Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery according to an old saying. If that is true then CBS was about to be flattered by ABC. CBS had success with Sonny and Cher and they were still having some success with Tony Orlando and Dawn. So ABC signed The Captain and Tennille to star in their own variety show. The Captain was the stage name of Daryl Dragon. He played keyboards while Toni Tennille, his wife, sang. Mr. Dragon was either a former Beach Boy or was a former member of their back up band. It depends on how you look at it and who is telling the story. I remember a punch line to a joke on the show had him dump sand from his shoe showing he had worked with the Beach Boys. The duo had their biggest hit at that time in 1975 with Love Will Keep Us Together. That was the song they used as their theme. The show started on September 20, 1976.
Tennille was a white bread version of Cher and the Captain was a very quiet version of Sonny. I think you can count the number of words he said on the show on your fingers. For awhile it became a running gag on the show as to how quiet he was. An example of how this ran was when Dick Clark was on the show. Mr. Clark was depressed with the quality of music on the pop charts. They started talking about the good songs on the charts that year and Dick Clark’s mood started to improve. Then the Captain mentioned the song Disco Duck. Mr. Clark became depressed again and then we understood why the Captain should keep quiet. It was better to let him show off how well he could play the piano.
The show was not the answer to Sonny and Cher like ABC had hoped. It was cancelled in March of 1977. The duo kept the hits coming on the record charts for a few more years. In the 80’s Tennille tried her hand at a daytime talk show but it didn’t last very long.
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