During the show's peak in popularity, Hee Haw often competed in syndication against The Lawrence Welk Show, a long-running ABC program which had also been canceled in 1971, also in an attempt to purge the networks of older demographic-leaning programs.

Welk never lost his affection for the jazz numbers he had played in the 1920s, and when a Dixieland tune was scheduled, he enthusiastically led the band.

Welk was married for 61 years, until his death, to Fern Renner ( born August 26, 1903-died February 13, 2002 ), with whom he had three children.

Welk had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Known as an excellent businessman, Welk had investments in real estate and music publishing.

By 1968, Lawrence Welk had acquired his Dot catalog which was reissued on his Ranwood Records label.

Welk denied he had ever said " Wunnerful, Wunnerful!

They soon learned that Welk and Lomi Plo had made off with the spacecraft Anakin had intended to use for their getaway, taking with them Raynar Thul, an old friend of Jaina and Jacen.

When the show was canceled by the head of programming there, Welk formed his own production company and continued airing the show, on independent stations and, often during non-prime time, also on some of the ABC affiliates on which he had previously appeared as well as some stations affiliated with other networks.

Welk frequently had performers sing and play standards from the big band era and the first half of the 20th century ( Welk had a particular admiration for contemporaries Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer and similar composers ), although the show's repertoire was in reality much broader and would often include pop songs from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s as well as country music, patriotic music, and religious music, especially if it was thought to appeal to older listeners ( and, as Welk stated in 1956, " as long as it's done in the champagne style ").

Freberg reprised the Welk character for his last radio show, wherein the fictional Welk ( who apparently had as much contempt for Freberg as Freberg did for Welk ) responded to the show's cancellation with the following terse response: " Ha.

Welk Music Group revitalized the label, reissuing much of its extensive folk and popular music back catalogue ( a good deal of which had been out of print for several years ) on CD, as well as signing a number of new artists ( such as Matt Nathanson, Mindy Smith, Greg Laswell, and Trevor Hall ) along with established musicians ( such as Merle Haggard, John Fogerty, Chris Isaak, Robert Cray, Shawn Mullins, and Linda Ronstadt ).

UnuThul reveals that the ship that Plo and Welk took him in had crashed onto the surface of Yoggoy while the Yuuzhan Vong War was still commencing, and the insect beings who now call themselves the Colony took Raynar in to repair his badly burned form to the best of their abilities.

Then, after Saba is healed from the injuries she sustained in her fight with Welk, Mara is quickly informed that there is indeed a blue-black Killik that had sneaked aboard the Jade Shadow.

Welk also reserved one number for himself to solo on his accordion.

( During later years, a number of Welk cast members appeared in commercials for many of the show's sponsors, filmed specifically to air during Welk broadcasts.

If the number was more of a dance tune, Welk would frequently dance with ladies from the audience, for which he wh became somewhat known.

Cover versions by Lawrence Welk, Russ Morgan ( Decca Records catalog number 29835, with the flip side " Annabelle ") and Chet Atkins appeared in the US Top 100.

* " Calcutta " ( song ), a 1961 hit instrumental by Lawrence Welk

The " Live Lawrence Welk Show " makes annual concert tours across the United States and Canada, featuring stars from the television series, including Ralna English, Mary Lou Metzger, Jack Imel, Gail Farrell, Anacani and Big Tiny Little.

In 2007, he was inducted into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame along with 11 other musical greats including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, Lawrence Welk and others.

Carver is also the author of Dancing Queen: a Lusty Look at the American Dream, in which she expounds upon various relics of pop culture past, including Lawrence Welk, roller rinks, and Olivia Newton-John.

* The music video for the song " Hell " by Squirrel Nut Zippers takes place in a surreal, demonic world inspired by that of The Lawrence Welk Show, including liberal use of bubbles.

Originally performed on Freberg's CBS Radio series, the single spoofed the mediocre musicianship among some of Welk's musicians ( including Welk himself ).

" In 2008, Welk Music Group began a distribution deal with EMI to handle its labels including Vanguard.

