by MK Scott
Osmond mania is back! Who knew that ET/The Insider would be giving just as much coverage to the Osmonds as they have on Paris/Lindsey/Anna Nicole/Brittany? With Marie now in the finals on Dancing With the Stars, Donny turning 50, the Osmond Brothers celebrating their 50th anniversary, Marie fainting on live TV, the passing of Pa George, Marie's 16-year-old son in rehab, and over 120 Osmonds on Oprah, there is no denying the wall-to-wall Osmonds media firestorm. Also, don't forget to purchase Marie's doll collection, the Donny & Marie volume 1 DVD, and, of course, Marie's new holiday CD.
I remember 30 years ago it all began when, at age 6, I started watching the Donny & Marie show on 8 p.m. on Fridays on the #1 network, ABC. Marie was 16, and Donny was 18. I loved their large family and had a fondness for George and Olive, their parents. I remember my mom buying me all of Donny's albums (including Disco Train) and my sister all of Marie's. For Christmas in 1978 I got a Donny doll, and my sister a Marie doll. We mixed them with our Sonny & Cher dolls. I would dress Marie in Cher's clothes and Donny in Sonny's and pretend Donny was in bed with Sonny, naked. I tried to put Marie's clothes on Cher, but it just didn't look right. I put Donny's flashy purple clothes on Sonny and that actually worked.
Donny & Marie was the most colorful, flashy, and gayest variety show ever. Donny was dressed in lavender and purple and wore glittery costumes. Every show had an Ice Capades sequence. Gay icons Cher, Paul Lynde, and Rip Taylor would appear regularly. (Of course, it was so Gay-friendly thanks to its writer, Bruce Vilanch.) As the '80s came and I matured, I realized that the Osmonds were Mormon and researched the Mormon church and what it stands for (I always came up with "hypocrisy"). But Donny and Marie never bragged about their religion, and I loved them for their talent.
Then it happened. Last week I was disturbed when Marie started quoting scripture on Larry King and the Osmond Brothers offered their endorsement to Mitt Romney for President. Marie, in her own humorous way, suggested Gladys Knight, a black Mormon woman.
I still can't shake the Osmond mania. I know they are Mormon and support Mitt Romney, but what Donny and Marie contributed to me as a Gay man makes me nostalgic for more Donny and Marie.
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