I am a total curmudgeon and they even got me. I think it was when Marie said I was cute. But that's probably a story for another time.

For those of you who have been living in a pop-culture free bubble for the last four decades or so, Donny and Marie Osmond are a brother and sister duo who rose to fame in the late '60s and early '70s as a part of, and later apart from, their Osmond Family singing group. Donny was the breakout star of the clan, a screaming teenybopper idol with hits like "Puppy Love" and "Go Away Little Girl."

In the mid-70s he teamed up with his younger sister Marie for a TV variety show (remember those?) and the hits kept coming as a duo with songs like "I'm Leaving it All Up to You."

For her part, Marie had her biggest solo hit with the country ballad "Paper Roses" in 1973.

But as the seventies faded so did the peak of their popularity, and to many "Donny and Marie" became synonymous with schmaltz and cheese (as in cheesy).

There were comebacks aplenty both in and out of showbiz. Donny toured for years with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and had at least one other big hit "Soldier of Love" in 1989. Marie had more country hits and developed a hugely popular line of dolls. They even reunited for a syndicated talk show a few years back.

But the reason that Donny and Marie are here in Vegas is because of a little show called "Dancing with the Stars." Oh, and Oprah.

Marie appeared on the show in late 2007 and generated lots of buzz over her performances and a rather dramatic post dance faint. Her popularity on the show got Oprah Winfrey's attention and the entire Osmond clan reunited for an episode.

And now the brother and sister duo are back on the stages of Las Vegas, performing regularly at The Flamingo.

The show mostly consists of covers of other people's songs, starting with some duets between the two of them backed by a solid band and some energetic dancers. Their teasing sibling interaction was always the core of their act and it is still charmingly in place after all these years. You can tell that these two have a genuine affection for one another that goes beyond the shtick.

Marie gets a solo spotlight for awhile followed by Donny on his own and then the pair reunite to quickly buzz through their greatest hits, some of which even they admit are not the pinnacle of musical creation in history.

That right there is what makes the whole thing so darned smile inducing. They know they became a bit of a pop-culture joke but they are in on it. They know they aren't the best singers or dancers but who cares? They're having good, clean fun and they invite you along for the hayride.

If you're looking to nitpick, some of their choices in cover tunes aren't terribly fitting with who they are as performers. Marie's version of the hard driving Eurythmics tune "Would I Lie To You" comes off as uncomfortable and not just because of the tight leather ensemble she wears during it. And despite Donny's hero-worship of Stevie Wonder, his medley of the man's tunes mostly served to prove that he's not Stevie Wonder.

But as stated, that's nitpicking and I don't want to go too much further in that direction because I think Donny and Marie's very devoted fans, many of whom were in attendance the day I saw the show, would probably come after me.

The production is filled with the kind of songs and laughs that one would believe used to be the forte of the Rat Pack. It's the kind of show Clint Holmes and Gladys Knight and even Toni Braxton, who had this very stage before the Osmonds, used to do.

But now the Vegas variety show belongs to Donny and Marie and we're happy to have them.