His composition Jeannine, I Dream of Lilac Time sold almost two million copies of sheet music and was also recorded by over a hundred top artists, including Louis Armstrong, Skitch Henderson, Guy Lombardo, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, John McCormack, Mitch Miller, Hugo Montenegro, The Platters, and Lawrence Welk.

His guests have included some of the biggest names of the big band era, including Cab Calloway, Frankie Carle ( a personal friend ), Lawrence Welk, Frank De Vol, his friend Mel Tormé and Jack Morgan among others.

WTJC's Saturday schedule included Westerns, sportsmen / hunting / wildlife shows ( including Wild Kingdom ), and The Lawrence Welk Show.

Many other classic television shows were also produced there including The Lawrence Welk Show, Barney Miller, Fridays, Mr. Belvedere, Welcome Back, Kotter, Benson, and Soap.

Other versions of " Nadia's Theme " have been recorded, including easy listening renditions by such artists as Ronnie Aldrich, Ray Conniff, Ferrante & Teicher, the orchestra of The Lawrence Welk Show, and James Galway ; a semi-rock version by The Ventures ; and David Hasselhoff's vocal rendition, which incorporated De Vorzon's and Botkin Jr .' s lyrics, for his 1997 album Lovin ' Feelings.

During 2011 & 2012 Mandrell joins Lee Greenwood on selected tour dates, including a 6 week Branson run at the Welk Resort Theatre from September 12-October 22.

( The success of Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk in syndication, and the network decisions that led to their respective cancellations, were the inspiration for a novelty song called " The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka ," performed by Clark ; the song became a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the fall of 1972.

The song was also sung at Bush's 2005 inauguration by Guy Hovis, former cast member of The Lawrence Welk Show.

Welk himself was indifferent to the tune, but his musical director, George Cates, said that if Welk did not wish to record the song, he ( Cates ) would.

Despite other stations having banned the original song from the broadcast airwaves, neither Welk nor anyone else received any sort of punishment from the FCC for playing the song.

( The success of Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw in syndication and the network decisions that led to their respective cancellations were the inspiration for a novelty song called " The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka ," performed by Roy Clark, one of the co-stars of Hee Haw.

* The song " Fire Water Burn " by The Bloodhound Gang names Lawrence Welk as one of the people with whom the song's lead character will spend eternity if he goes to Hell.

The song itself is original, done in the band's usual style, and has no relation to that of Lawrence Welk.

* Welk is revealed to be the antagonist of Jimmy Cross's song " The Ballad of James Bong.

Other ads featured a Lawrence Welk double ( played by actor Pat Harrington Jr .) leading his band in " The Wunnerful Rainier Waltz " complete with bubble machine and soloists blowing on beer bottles, and a performance of a parody of the song " You're the Tops " while thousands of Rainier bottle caps fell like dominoes in a giant " R " frame ( the whole commercial was reportedly shot on the first take, a great relief since it took all day to set up ).

His biggest success came later with a dance song, " Two-Step Side-Step ", which was featured by Lawrence Welk on his radio program in 1952 and covered on record by RCA Victor Western Swing artist Johnnie Lee Wills, as well as country music singer Bonnie Lou.

The song was sung during President of the United States George W. Bush's second inauguration in January 2005 by Guy Hovis, a vocalist from the 1970s variety program The Lawrence Welk Show.

In 1968 and 1972 on location in Hawaii, Sandi Griffiths ( née Jensen ) and Sally Flynn both sang the song on the The Lawrence Welk Show.

Ironically, the song was performed ( by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale ) on The Lawrence Welk Show, which billed it a " modern spiritual.

" At the conclusion of the performance of the song, Welk remarked, without any hint of irony, " There you've heard a modern spiritual by Gail and Dale.

The Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, named us personally as a subversive to American youth, but at exactly the same time Lawrence Welk performed the crazy thing and introduced it as a gospel song.

Norman Bailey ( musician ) played the song as a trumpet solo on the first live television broadcast of The Lawrence Welk Show on July 2, 1955.

The song was revived by Frankie Laine in 1952, and subsequently recorded again in 1956 by Patience and Prudence, who reached # 4 on the Billboard charts with their version, and also by Lawrence Welk with The Lennon Sisters and the duo of Karen Chandler and Jimmy Wakely, Ann Shelton and The Duprees.