Shark Bytes

Man, I had forgotten all about this show. After YouTubing a few clips, I now see that the girls weren't nearly as gorgeous as I remember them being when I was twelve. Attractive, but not that great. And like every other 70's-early 80's music/variety show, cheesy as all hell. But we still watched this thing every week- more due to one television, three channels of choice, and a dad who was a fan of country music.

It never jumped. Barbara is unjustly forgotten today.

There was one little sore spot with me: when the show did that salute to the '50s, they did "Wipeout" with Barb on sax. "Wipeout" didn't get on the charts 'til actually 1963.

What happened to the singer's and dancer's that Louise Mandrell had in her shows. I saw Rusty Miller in the Mircale and I saw Matt George and David Headlaw in the Blackbear Jambaree. I hope to hear from you soon.



Thank you for putting on a good show when you had the theater Louise.



Thanks again,



Melinda Andrews

You could tell that all three sisters really loved and cared about each other. All three did their best and should be commended!!

If all you do is sit around and write mean things about other people who are probably a thousand times more talented, smart and attractive than you.... get a life. And for the idiot who said Irlene was ugly: Jealous much?
What if one of their family members got online and read this stuff? You could really hurt someones feelings...

BTW the show never JTS.

never jumped. barbara was IT at the time, and for those who didn't see it air originally, have NO IDEA what talent is. It also showcased Barbara's talent in all the instruments she could play. She was definitely an entertainer.

This show JTS the first day. Barbara and Louise are not near as beautiful and talented as they think. They were always bragging about how great they were. Irlene was great looking and didnt seem to know it.

Irlene was stupid! Sadly, she was playing herself. She had no talent for music or acting. I guess the other two got all of the talent and none was left for her.

People who think this show jumped the shark probably never saw it when it aired originally. When you watch an older show today, one tends to think of it in terms of what is on TV today. NBC wanted to keep this show on the air so much that it made it extremely difficult for Barbara to get out of the 5 year contract she had with them. Even with her health as the reason, NBC was very difficult on this matter. Barbara was the key to this show. Both Irlene and Louise were all for doing the show but said they believed Barbara would never agree to do the show as she did not want to do a regular TV show. But, she decided to do it to help her sisters, primarily, with some conditions. Louise and Irlene were pretty green on this show. They did not have the natural stage presence that Barbara had then and still has now. But, their inexperience (call it what you like) helped to make the concept work. NBC is the reason the show eventually added some non country guests, something which Barbara was not totally for. NBC is the reason the show deviated from its country and gospel basis. I do not agree with the comments that this show made Barbara rich. She was already well on her way in country music and while the show helped her get into the area outside of country, I believe she was doing just fine without it. She did more for spreading country music into the main stream audience than the show did for her. Barbara was at the top when that terrible accident occurred. The accident changed everything in terms of what Barbara would have gone on to do. The music scene was not the same when she returned to performing and she was also not able to step back in as if the wreck had never happened. That is life, but, it also hurt her career in the process. She still had a career, still did marvelously well and all of that but who knows what she would have been able to accomplish had that wreck never happened. Barbara is also a very genuine person. What you see is what you get. Fame and fortune have not affected her in terms of how she treats people. She truly enjoys being with all kinds of people and treats everyone the same. You do not find this a lot with those who achieve fame and fortune.

I liked this show, thought the Mandrell Sisters were very talented. For those who say Irlene had no talent, she was a good drummer, a good dancer, the best comedienne of the group, she got the most laughs from me out of the three with her comments, as for her singing, she wasn't bad, true she wasn't a good as Louise and Barbara, who both sang every week. But there's a reason for that, of the three Irlene wasn't a professional singer, she was a model before agreeing to do this show with her sisters. The few times she did sing, weren't that bad, I've heard worse, whole lot worse. But as I pointed out she wasn't the professional singer and had no desire to sing, so why rank on her for not being that good a singer, when she never wanted to be one. Anyway, I say it never jumped, was never given a chance to unfortunately because Barbara Mandrell found the pressure of doing a weekly series too much along with her other obligations, I can understand that it was just too bad because I did like this show.

I don't think it ever jumped the shark. Sure it was corny at times but it did what it was sent to do. Entertain!! I have tapes that I recorded from the early 90's of the show and now my daughter and I love watching them once a month!

I don't think the show ever jumped. It had to end, because the girls worked so hard it was exhausting to them, especially Barbara. This show NEEDS to come to DVD, as fast as possible, these three ladies, inspired my love for music and for that I thank them very much.

It never jumped. This show was by far the best variety show I have ever seen. Nothing even comes close. The gospel numbers, Truck Shackley and The Texas Critters puppets, the instruments the girls played and the dance numbers appealed to all audiences. I think Barbara Mandrell is ahead of her time. I just wish this show was still on!

NEVER JUMPED was the best variety show of all time. I have loved Barbara Mandrell since that show came on in 80 81 she defines what a true entertainer really is. Her sisters were great too I love they way they interacted with each other there were some great bits like how they put a pie or cake in Barbara's face that was funny. AH yes I also Loved the Puppets that really gave a great twist to the show. I loved how each puppet kinda resembled a famous country star at the time (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings) that was cool. When it was over i did shed a tear..come on I was only 13, Barbara was my Britney Spears and Jlo of the time. I too wish they would release a DVD box set it would be the only time that I would buy a box set of a TV show come on bring them out.

I don't know how a comic variety show COULD jump the shark, unless you just don't like the format in general. (Well, there was that one time when the girls played a melody on TELEPHONES...) For the previous poster who opined that the Mandrells' feelings would be hurt by some of the caustic criticisms here, do you really think any of the ladies have ever HEARD of this site? Just in case they do check it out...you're all great, especially Louise!