Brother Jimmy as Guest?


I remember Donny and Marie's brother Jimmy appearing as a guest a few times. Does anyone remember which episode he did some kind of big band number and his initials were prominently displayed?

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We always dreaded whenever he showed up. He was fat, not cute, and untalented.

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I was not a big fan of Jimmy. He was to the Osmond family what La Toya was to The Jacksons.

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As an adult he looks like he may continue to struggle with his weight, but as a teen he slimmed down and on "Love Boat" he is slim and looks fabulous. As for him being "untalented," nothing can appeal to everyone, so his charm left you flat, but as for me, I'd love to have the talent to have earned even one-millionth of his net worth.

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There were several of them in season 2. He sang, conducted and played his trumpet. One of them was the New Year's Eve episode.

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I don't have the season and episode number, but here are my notes on what may be the episode about which you are asking. Hopefully these notes will help you locate what you need. I notice they have an episode guide here on IMDB.

I have always liked Jimmy at every stage of his career. I think he's plenty talented, he just didn't get the chance to shine as much as the others did since things became difficult for Osmonds while Jimmy was just a little guy. I think he comes across great in his D&M appearances. I probably remember the big band number you mention, I'm not sure if it's the episode I have noted below or not. I remember Jimmy fronting a big band and they are using the old style music stands that the big bands used to use. I remember Jimmy wailing on the trumpet and at the end of the song the segment fades to black while Jimmy continues to wail on a screaming trumpet solo. I love everything Osmond and think they are fabulously talented, but segments like this, in retrospect, may have been disingenuous. If Jimmy even plays the trumpet at all, and I kind of doubt that he does, there's absolutely no way he's good enough to approach the wailing solo he appears to do here. And so those of us who were drinking the kool-aid at the time were "blown" (hee-hee) away, but those who were not as convinced saw through the ruse and were further alienated. That the Osmonds went to so much trouble to prove themselves sincere and yet then insulted our intelligence by, from some points of view, blatantly lying to us, I think may have been a part of the negative backlash they suffered. Sure, they would tell us "We're 'entertainers,' and that trumpet solo was 'entertainment.'" But something like that is just asking for a Milli-Vanilli style PR backlash.


Guests are: Paul Lynde, Hal Linden, Karen Valentine, 3 Sweathogs from Welcome Back Kotter, and Jimmy Osmond.

Opening number is "having a party," Donny and Marie wear a black sequined pant suit with white v-neck design. The opening comedy bit is Marie found a Kroft singing tree and makes a bunch of tree jokes.

Paul Lynde and Donny do a good skit where Paul takes Donny on his driving test.

The Sweathogs do a skit with Karen Valentine, including Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington, Horshack, an Epstein look-a-like, and Donny plays "The Don" (similar to "The Fonz.").

The concert segment songs include: "Stand by your man," "Soul Man," and Manilow's "It's a miracle." During the "Soul Man" song Donny jumps through the piano.

Jimmy sings a good big band song with two dancing stars.

Hal Linden sings a fantastic song (Marie) and plays the clarinet in a big band style similar to Benny Goodman.

There is another one of those bizarre skating segments with live action of water skiing cut in, and it's actually pretty good!

The final production number: Paul Lynde is a D.J. that looks like Mozart. It has a disco theme. Donny & Marie do "Dancin' Machine" (not too good), Karen Valentine sings a small song, Hal Linden does an excellent rendition of "I could have danced all night" where he dances in a style similar to Bobby Darrin., The Sweathogs (this time including Epstein) do a number, and then Jimmy Osmond sings a song in a Jimmy Durante style.

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