The Carpenters' Very First TV Special - The Skits

The Skits

After Karen, Richard and the orchestra perform "We've Only Just Begun", they show a clip of Richard conducting the orchestra playing a different version of "We've Only Just Begun", with Karen's voice-over talking about how much Richard loves conducting orchestras. After the orchestra's finished, the Carpenters performed "Top of the World", which can be found on the VHS Yesterday Once More (repackaged as Gold: Greatest Hits on DVD in 2002).

On top of that, Richard and Karen perform a "Spike Jones and the City Slickers" style parody version of "(They Long to Be) Close to You", beginning with a harp introduction. The duo also performed "These Are the Jokes" on the same set as the one of "Top of the World", only with a black background instead of a blue background.

John Denver and Karen Carpenter did a nice duet together of a medley consisting of a cleaned up version of Robert Burns' "Comin' Through the Rye" and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations". The amazing thing about this medley is that in parts, Denver may be singing "Comin' Through the Rye", while Carpenter sings "Good Vibrations".

They did a skit of Karen's drumming talent as well. It begins with Richard and Karen talking about why Karen played the drums, and Karen says, "Why not!!" Then, they reminisce to the high school days, where classmate John Denver played the drums in the high school band, and Karen was stuck with the glockenspiel. They told how Karen obtained the drums, and fell in love with it immediately. After that scene, Karen plays a medley including "Strike Up the Band" and "'S Wonderful".

In the end, the band and the orchestra combined together, and performed a Hits Medley to close the show.

The Carpenters
  • Karen Carpenter
  • Richard Carpenter
Albums
  • Offering (Ticket to Ride)
  • Close to You
  • Carpenters
  • A Song for You
  • Now & Then
  • Horizon
  • A Kind of Hush
  • Passage
  • Made in America
  • Voice of the Heart
  • Lovelines
  • As Time Goes By
Live albums
  • Live in Japan
  • Live at the Palladium
Compilation albums
  • The Singles: 1969–1973
  • The Singles: 1974–1978
  • Yesterday Once More
  • From the Top
  • Interpretations: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
  • Love Songs
  • Reflections
  • The Singles: 1969–1981
  • The Essential Collection: 1965–1997
  • Carpenters Perform Carpenter
  • Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition
  • The Ultimate Collection
  • 40/40
Other
  • Christmas Portrait
  • An Old-Fashioned Christmas
  • Time (Richard Carpenter)
  • Karen Carpenter (album)
  • Pianist • Arranger • Composer • Conductor (Richard Carpenter)
TV series/specials
  • Make Your Own Kind of Music
  • Live at the BBC
  • Very First TV Special
  • Space Encounters
  • A Christmas Portrait
  • Music, Music, Music
DVDs
  • Gold: Greatest Hits
  • Interpretations
  • Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters
Related articles
  • Discography
  • Songs
  • John Bettis
  • Herb Alpert
  • Joe Osborn
  • Burt Bacharach
  • Tony Peluso
  • Book
  • Category

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