Laugh-In

Thank God for the Trio cable network! They air classic "Laugh-In" episodes weekday afternoons and that's how I first came upon this hilarious gem from the golden age of television.

Headed by longtime comedy partners Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, "Laugh-In" was an hour-long barage of madcap tomfoolery. Short sketches, one-shot gags, "Quickies," as they were called, and guest appearances by everyone from Sammy Davis, Jr., to Johnny Carson to soon-to-be President Richard M. Nixon. It was the springboard for the careers of such stars as Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson and Ruth Buzzi.

If you have a taste for the weird and the wacky, with an undertone of political commentary (the remarkable thing was how they always presented both sides of any issue they were mocking) or just want to see classics like "The Cocktail Party" or "The Joke Wall," do yourself a favor and check out "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" for hilariosin-entartaina-wonderfulations! (Boy! Look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnall's!)

Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls. You'll find it under the word "funny."

Laugh-In was quite a novelty when it first aired, presenting audiences with a fast-paced, unstructured variety show featuring lots of sight gags, punch lines, and other wacky stuff, all pieced together into a frenetic mesh of comedy. This format has, of course, been done many times (Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, and even The Muppet Show and Sesame Street) but Laugh-In was definitely a forerunner.

The hosts, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, were as great a pair as Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello, and the show featured many unknown comedians who have since become famous, such as Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, and Arte Johnson.

Although parts of the show have a definite 60's/70's taste to them, the humor remains timeless for those who enjoy wacky, off-the-wall comedy.

All in all, it is verrrry interesting! And verrrry funny!

In the evolution of television humor Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was probably the forerunner of Saturday Night Live. It's relevant social commentary combined with incredibly adroit acerbic wit allowed this show to cover social, personal, political, and moral territory no show had ever dared attempt on prime time television.

For those who watched regularly the catch phrases were priceless and introduced them into our mainstream lexicon. Sayings such as "sock it to me" were not only uttered by business execs, secretary's, hosuewives, and everyday working people wishing to emulate the awakening of social moree's but also spoken freely by media and political types wishing to be thought of as in touch with the younger hip generation.

Laugh-In spared no one in it's sarcasm and very often stepped dangerously close to the edge with network execs. Once the show caught fire with TV viewers it became sheik for actors, actresses, and politicians to lobby for a position on next week's show.

Unlike SNL Laugh-In could not sustain and reinvent itself and by 1973 the nations TV watchers were ready to move on. Most of the regulars on the show fell into guest shots on other shows and eventually drifted out of site of the public. A couple of the alumni went on to great success in movies and tv. Goldie Hawn was a "graduate" of the show and went on to win an Academy Award for Cactus Flower in 1969 and has become a certifiable star in Hollywood. Lily Tomlin, and who can forget her priceless portrayal of Ernestine the telephone operator at the switchboard, went on to become one of America's most beloved and cherished comedic performers who also showed her acting agility in dramatic roles as well.

All in all Laugh-In is a part of television history and deserves its place as a cherished memory and deserving of re-run time on TV Land.

Fabulous television series running from 1967 to 1973.

What made the show so great was the lively supporting cast associated with it.

The sketches with Arte Johnson as the old man starting up with Ruth Buzzi on the park bench were constantly hilarious. Who had the idea to put that net on Buzzi's hair? It made her look so appropriately ugly. When she swung that pocketbook, we roared with laughter.

Then we had Judy Carne saying "Sock it to Me!" Remember when Richard Nixon said that famous line briefly on the show?

Dick Martin gave us that dead pan like humor and Dan Rowan portrayed the typical slick but constant smoking guy on the show.

Joanne Worley was loud but so well suited for this continuous mayhem.

I can't imagine how announcer Gary Owen was able to restrain himself from laughing.

This show and "That Was the Week That Was" gave new dimension to television.

This show was to the 1960's what Your Show of Shows was to the 50's, Saturday Night Live was to the 70's and in Living Color was to the 90's. It was a breeding ground for some of the finest comic talent of the last nearly 40 years. The catchphrases, the schtick and, most of all, the joke wall were all vital parts of this show. And look at all the alumni. Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson et. al have all gone on to bigger and better things. In fact, Goldie Hawn parlayed her Laugh-In stardom into an Oscar for the Cactus Flower. Unfortunately, the show couldn't hold onto its best talent and eventually it faded in its final couple of years. However, this show will still be remembered for being a wonderful breeding ground.