This is a testament to the relative stability of the cosmos. This should have theoretically torn a hole in space-time, ending the universe as we know it. Yet here we are. Remarkable.
Are these skaters the same young women from Slap Shot? Which one knew Ogie Ogilthorpe?
The skaters seem to be the Rockettes, or at least, they are doing the Rockette’s schtick with the kickline. Impressive to do that on skates, I think.
I remember that we pretty much had to watch this show as kids, seeing as how they hadn’t invented cable tv yet. I never liked just the Donny and Marie numbers. I preferred the ones with the entire Osmond clan because some of the other brothers were funny looking, and thus more actually entertaining, whereas Donny and Marie were so darn perfect.
to the .gif bank…
It tore a hole in me…
I wonder who did those opticals? They look Xanadu-inspired but I’m pretty sure they weren’t done by the same people.
Just another reason why 1978 sucked, @Melizmatic. 
Such a cute couple.
Trippy white people created by a cosmic bubble popping.
Interesting how Bieber-esque Donny looked back then. Also interesting that the applauding crowd at the beginning is a video effect.
Seems like this show must have been a weekly stress test for time-space. A few minutes into S1E1 on youtube, Donny, Marie, Lee Majors, and Vincent Price dressed as Frankenstein a la “Young Frankenstein” sing “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. The universe survived, but my head just exploded.
They did have years of practice – just compare to their totally amateurish 1976 number…
Oh, god. I can’t believe I’m going there and I know this…but, wasn’t the 1978 a reboot of their earlier country/rock 'n roll show? Except with ice skaters?
The skaters seem to be the Rockettes, or at least, they are doing the Rockette’s schtick with the kickline. Impressive to do that on skates, I think.
A kickline in skates is rhythmically thrusting sharp bladed instruments in the air and hoping they stay put on the feet of the kickers and that there is nobody directly in front of them. I think in North Korea they use it as a form of execution.
Lol. If I recall correctly, it was the one on the end.
She was “a little bit country” and he was “a little bit rock and roll” and I think that on this episode, both of those “little bits” went fully recessive.
Again, don’t blame me; I was only 3.
The only album I even had access to back then was J5.
However, I do agree that Donnie and Marie are totally suckadocious; and I don’t know how they were ever a thing…
They were 18 (Marie) and 20 (Donny) at the time. Jeebus.
I have one memory of watching the show as a kid:
[Donny, for some un-remembered reason, has a whistle around his neck, and is driving everybody crazy blowing it.]
Donny: Rome wasn’t built in a day; but with one of these, I coulda done it!
The things that stick with you from childhood…
I can’t help but think this is what Baker and Fagen had in mind all along.
