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Shindig!

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

Shindig! was the name of a music variety show which was aired every week on the American ABC network from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966.

The show's pilot was taped in Great Britain with The Beatles as the guests. (They were about to hit the U.S. with their own "invasion", as they had with their home country). Singer Cilla Black also appeared.

At the beginning, the show aired for a half-hour every week, but was expanded to an hour in January 1965. In the fall of 1965, the show split into two half-hour telecasts, on Thursday and Saturday nights. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, who was a famous disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time. Accompanying the music acts of the week was a dance troupe called the Shindiggers.

Many popular performers of the day played on the program, and this show is widely considered to have jumpstarted the career of future teen idol Bobby Sherman. In the fall of 1965, transmissions from London would commence, allowing performers from the British Invasion bands to play without having to leave the United Kingdom.

Teri Garr, one of the dancers on this program, later found success on film. The show's assistant choreographer, Antonia Basilotta, later changed her name to Toni Basil and enjoyed a long career as a choreographer and became the epitome of the one hit wonder with her iconic 1980s hit recording, "Mickey".

The show was eventually canceled and replaced in both time slots by Batman. Shindig! also spawned a rival show, Hullabaloo, on NBC.

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