Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In
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MEMORIES:
GuitarPlaya2000 remembers...I used to watch this show with my parents. I think I was about six or seven years old when ... More »
Posted on 07/14/08
PHOTOS:
Cast:
Host (1968-73)...Dick Martin
Announcer (1968-73)...Gary Owens
Regular Performer (1968-73)...Ruth Buzzi
Regular Performer (1968-70)...Judy Carne
Regular Performer (1968)...Eileen Brennan
Regular Performer (1968-70)...Goldie Hawn
Regular Performer (1968-71)...Arte Johnson
Regular Performer (1968-71)...Henry Gibson
Regular Performer (1968)...Roddy Maude-Roxby
Regular Performer (1968-70)...Jo Anne Worley
Regular Performer (1968, 1971-72)...Larry Hovis
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Pigmeat Markham
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Charlie Brill
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Mitzi McCall
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Chelsea Brown
Regular Performer (1968-72)...Alan Sues
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Dave Madden
Regular Performer (1969-70)...Teresa Graves
Regular Performer (1969-70)...Jeremy Lloyd
Regular Performer (1969-70)...Pamela Rodgers
Regular Performer (1969-70)...Byron Gilliam
Regular Performer (1970-72)...Ann Elder
Regular Performer (1970-73)...Lily Tomlin
Regular Performer (1970-72)...Johnny Brown
Regular Performer (1970-73)...Dennis Allen
Regular Performer (1970-71)...Nancie Phillips
Regular Performer (1970-72)...Barbara Sharma
Regular Performer (1970-71)...Harvey Jason
Regular Performer (1971-73)...Richard Dawson
Regular Performer (1971-73)...Moosie Drier
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Patti Deutsch
Regular Performer (1968-69)...Dick Whittington
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Jud Strunk
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Brian Bressler
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Tod Bass
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Lisa Farringer
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Willie Tyler & Lester
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Sarah Kennedy
Regular Performer (1972-73)...Donna Jean Young
Guest/Regular Performer...Sammy Davis Jr.
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Release History:
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Trivia:
Richard M. Nixon made a famous guest appearance on the show (“Sock it to me?”) Knowing this fact made contestant John Carpenter the first million dollar winner on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
In 1968, America was in the grip of a counter-cultural revolution. Young people were expanding their social awareness at sit-ins, experimenting with drugs at be-ins, and getting to know each other at love-ins. Producer George Schlatter felt the time was ripe for a comedy show to provide a raucous Laugh-In. Steeped in vaudeville tradition, but presented in a stream-of-consciousness, rapid-fire format, Schlatter’s creation was a number one hit for NBC, and a cultural touchstone of its era.
Schlatter chose a pair of nightclub comedians, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, to host the show. Rowan played a sophisticated straight man to Martin’s clueless libertine. After some opening banter, the two men invited viewers to a “Cocktail Party.” This segment featured a roomful of guests dancing to swinging sixties music, stopping every few moments to tell one another groan-inducing jokes. (This format was later lifted for a popular segment on The Muppet Show.)
In anther recurring feature, a chorus line of feathered showgirls gave an elaborate song and dance to introduce “Laugh-In Looks At The News,” in which topics from the past, present and future were skewered. (One of the writers for the show, Lorne Michaels, would later make comic newscasts a high point of his Saturday Night Live.)
The regular cast of Laugh-In became television icons, and created a bounty of catch-phrases that remain etched in the memory of all who watched.
Arte Johnson played Wolfgang, a Nazi spy. His constant comment on the proceedings; “Verrry interrresting … but schtupid!” Johnson also played Tyrone F. Horneigh, a dirty old man who constantly made moves on frumpy Gladys Ormphby (Ruth Buzzi), only to be rebuffed by a sock to the head from the old woman’s purse. (These two characters inspired a Saturday morning TV cartoon, Baggy Pants and the Nitwits.)
Judy Carne spouted the show’s most famous line, “Sock it to me,” after which she was doused with water, pelted with random objects or in some other way aggressed upon. Carne and dingbat blonde Goldie Hawne also originated the body-painted, bikini clad go-go dancers, very popular with certain young viewers.
Lily Tomlin created two memorable characters on the show; nasal-voiced telephone operator Ernestine (“One ringy-dingy, two ringy dingy…Is this the party to whom I am speaking?”) and the precocious toddler Edith Ann, seated in a giant rocking chair. (“and that’s the truth…pbtbtbt!”)
Jo Anne Worley brought an operatic, loud-mouthed energy to the show, and often interrupted the proceedings by demanding to know, “Was that another chicken joke?”
Henry Gibson appeared holding a flower and reciting a series of strange poems. (”And now a poem by Henry Gibson.”) His strange intonation made it sound for all the world like his name was Henrik Ibsen.
Flip Wilson, later to headline his own variety show, introduced the world to his drag character Geraldine (“What you see is what you get.”).
Alan Sues created a fey sports anchor, “Big Al,” and a hungover kiddie show host. (“Uncle Al had a lot of medicine last night.”)
Finally, Gary Owens, cupping his hand to his mouth in ersatz announcer style, reminded us all that Laugh-In came to us “from beautiful downtown Burbank.”
These are only a few comedy memes that caught on through a combination of popular demand and endless repetition. (Did we mention “You bet your sweet bippy,” “Here comes the judge!” and “look that up in your Funk and Wagnall’s?”)
The machine gun pace and spirited delivery allowed the show to target controversial political and social topics of the day, often skating right by network censors who were too bamboozled by the sensory overload to notice. A number of cast changes occurred between 1969 and the show’s final season in 1973, but the manic energy and relentless pace remained the same throughout.
The success of the show led to a feature film from Rowan and Martin, The Maltese Bippy, which included several other members of the Laugh-In cast. The show also spawned a MAD-like humor magazine, and a series of Topp’s trading cards. In 1977, a series of specials attempted to bring the show back, and introduced a young Robin Williams, just one year before he shot to fame on Mork and Mindy.
The most important legacy of the show is the influence it had on so much comedy to follow. Surely the gag-a-minute style of films like Airplane, The Naked Gun, and the Scary Movie series owe a large debt to the colorful pioneers on Laugh-In.
