A Salute to Hee Haw

A Salute to Hee Haw [Time Life – $29.99]

Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Grandpa Jones, Junior Samples… for almost 30 years, Cornfield County was home to country music’s best and brightest. Mimicking the comic interludes that peppered the original Grand Old Opry broadcasts, Hee Haw took the variety show and instilled it with a sense of homespun rural ridiculousness. The humor was hackneyed and tended toward the juvenile joke level, but the cast’s overwhelming earnestness — and the regular hit parade of superstar performers — made every episode a hilarious hootenanny. Though complete series sets are probably never going to reach the DVD medium, fans can still revisit some of the show’s best moments with this fascinating multi-disc set. While not the cream of the cornpone crop, this still makes for some fun family viewing.