And You’re a Plugger Living in the Twilight Zone if Your Television RECEIVES The Lawrence Welk Show

Cidu Bill on Dec 6th 2009

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Filed in Bill Bickel, Lawrence Welk, Pluggers, comic strips, comics, humor | 23 responses so far

23 Responses to “And You’re a Plugger Living in the Twilight Zone if Your Television RECEIVES The Lawrence Welk Show”

  1. Greg Dec 6th 2009 at 03:51 pm 1

    Reruns are broadcast weekly on PBS here in Seattle. I assume the same is true across the country.

  2. Aaron Dec 6th 2009 at 04:35 pm 2

    As of about five years ago, I watched the Lawrence Welk Show with my grandpa. Wikipedia says reruns are still broadcast around the country on PBS.

    On a side note, Wikipedia says that some the main sponsors of LWS were “Geritol (a vitamin and mineral supplement), Sominex (sleeping pills), Aqua Velva (men’s aftershave) and Serutan (a bulk-forming laxative)”. This combination is know in some circles as The Plugger Pantry.

  3. Aaron Dec 6th 2009 at 04:37 pm 3

    Crap, that should be “known in some circles.”

  4. David A. Rooney Dec 6th 2009 at 05:31 pm 4

    Wunnerful, wunnerful. And-a now, on-a with-a the jok-um.

  5. MoWatt Dec 6th 2009 at 06:30 pm 5

    Lawrence Welk still airs frequently on one of the PBS outlets in this little Plugger backwater known as Los Angeles, CA.

  6. John Small Berries Dec 6th 2009 at 10:31 pm 6

    Serutan. It’s “Pluggers” spelled backwards!

  7. mitch4 Dec 6th 2009 at 10:55 pm 7

    And Serutan inspired Subaru which, if seen in the mirror, is “U R A Bus”. And they did that well ahead of the popularity of texting.

  8. Cidu Bill Dec 6th 2009 at 11:51 pm 8

    Okay, so here’s what I’m wondering: My grandparents watched Lawrence Welk, but they were born at the turn of the twentieth century. Who’s Welk’s audience now? Is there some sort of rule that says when you hit the age of 60, regardless of when you were born, you suddenly develop a liking for Lawrence Welk?

  9. NoAlias Dec 6th 2009 at 11:58 pm 9

    No, I think the rule is “The people who watch Lawrence Welk on PBS are the ones who donate money to the stations.” Coincidentally, the people who donate money to the PBS stations are generally older.

  10. Cidu Bill Dec 7th 2009 at 12:11 am 10

    Noalias, that still doesn’t explain why a baby boomer hitting the age of 60 should suddenly like music that my grandparents liked. Is this genetically connected to nearsightedness or something?

  11. Singapore Bill Dec 7th 2009 at 12:33 am 11

    Weekly on WNED Buffalo too.

  12. Marshal Dec 7th 2009 at 03:35 am 12

    Welk did more than just polkas. I would think his music would appeal to
    anyone who likes big band music. Also there are still a lot of WWII survivors
    and Welk’s music would have been popular around that time.

  13. John B. Dec 7th 2009 at 05:54 am 13

    The Richmond, VA PBS station still shows old Lawrence Welk shows (ugh). So that’s probably why the Pluggers cartoonist was watching it.

  14. chuckers Dec 7th 2009 at 06:30 am 14

    It doesn’t say that you “like” the LWS. It says you just know the words to all of the songs. Pluggers have been indoctrinated.

  15. Rasheed Dec 7th 2009 at 10:47 am 15

    I think Welk had a slight uptick in popularity after the Will Ferrell episode of SNL in May. Fred Armisen was Welk (”Tanka you!”)

  16. DevilDan Dec 7th 2009 at 11:10 am 16

    We need to look again at the format of the Pluggers feature. It doesn’t say “You can only be a plugger if X,” it says “If X, then you’re a plugger.”

  17. Elyrest Dec 7th 2009 at 12:32 pm 17

    I’m a boomer who’s not yet 60 and I still have a fondness for Lawrence Welk that’s a holdover from my childhood. I liked the dancing with Bobby Burgess, Norma Zimmer on the piano and Myron Floren on the accordion. Embarrassingly I didn’t even have to look those names up they are just buried in my brain with the lyrics to old commercials. It’s easy to make fun of Welk, but he was successful at what he did and people loved him.

  18. paperboy Dec 7th 2009 at 02:18 pm 18

    It’s a conceit to think that no young people liked Lawrence Welk when it aired originally. (And if you don’t like it now, you can have fun imagining it’s a parody. Not big fun, but if nothin’ else is on…)

  19. Bob Dec 7th 2009 at 04:16 pm 19

    Nothing like the champagne music - (finger in mouth) POP!

  20. mitch4 Dec 7th 2009 at 06:30 pm 20

    I’m holding out for the revival of Kay Kyser and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge.

  21. Mark in Boston Dec 7th 2009 at 10:17 pm 21

    STU-DENTS!

  22. Keera Dec 8th 2009 at 03:07 pm 22

    I grew up watching Lawrence Welk. As a kid. Usually on my paternal grandparents’ fuzzy TV because reception in the desert sucked. The music is good, and sometimes, in this world, it’s wunnerful to be able to escape to a nice dose of innocence and good talent.

  23. thejaguar Dec 25th 2009 at 08:01 pm 23

    My God… Look at all the bubbles!

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