The Flip Wilson Show

1970
The Flip Wilson Show

Seasons & Episodes

  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1

EP1 Buddy Hackett, Ruth Buzzi, Richard Pryor, William Attmore II Sep 20, 1973

Flip tells about Leroy the Terrible and gives his guests a long intro. Child musician William Attmore does several routines with Flip. Flip shares a hospital room with Buddy Hackett with Richard as an agent, Ruth the nurse.

EP2 The Pointer Sisters, Monty Hall, Sandy Duncan, William Windom Sep 27, 1973

Flip and the Pointer Sisters reminisce with the siblings singing about the good old days. Monty serves up Let's Make A Deal with Windom as announcer and Geraldine a contestant. The Pointers return for a rousing scat number.

EP3 Richard Pryor, Booby Sandler, Ralph Edwards, Nat Purefoy Oct 04, 1973

Flip tries to impress a lady with outrageous tales but Pryor, as his friend Calvin, starts telling even more outlandish stories. Ralph Edwards hosts a This is Your Life with Flip as Geraldine being the show's focus.

EP4 Redd Foxx, Joan Rivers Oct 11, 1973

Joan Rivers acts as a superstitious gambler who wants Flip's seat at the blackjack table which he's reluctant to give up. Then Flip becomes a street painter trying to make it big with Redd as his subject. Helen sings.

EP5 Leonard Nimoy, Tonald Mingo Oct 18, 1973

Plot of this episode is not specified yet.
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EP6 Burns & Schreiber, Falumi Prince, Harry Belafonte Oct 25, 1973

Flip is a street tie salesman and enlists Harry Belafonte to bring in customers. Harry then performs a soulful ballad. Flip becomes Geraldine, going on a Caribbean vacation where she engages with Burns and Schreiber.

EP7 Slappy White, Carol Lawrence, Robert Goulet Nov 01, 1973

Flip does corny vaudeville routines with guests Slappy and Robert then Carol Lawrence does an old time burlesque dance. Carol recreates with Flip, her husband Robert and audience members a Hollywood production number.

EP8 Lee Grant, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Andrew Johnson, Hank Aaron Nov 15, 1973

Flip explains baseball to Hank Aaron then he directs Lee Grant, a supposedly ordinary housewife, in a TV ad. Hank appears at a BBQ joint run by Flip and Gladys. Gladys and her Pips groove to "Midnight Train to Georgia."

EP9 Tim Conway, Richard Pryor & Roman K Nov 29, 1973

Flip tells of a man trying to get his mother-in-law to leave. Mental illusionist Romark performs with audience participation. Flip, Tim Conway, and Richard Pryor do improve with one chair as a prop.

EP10 Tim Conway, Stiller & Meara, Aretha Franklin Dec 13, 1973

Flip opens with a Reverend Freddie story, then deals with Tim as a beserk fast food clown. Jerry Stiller is a dentist with Anne Meara his reluctant patient. Aretha Franklin soulfully croons "Mr. Pain."

EP11 Burns & Schreiber, The Fifth Dimension Dec 20, 1973

Flip, in his Reverend Leroy persona, visits old friends Burns and Schreiber who are now monks. Flip tries to include himself in a Fifth Dimension number but they perform "Flashback " without him.

EP12 Anthony Newley, Jack Klugman, Roscoe Lee Brown, Franklin Ajaye Dec 27, 1973

Flip, Anthony, and Roscoe Lee do a bit about mistaken identity at a restaurant. Later Flip is a horse trainer that needs to substitute one horse for another with Roscoe Lee's help.

EP13 Philip Paley, Ted Knight, Chuck Norris Jan 03, 1974

Chuck Norris's appearance is solely as the karate instructor accompanying a 9 year old black belt who interacts with Flip. Chuck is introduced as his instructor and that is all. Look for quick shot of Michael Jackson (with afro) sitting in audience.

EP14 Roy Clark, Bobby Sandler, Melba Moore Jan 10, 1974

Roy is a customer at Flip's greasy spoon diner. Then Roy sings two songs including "Rolling in my Sweet Baby's Arms" with the Clark Family Band. Flip tries to romance Melba in a record store then she belts out "Don't Rain On My Parade."

EP15 Dennis Weaver, O.J. Simpson, Len Glasgow, Ernie Robinson Jan 17, 1974

Flip opens and closes with a heart felt speech. Flip appears Geraldine at a Las Vegas wedding chapel run by Dennis Weaver. OJ is TJ substituting for Killer as the groom.

EP16 Steve Lawrence, Richard Pryor, Kenny Livingston, Keyy Lester Feb 07, 1974

Flip does a risque routine about ancient Rome and a special berry. Flip helps best friend Richard with relationship problems when he shows up at 3 in the morning. Steve Lawrence joins Flip's carpool because of the energy crisis.

EP17 Tony Randall, Bob & Ray, Lena Horne Feb 21, 1974

Don Adams depicts a compulsive gambler who asks Flip to hold $2,000 for him and not return it no matter how much he begs. Redd does his stand up then Flip joins him for a Q&A with the audience.

