What Happened on the First Episode of ‘Hee Haw’?

What happens when you take Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, steep it in war-weary America’s longing for simpler times, and throw in top country music stars for good measure? You get hee-hee hee-hee-hee haw Hee Haw! The long-running CBS variety hour debuted June 15, 1969 and made unlikely weekly TV stars of country music icons Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Minnie Pearl and“Grandpa” Jones, plus comics Junior Samples and Lulu Roman. Hee Haw also helped cement the sexpot status of Petticoat Junction stars Jeannine Riley and Gunilla Hutton.

Though it took a few seasons to really gain a following, Hee Haw proved a hit with both rural and urban audiences and really gained steam when it entered first-run syndication in 1971. In fact, the show, deemed tame enough for Saturday primetime family viewing, was popular enough that it ran a whopping 25 seasons. And it became a must-do gig for loads of country music superstars, including Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Tom T. Hall, Reba McEntire, Ray Stevens and Lynn Anderson.