I cannot add much more to what has been said, save a few things. An indication of the quality of this show could have been gleaned from a TV Guide promo. A photo showed two dialog balloons above the stars heads:
Jeff: You girls are the biggest thing in Japan. Mie or Kei: Oh no, Jeff! The biggest thing in Japan is Godzilla!
This show was pretty awful, but it may be slightly unfair to single it out, for it was merely part of a horrible trend of the time. Television did what it could in the early days to be what it was trying to supplant, news, movie AND substitute for live theater, hence, the variety show. There were some people that either surrounded themselves with talent (Ed Sullivan) or featured talented and versatile casts (Your Show of Shows/Caesar's Hour or The Carol Burnett Show). By the late seventies, if you had one or two top forty songs, you got a variety show! This would include this show AND the show that featured the Starland Vocal Band ("Afternoon Delight").
So, instead of jumping on the "how bad was this show!" bandwagon, let's look at what happened to some of the performers afterward.
Sid Caesar - A legend, to be sure, but reading his autobiography one finds that he did what he could to succeed. He played Mie and Kei's father, using his Japanese double-talk. In one sketch, with mime and double talk, he berated how they dressed and during rehearsal they looked down with shame, a genuine reaction. That takes some skills. The other interesting fact is that some time later, he mentions a show that he did not get a part in and he also felt that the character would be limiting. That show was "Cheers".
Jeff Altman - Like Roger Kabler (if you remember "Rhythm and Blues" I empathize), a good comic in a bad situation. Show biz in general suffers from the malaise of "if it worked once...". Altman was/is a solid stand-up comic, but not equipped to the variety show format, a style that didn't fit Bill Cosby, either.
Jim Varney - A sadly underrated actor. I was no fan of the onslaught of "Ernest" movies, but "Hey Vern, It's Ernest", his TV show featured a glimpse of his talent. He played a drill sergeant, a very frumpy matron and a scary villain-type, all quite convincingly.
So, yes the show was bad but most any endeavor has an upside. As a matter of fact, in the "Starland Vocal Band" one cast member sat on a throne giving out comedy pronouncements. He hated it down to his doublet, but he eventually went on to having his own show, which proved wildly successful, so hats off to David Letterman!
