Review: The HEE HAW Collection featuring George Strait

The HEE HAW Collection featuring George Strait
Frank Peppiatt

Time Life
Street: 05.01

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if a bunch of inbred jackasses from Arkansas had their own variety show, then look no further than this HEE HAW DVD. One more in a series of Time Life releases, this 1983 episode features appearances by George Strait, the Statler brothers and “Goober” from the Andy Griffith Show. These guests are joined by the show’s regular mix of over-all wearing hayseeds and big-titted country bimbos. Painful one-liners are made worse by stiff acting and sketches void of any substance. It quickly becomes clear that if people can hardly read, they should not have jobs where all they do is read lines from cue cards. Really, I haven’t seen this wholesale lack of talent since Mamma’s Family. The few cast members with any real ability, namely Roy Clark, Buck Owens and Minnie Pearl, are limited by poor material and their relatively small roles. And sadly, not even the healthy dose of country-honey cleavage could salvage HEE HAW from the scrap heap of television gone bad. And I thought big boobs could fix anything. -James Bennett