That Was the Week That Was

Balderdash! This show was a complete humbug and was nowhere NEAR as funny as some of you guys remember it! What I remember was a pretentious show with lame, nerdy takes on what was going on around the world, with a very SMUG attitude exhibited by all the players! Especially Nancy Ames, (who hated hippies,) who you say was a FOLK singer??? Heh...I bet she didn't work the coffeehouse circuit much after comments she made on a daytime talk show, (it was either Merv Griffin, Steve Allen or Dick Cavett,) about "those smelly beatniks!" All in all, you're being WAAAYYY too kind to this turkey, which only lasted one year, and rightfully so.

A great ground breaking show (never got to see the UK version). It got pulled not be course of normal lost or ratings. But after it was preempted for too many weeks by a boring political rally for a party. They used a former hack actor who was rewarded for his work with future political support.

Some of the brightest minds ever in entertainment were gathered for this furiously funny look at the week's news highlights. "TW3" was a cut above SNL's Weekend Updates, racing ahead of "Not Necessarily The News," and nosing out "The Daily Show" as the best of its kind. Fueled by the players in a period of stunning global events, the players managed both biting commentary and lively entertainment. Bring on the re-runs.

TWTWTW, or TW3, had an astounding and brilliant list of regular, semi-regular, and guest performers who did brief comedic commentary on political topics and current events. But it is best remembered for three performers: its impossibly sophisticated "special correspondent," David Frost, who was introduced to American audiences by this show; the beautiful blonde folk singer, Nancy Ames; and puppeteer Burr Tillstrom, previously known almost solely for the children's show Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, whose innovative "hand ballets" have never been duplicated. For two short seasons, this was real "must-see TV."

This show was groundbreaking to the point of undeniably honest presentation of the parodies it performed, allowing the audience an understanding of the set and the presence of makeup and stage hands. Also, memorable for one episode completely lacking humor dedicated to the assassination of JFK. So much of this early experiment in TV Comedy can be interpreted as a framework for more modern shows like SNL, Colbert Report, and the like. The talent was diverse and intelligent. Tom Lehrer and David Frost contributed much to the format. As far as any criticism that may fall on this show, I don't care much for Country Music and my wife can stare at Monty Python for hours without cracking a smile, but that doesn't mean there isn't brilliant talent and huge entertainment value in both of those. TW3 emerged during a time when TV was experimenting with lots techniques and presentation style as well as cutting edge political humor.