think the reviews were pretty good. I’m still collecting Porter’s show on DVD though… 🙂
February 7, 2017 @ 10:18 am
I have the first episode on DVD, found in the bargain bin at Menards years ago. I’d love to be able to buy the entire series a season at a time.
August 1, 2023 @ 6:10 am
I have the first episode as well
February 6, 2017 @ 7:34 pm
I can only *imagine* the nightmare someone would be living in trying to get all of the music rights issues sorted out for a Netflix run!
February 6, 2017 @ 10:25 am
It could be a fun cool thing but I fear it would be another mainstream country horror show. We will see?
February 6, 2017 @ 10:47 am
get Fallon to do impressions — but no pure re-tread, please, of old Hee Haw
keep the scolds far away, hell, make fun of them — like that snaggle-toothed lady on Hee Haw, the one always vicious for her drunk husband but lovable all the same
the send-ups of bro douches could be good
bring in Mo Pitney!
and Mo Pitney
February 6, 2017 @ 3:45 pm
Nothing more funny or country than fallon!
February 6, 2017 @ 4:33 pm
as a guest, man
put him in the cornfield or have him do some songs
Blake and Brad :: Buck and Roy?
February 6, 2017 @ 7:37 pm
I don’t see Brad coming off the road and being handcuffed to a project for as long as this would require.
Blake, on the other hand…
1) already cozy with the Ryman folks
2) doesn’t give off the vibe of someone that necessarily *loves* performing/the road
3) only became a household name after singing onto The Voice, which leads to…
4) would his Voice contract make him unable to sign onto this? I’m guessing yes.
February 6, 2017 @ 11:51 am
Some things are, perhaps, better left well enough alone….
February 6, 2017 @ 12:46 pm
Most contemporary sitcoms are riddled with not funny sex jokes and ” potty ” humour in attempting to market to that very young Kardashian Kulture in terms of demographic. I really don’t think Hee Haw would stand a chance today unless it did the same …and that , of course , takes away the whole premise and uniqueness of the original approach and vibe . Can you imagine how today’s writer’s would approach an ” Andy Griffith ” or ” Beverly Hillbillies” kind of re-boot ? I’m not sure I’d even WANT to imagine that …..much less watch it . Everything seems so overly reliant on playing the sex card and pushing the moral envelope even further than last year’s show pushed it . We’ve seen that it in the music for years . As long as advertisers are trying to chase and capitalize on a very youthful trend-driven demographic they are at the mercy of that demographic’s short and finicky attention span and the social trends that inform it .
February 6, 2017 @ 12:56 pm
Sitcoms really don’t exist in any kind of recognizable way anymore.
February 6, 2017 @ 4:35 pm
Spot on as usual Albert. I couldn’t phrase it better if I tried!
February 6, 2017 @ 10:44 pm
Very well said, Albert. And speaking of Andy Griffith…We can’t bring Mayberry back to prime time, but if they could find writers who could tell stories like Andy Griffith, Jerry Clower and Jeanne Robertson, they may be able to come up with some good skits for a modern day Hee Haw. With a young daughter, I am appalled by modern sitcoms and have not had cable since she was old enough to watch it. But I’d sure appreciate a “wholesome,” story telling, modern comedy version of Hee Haw. As someone mentioned, writing is going to be critical.
February 7, 2017 @ 10:35 am
There is a modern rural sitcom, it’s called “The Ranch” and is a Netflix original. It’s funny, but definitely not family-friendly by an stretch of the imagination.
February 6, 2017 @ 1:46 pm
Considering how audiences have gobbled up the offerings of RFD-TV and Heartland (Larry’s Country Diner, Ray Stevens’ Nashville, The Marty Stuart Show), a Hee-Haw revival would be a hit if it’s done tastefully and in the essence of the original. The truth is that most younger audiences would not tune into it, but it could bring in the older demographic in droves. Of course, advertisers always want a younger demographic, but RFD-TV and Heartland have reaffirmed the value of the older demographic.
February 6, 2017 @ 7:50 pm
Those shows do great numbers…for RFD-TV. If the numbers were equal to “great numbers” on any other channel, they would move in a heartbeat to a channel that more than two hundred people nationwide actually realize they have.
February 6, 2017 @ 7:55 pm
I live in a top 15 media market and am a subscriber to the largest cable company in the country and RFD isn’t even offered. They offer, I don’t know, 300+ channels but not that one. So their reach must not be that great.
February 6, 2017 @ 8:30 pm
Living in Nashville, where RFD tapes probably half of their original content, and you have to search for it on the local cable provider. It’s in a specialty bundle package, basically.
February 7, 2017 @ 9:23 am
That’s wild that RFD isn’t offered in a lot of larger markets. Being in a small town with a rather limited basic cable package (80 or so channels), RFD is offered as a standard channel. I guess the rural demographic here plays a part in why it’s offered here but not readily in larger cities. Also, Isaac made a valid point about RFD in comparison to other networks; if RFD was the absolute best place to be, you wouldn’t have Ray Stevens moving to PBS.
February 6, 2017 @ 2:38 pm
If Marty and his Superlatives were to take over the Buck Owen/Buckaroos role and Elizabeth Cook as co-host, the music part would be good. However televised comedy today is very different than it was in the original Hee Haw days. Life in the South as they joked about it then is different too, so I am not sure how the comedy part would play out.
February 6, 2017 @ 4:38 pm
quick cutting suits shorter attention spans
every age has its collection of personality types and archetypes
+1 on Cook, she’s aces and could host
let’s crowd-source a list of social types
February 6, 2017 @ 4:37 pm
I have a friend who was on it way back when.
He’s in his upper 70’s.
Whoever is on it needs to know his or her way around a farm.
Not all hat and no cattle.
February 6, 2017 @ 4:53 pm
Things are so different now from the way they were back then, the new show would be unrecognizable except for the name.
February 6, 2017 @ 5:22 pm
I fear this would just turn into a bro country advertisement with lots of bits about dirt roads and tailgates. I can see the skits now with guests Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell before they ‘perform’ a special duet of ‘Kick The Dust Up’.
What the suits will see as country life will be far from any kind of accuracy.
Might be best to leave well enough alone.
February 6, 2017 @ 5:50 pm
i thought the urban pioneers were already working on this? high on the hog? sometime around march?
February 6, 2017 @ 6:09 pm
FDRTV Sunday nights.
Now that football season is over, back to my Sunday night routine.
February 6, 2017 @ 9:05 pm
Speaking of CMT Trig, have you caught wind of the Sun Records show coming out soon? Could be good…
February 9, 2017 @ 3:34 pm
Having seen CMT’s idea of “entertainment”, I’m less than excited for a “modernized” HeeHaw. Nothing will ever beat the original, or match it. Leave it alone. Run reruns, but don’t try to bring it back as a new show. It won’t work.
April 11, 2017 @ 10:57 pm
I remember watching the show when I was a teenager. And back then, entertainment was a lot cleaner than it is today. Hee Haw needs to come back. I rather hear the really old songs.
January 3, 2018 @ 12:49 am
If this comes back banjo has to be front and center. 4+ banjo players as cast members playing old time songs like Stringbean, Grandpa Jones, Roy Clark, and Bobby Thompson did. (Where do I audition?)
February 20, 2019 @ 5:24 pm
Well, they “saved” Betty White with a “campaign” so why not do the same for Hee Haw? Bombard these producers etc. They could do a “trial run” even on Fox or maybe Netflix
November 8, 2021 @ 6:23 am
Where on earth will we find the unique characters and skills that made the original series so successful. The humour was innocent and the music joyful.