The knock on musicians appearing on variety shows for years was that they often had to lip-sync their performances, probably because they were on tour, and needed to save their voices for the live shows. However, in recent times, it's gotten to the point where some artists actually lip-sync in concert, too, because management has so much invested in them, and....!
For all the complaining and drama from today's fans, there was a time where Joe Average could get up on stage and do it himself. Lip-sync, that is.
Jimmy Fallon's hit series, Lip Sync Battle, airing on the Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV), wouldn't be where it is if it wasn't for an 80's series that has spawned other like series, including Battle.
Puttin' on The Hits ran for four seasons (1984-8), co-produced by Dick Clark (American Bandstand) and Chris Bearde (The Gong Show, Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Andy Williams Show, etc.), distributed through MCA, meaning that NBC-Universal and/or Clark's estate owns the show today.
Locally, Hits was slotted after the early evening news on Saturday nights, and was heavily promoted because the show's host, Allen Fawcett, hailed from the 518 (specifically, Burnt Hills). Unfortunately, I'm not sure if there were enough contestants from the home district that got on the show.
Complete episodes are not available, just excerpts, like this one, from the series finale in 1988.
No rating. I didn't see enough of the show due to other commitments on Saturdays, including summer reruns.
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