On Sunday, the Jimmy Dean Show returned to the air after more than 50 years. Dean grew up in the Seth Ward area near Plainview.
The Jimmy Dean Show now re-airs on RFD-TV Sundays at 6:00 p.m. Central with encore presentations on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. Central and Fridays at 9:00 p.m. Central.
Dean hosted an hour-long weekly variety show on ABC from September 1963 until April 1966. The shows were recorded on a Kinescope. A Kinescope used a film camera pointed at a television screen.
RFD-TV said on its website that the show needed a three-year process of restoration with help from the Jimmy Dean Foundation.
Dean was credited as giving Muppets-maker Jim Henson his first national exposure with Rowlf the Dog. Dean hosted Johnny Cash, George Jones, Buck Owens, Patty Duke, Don Adams, Hank Williams Jr. and many others.
Dean was famous in his own right as a TV host, country singer, actor and later a businessman. In September, Wayland Baptist University opened a Jimmy Dean wing at its Museum of the Llano Estacado.
“For many years it was Jimmy’s dream to bring his show back to television, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled to finally see it happen,” said Donna Dean Stevens, as quoted by RFD-TV. Stevens is Dean’s widow and executive producer of the newly released show.
“He brought a multitude of smiles to people’s faces with great entertainment,” Stevens said according to RFD-TV. “It’s my pleasure to fulfill his wish by sharing these shows after a long and arduous restoration process.”
Dean passed away in 2010 at the age of 81.
CLICK HERE to see a promotional video from RFD-TV.