On June 25, 2013 it had been 4 years since Michael Jackson passed away, and just a few days after his child Paris tried to commit suicide. I can't think of anyone who reached such heights in his career and made more of a mess of things than MJ. Only Elvis comes close.
Remember The Jacksons 1970's variety series? Not many people do. It debuted in the summer of 1976 and did fantastic in the ratings, well enough to return in the spring of 1977. CBS was hoping for a long run, Michael was not. He wanted to embark on a solo career - despite his 1975 solo LP landing with a thud.
The Jacksons was your standard 1970s variety show fare, a song and comedy dialogue opening like Sonny & Cher, mostly unfunny skits like Tony Orlando & Dawn.
Michael wasn't sorry to see the series go, he didn't want to do it in the first place. It wasn't long after this variety show ended that his phenomenal solo hit with Quincy Jones Off The Wall was released and the era of Michael Jackson was underway. If he'd been on TV every week I doubt if 'Off the Wall' would have had half the impact it did... and 'Thriller' might have been dismissed outright as a joke.
MJ was too big a talent for the small screen - and his brothers.
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