Television series
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is a raucous country-music variety show that treats the genre and its audience with affectionate irreverence. It's sketch comedy meets honky-tonk, hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, full of corny jokes, sight gags, and genuinely excellent musicians. If you love country music but don't take it too seriously, or if you appreciate variety-show chaos, this is endlessly rewatchable.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love old-fashioned variety television where corny sketches, fiddle breaks and cornfield punchlines share the same hour, and you enjoy the easy warmth of a show that never tried to be cool.
Skip it if you want sharp, fast comedy or a plot that carries you forward, since Hee Haw is built from short bits, music numbers and repeated gags that can feel slow and self-consciously corny.
What it asks of you: It asks for an hour at a time, with no story to follow, and a tolerance for a loose, rambling rhythm where the jokes groan and the songs take their time.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In1967
The spiritual cousin: rapid-fire gags, celebrity cameos, a anarchic ensemble cast, and zero interest in narrative. It's sketch comedy as a demolition derby rather than a play.
But The topical humor aged unevenly, and the pace can feel exhausting if you're not in the mood for controlled chaos.
The Carol Burnett Show1967
Long-form variety that respects both comedy and music, with recurring characters, guest musicians, and a troupe that genuinely seems to be having fun. Same era, same generosity of spirit.
But It's more polished and less country, which means it trades some of Hee Haw's gleeful tackiness for earnestness.
Saturday Night Live1975
Live sketch variety at scale. It inherited the Laugh-In formula but added musical guests as genuine performers rather than distractions, much like Hee Haw balanced music and comedy.
But It's glossier, more New York, more committed to topicality. The country authenticity is gone.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Hee Haw
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?2000
Both treat country music and rural America as genuinely worth celebrating, even as they wink at the audience. The tone is affectionate mockery masking real love.
The Coen Brothers film that resurrects the exact mythology Hee Haw was playfully mining: American folk, country, gospel, and bluegrass as a source of beauty and comedy simultaneously. It's what happens when that sensibility gets treated as high art.
But It's deliberately stylized and visually mannered. If you want the rough authenticity of Hee Haw, this is too aware of itself.
More like this (6)
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour1971
Another music-and-comedy variety series that treats both with equal enthusiasm. Great sketches, real performances, and a cast that seems loose and affectionate with each other.
But It's slicker and more showbiz than Hee Haw, missing that deliberately corny, small-town sensibility.
Huckleberry Finn1974
A musical adaptation of Mark Twain that has the same American vernacular spirit and willingness to play broad comedy alongside genuine warmth. It's folksy and unpretentious.
But It's a film, not a series, so there's less of the sketch-comedy repetition that makes Hee Haw special.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour1967
Variety show with sharp political edge but the same commitment to mixing music, sketches, and guests. It feels like Hee Haw's angrier, more socially conscious cousin.
But The satire can feel heavy-handed, and the format doesn't have Hee Haw's commitment to pure silliness.
Petticoat Junction1963
Rural sitcom with the same warmth, charm, and willingness to treat country folk as funny without condescension. It shares Hee Haw's generosity toward its world.
But It's a narrative sitcom, not variety, so it lacks the sketch-comedy pacing and the live musical performances.
The Grateful Dead Movie1977
Both are essentially jam sessions: structured enough to feel like a show, loose enough that anything could happen. The commitment is to the moment and the ensemble, not to polish.
A live-performance documentary that captures the same spirit of musicians playing for the joy of it, with an audience that's there for community and entertainment. No narrative, just music and presence across 111 minutes.
But It's a different genre entirely—a documentary concert film, very long, and the music is entirely improvised jam-band rock, not country. You need patience.
Austin City Limits1974
Same era, same commitment to American roots music as inherently worth broadcasting. Hee Haw wraps the music in jokes; Austin City Limits wraps it in silence. Both trust the music.
A music-performance series that strips away comedy entirely but keeps the format: live performers, one per episode, no frills, just musicians playing what matters to them. It's Hee Haw if you remove the sketches and keep the reverence.
But It's purely music—no jokes, no banter, no variety-show chaos. If you watch Hee Haw for the comedy, this will feel austere and slow.
People
Cast
Recommended by
The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Gong Show, Donny & Marie, The Flip Wilson Show, Mayberry R.F.D., Pink Lady and Jeff, The Krofft Supershow