TV Classic Variety Show HEE HAW Delivers Boxed Set of Laughs

The Kornfield Kounty citizens and their classic cornpone routines -- not to mention some of the most outstanding country music performances ever recorded -- are now available (at least in part) in this 14-disc collector's edition from Time-Life, proving again that picking and grinning never go out of style. Buck Owens and Roy Clark kick off and wrap up each episode as well as give their own musical performances and comedy contributions, standing alongside some of the legends of country music who guest-starred on the series. And it's always heartening to see the musical guests partake in the comedy aspects -- it humanized some of these towering figures. Seeing Johnny Cash participate in the silly, running gag song "You Were Gone" is one of the highlights of the long-running series, and one of the many skits included in this boxed set.

Fittingly, the 6-disc subset, THE HEE HAW COLLECTION, kicks things off with the June 1969 pilot episode, featuring music from Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, and Sheb Wooley (who was Weird way before Al Yankovic made lunchmeat of The Knack's hit song). The collection also delivers classic performances from the likes of Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr., Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings, Donna Fargo, and others -- not to mention numbers from cast regulars Owens, Clark, the Hagers, Grandpa Jones, Lulu Roman, and the unforgettable Hee Haw Honeys who set the fashion trend Daisy Duke would pick up later (and yes, I know they stole it from Daisy Yokum).

Also in this collector's edition is the six-disc KORNFIELD KLASSICS, delivering more of the same, with performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Roger Miller, Tanya Tucker, Killty Wells, Freddy Fender and Johnny Cash, plus more of "What's for Supper, Grandpa," more cornfield cut-ups, more fence-slat slappin', and plenty of good old country laughter.

This set comes with a third subset, HEE HAW LAFFS, which includes several vignettes as well as all the bonus interviews and features.

It's worth noting that COLLECTION and KORNFIELD KLASSICS have been release separately. It is also worth noting that those releases were truncated. I have them both, and compared contents, and those earlier releases have less than half the episode content than this boxed set. So don't cut yourself short thinking that you may already have this in a different form.

So pull up a rocker, kick your shoes off, and settle back for some down-home fun courtesy of the whole Hee Haw gang!