Barbara Mandrell And The Mandrell Sisters

Storyline

Country music superstar Barbara Mandrell hosted this Sid and Marty Krofft-produced music-variety series with her younger sisters, Louise and Irelene. Also helping out was Truck Shackley & the Texas Critters, a group of Krofft puppets that included five musicians and a dog. While most of the show's material centered on comedy sketches (including a regular play depicting the sisters' youths), the meat of the show remained rooted in country music. Each week, a well-established country star (e.g., Dolly Parton, Larry Gatlin, Charley Pride, the Statler Brothers and Marty Robbins) and an up-and-coming act of the era (including later superstar acts Alabama, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner) made appearances, playing their biggest and current hits. The show played off the success of Barbara Mandrell's fast-exploding country career, which included sell-out concerts and a string of No. 1 hits (most notably, "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" and "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool"); in fact, the Country Music Association named her Entertainer of the Year in 1980 and 1981. Louise Mandrell had some top 10 country hits of her own in the early- and mid-1980s.