EP18 Don Adams, Redd Foxx, Mac Davis Feb 28, 1974

Don Adams depicts a compulsive gambler who asks Flip to hold $2,000 for him and not return it no matter how much he begs. Redd does his stand up then Flip joins him for a Q&A with the audience.
7.4| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 17 September 1970 Ended
Producted By: NBC
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

The Flip Wilson Show is an hour long variety show that aired in the U.S. on NBC from September 17, 1970 to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs starring a black person in the title role to become highly successful with a white audience. Specifically, it was the first successful network variety series starring an African American. During its first two seasons, its Nielsen ratings made it the nation's second most watched show. The show consisted of many skits over an hour. It also broke new ground in American television by using a 'Theatre-in-the-Round' stage format, with the audience seated on all sides of a circular performance area. Wilson was most famous for creating the role of Geraldine Jones, a sassy, modern woman who had a boyfriend named Killer. Flip also created the role of Reverend Leroy, who was the minister of the Church of What's Happening Now!. New parishioners were wary of coming to the church as it was hinted that Reverend Leroy was a con artist. Wilson popularized such catchphrases as "What you see is what you get", and "The devil made me do it!".

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Reviews

raysond The Flip Wilson Show was a milestone for television during the 70's. It featured a African-American entertainer as the host and as the comic with a variety of special guest stars that appear on the show weekly. There was a time when the television air-waves were filled with Musical/Variety shows. In the early years of television,Sid Caesar,Milton Berle and The Cavalcade Of Stars were the hottest tickets on the tube. These were the shows that featured favorite celebrities in musical numbers,brilliantly written sketched comedy,and showed off more playful sides of themselves than audiences would normally have seen before. NBC did the experimental format of giving a black entertainer his own show in the decade of 1950's television,and basically worked very well in some markets,but not necessary so in parts of the Southern states. This was during the 1950's. The format would resurface later on in the late 1960's and early 1970's.However,NBC tried this during the 1950's with "The Nat King Cole Show",which featured television's first-ever African-American host that gave an array of special guest stars to boot as well as Nat King Cole's singing and dancing abilities as well which ran for one season due to the several stations that did not want to see a black man do a weekly television series,and this was definely so throughout the 1950's.During the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's,the musical-comedy-variety torch was carried high by the likes of Dan Rowan,Dick Martin, Carol Burnett,Sonny and Cher,Tony Orlando and Dawn,and of course Flip Wilson. It was Flip's infectious smile and slick comedic timing made him a fast favorite with audiences and from there with network executives over at NBC. "The Flip Wilson Show" debut on NBC-TV in September of 1970,and within its first season was the highest rated show on television,second to another successful NBC variety program as well,"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". But more than his guest stars,or his own personae,he was a showcase talent within himself and it shows with some of the outrageous characters he portrayed on his show.Here with the talents of Flip Wilson as the host of the show,this was a successful hit and also drew huge ratings as the most watched variety show on television during it four year run on the Peacock network,and one of the most successful variety shows of the early 1970's. NBC showcased his talents early on,giving him his own special, "The Flip Wilson Special" in 1969. Based on enthusiatic reviews and high ratings,this was the launching pad for his own weekly variety show,which ran for four seasons,from 1970-1974. And it was not to be missed when it came on every evening. Never before has an African-American hosted a successful variety program that won two EMMYS during its run on prime-time,and not to mention other awards during its time on the air. Here you have Flip's most memorable characters which consisted of the fast talking,flashy dressing,saucy alter-ego Geraldine Jones. If not for Wilson's Geraldine,we would have been without some catchy phrases as "The devil made me do it!",and "What you see is what you get",not to mention other characters as well as such as "Rev. Cliophis",and so much more. However,the laughs and the ratings didn't last long when the show was cancelled in 1974. A true master genius of his time.Recently,the episodes appeared on TV Land.If you want to know where the comedic talent of where Martin Lawrence, Steve Harvey,Jamie Foxx,Cedric The Entertainer,Bill Bellamy,and Dave Chappelle,Bernie Mac,and Steve Harvey? Because of such greats like Flip Wilson as their idol,the world of professional comedy would not have exist.
occupant-1 Not only a groundbreaking variety offer for the early '70s, this blast from many of our pasts preserves appearances of guest stars that later made it big, in addition to showcasing the Geraldine routines of Wilson he honed in clubs and on Tonight show guest hosting gigs. This sort of thing is cable's promise: since most new stuff seems to be utter garbage, the multiplicity of pay channels can (potentially) mine the past for all the programming that ever bested the latest levels of drivel.
hillari This show was the first major variety show hosted by an African-American (NBC had tried before in the 1950's with Nat King Cole, but the racial attitudes of the time doomed it to failure). The late, great Wilson was funny. His humor came out of situations and people's personality quirks; Wilson depended little on racial humor, which is probably why his appeal was so across-the-board. One of my favorite bits was the funky handshake that was done at least once during each episode. My favorite character, outside of the sassy Geraldine, was the Rev. Cleothis Wilson, pastor of the Church of What's Happening Now. Another bit Wilson used always involved meeting a woman for something naughty: "Meet me in the booth, in the corner, in the back, in the dark." New school comedians owe a lot to Flip Wilson.
D.mented One The Funniest Shows I have ever seen. I now watch The Re runs on TV Land and love it when the infamous Gereldean says "What you see is What you Get!"