The Ken Berry "WOW" Show

Ken Berry found fame on the sit-com F-Troop but that lasted only 2 years. In 1968 Ken Berry joined the cast of the Andy Griffith Show as farmer and part time town councilman Sam Jones. When Griffith left the show Berry took over the lead role while the rest of the cast remained. The name was changed to Mayberry R.F.D. (RFD is a postal term for Rural Farm District) In a way it was the same show and in another way it was a spin-off. They did something like this with All in the Family when they changed locations to Archie’s Bar and the show became Archie Bunker’s Place. Mayberry R.F.D. ran until 1971 when CBS decided to cancel all the shows they had that appealed to rural audiences. Most of those shows were in the top 20 but CBS canceled them anyway. In 1972 CBS was looking for a summer replacement for the Sonny and Cher show. They aired the Ken Berry “WOW” Show on July 15, 1972. Most people knew Ken as only an actor. With this series he got to show off his skills as a dancer and singer. Ken got his start in show business as a dancer. As a singer, dancer and actor he was a walking variety show by himself. The show starred many fine performers like future Charlie’s Angels Cheryl Ladd and a man who seemed like he was going to be a permanent member of variety shows, Steve Martin. Of course he went on to bigger things near the end of the 70’s. Mostly the series lampooned current movies and TV shows. The acts were supposed to be designed to make you say WOW! I have always liked watching Ken Berry in almost anything and this show was enjoyable to watch but Mr. Berry’s charisma was not enough. The show ended on August 12th of that year.
Mr. Berry has his own site and I wrote to him to there to ask permission to use a photo of him from this show. I have not heard from him in time for this posting so I have used the TV Guide photo from his Mayberry R.F.D. days that you see above . You can get to Mr. Berry's site here.