I kinda can’t believe that for the first couple minutes I didn’t know what song they were gonna play.
The Ramones on Sha Na Na makes a lot more sense than Sha Na Na at Woodstock.
History takes time; we don’t always know in the moment who will not merely rise to the top but also stay there.
Can someone explain this show to me? I was in college at the time and have NO knowledge it even existed. As far as I remember, Bowzer was relegated to guest-starring on Hollywood Squares and such by that time.
Standard music/comedy sketch show like Sonny & Cher, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Donny & Marie, etc, etc. and thanks for making me feel not so old.
But I remember all those shows. And back then, there were only a handful of networks, so it’s not like not having premium cable would explain it. What network was it on? Was it an evening variety show like those others?
Sha Na Na was the best band and TV show ever! And Bowser was my first ever young girl crush. They were only around for 4 years so maybe you just missed it?
Also, for the old-school Toronto peeps, one of the highlights of my very young life:
I got to see Sha Na Na live at the Ontario Place Forum. Best. Night. Ever.
I have no recall of the network, Wikipedia says distributed by LBS Comunications so possibly it was direct syndication. I honesty remember actually seeing a few shows of it at best. Definitely a whole lot less than what was made anyway.
Shit… I just read the wiki and that Toronto show that I went to… uh, I was only 6, and they did seven encores? I have no recollection of this, I imagine my Mother did not let us stay to the very end, but I remember them there on the Forums rotating stage. 
Definitely a different mix of the song. A bit faster and more reverb on Joey’s vocals.
This show is actually where I first encountered Sha Na Na. I was surprised to later find out that they were a real band, rather than something concocted purely for the show.
We watched the hell out of the show, and if I remember correctly, it was shown on one of the local non-network channels (KTLA maybe?). Lenny was awesome, especially when they performed the Flying Purple People-Eater song.
Yeah, I did the same thing you did…went to Wikipedia to try to get some basic info. My guess is that it was never on a major network channel, and since in those days all I had was a 12" diagonal black-and-white set with dial tuning, if it was on UHF rather than VHF I probably didn’t know about it because tuning in to anything other than CBS, NBC, ABC, WBBM, or WTTW was very hard to get right enough to see consistently.
edited to add: thanks @monkeyoh, I’ve come to the same conclusion about it being non-network.
Yeah, my family watched it too (I’d describe it as being kinda like a 50s rock/doo-wop version of Hee Haw), and at the time we got only three or four broadcast channels, since we didn’t yet have cable: KFMB 8 (San Diego’s CBS affiliate), KGTV 10 (which switched from NBC to ABC in '77), KCST 39 (which switched from ABC to NBC, and which we couldn’t get because our UHF dial was broken), and XETV 6, the local independent station that broadcast out of Tijuana, and was my usual source for Godzilla movies, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and syndicated stuff like Sha Na Na and Solid Gold.
I only had the 3 networks and pbs, so one of our local abc/cbs/nbc stations (from Duluth, MN) picked it up.
I do remember it, but I don’t remember it being so painfully bad. I guess I was very young. I can remember I really believed an audience was laughing on cue, no matter how lame the comedy was.
I used to love Sha Na Na. I can remember watching this show, and I think I even vaguely remember this episode. I’m pretty sure it was the first time I ever heard of the Ramones (I was only 10 at the time).
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