Aww, Buck

One of the shows instilled in my childhood concsiousness is "Hee Haw." Except it's buried pretty deeply, because it's rarely on my list of shows that I remember when I take a nostalgic look back on what I watched. But having found out about the death of Buck Owens, I now can remember the strange variety show of southerners. Minnie Pearl and her hats that still had the pricetags on them. Grandpa Jones. The girls (oh, the girls) who popped out of the hay and walked around in very short little things. And then there were Roy Clark and Buck Owens. Now that I'm on a brief trip down television lane, I'm also thinking of "The Barbara Mandrell Show." I never missed it. Ever. Barbara and her sisters, Louise and Irlene, and their strange little variety show that lasted two years. Nope. Never missed it.