(text by Peter Tatchell, from LAUGH MAGAZINE #19, 1999)
In the late-1960s it was the hottest show on television. A crazy mix of colourful pop art, with-it music, biting satire and old-time blackouts that turned the clock all the way back to the days of burlesque.
It should have been hosted by Olsen and Johnson (who had indeed presided over similar tv ventures a generation earlier, based on their stage hit Hellzapoppin) but, owing to their unavoidable deaths, the spots were filled by a modestly known double act called Rowan and Martin.
Dan Rowan and Dick Martin had worked together since the early 1950s (and even starred in a not-very-successful movie called Once Upon A Horse in 1958) but by the mid-1960s were best known for their numerous television appearances on The Dean Martin Show. In 1966 they were elevated to star in the show’s summer replacement series and this led to a one-hour special a year later. Titled Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In, Dan and Dick linked the off-beat quickies and ensemble pieces with their perfectly-timed repartee, honed from years of performing to nightclub audiences. The main thing about it was speed … nothing seemed to last more than ninety seconds. The show rated well and executives at N.B.C. could see a series in the offing.
One-time network crowd-puller, The Man From UNCLE, was by then in its death throes and four months later when the plug was finally pulled, Laugh-In was chosen to fill the timeslot. Up against The Lucy Show and Gunsmoke (then 2nd and 4th in the ratings) it was a daunting task, but the public was attracted to the show’s freshness and its gallery of colourful new characters.
There was petite cockney Judy Carne, whose cries of “sock-it-to-me” led to an inevitable cartoon-like retaliation of thumping/drenching/plummeting, word-mangling Goldie Hawn whose real-life problems with cue-card reading were seized upon by the writers, frumpy cardigan-clad Ruth Buzzi, poetic flowerchild Henry Gibson, chicken-neurotic Jo Anne Worley and character-chameleon Arte Johnson, as Tyrone, the dirty old man on the park bench or the ve-rry interesting Nazi hiding in the shrubbery.
Regular segments on the programme included the frenzied cocktail party (after the opening monologue), the news of the past, present and future, a mod, mod world feature on a topic of interest and a Fickle Finger of Fate award, directed at an individual or governmental agency whose attitude or actions prompted some form of public exposure. Along the way, the eyes were assaulted by walls of graffiti and cross-picture crawls, cliches like “you bet your sweet bippy” filled the air and the boring delights of “beautiful” downtown Burbank (home of the N.B.C. studios) became a running gag.
The opening show’s new talent segment also unearthed another eccentric … a ukulele-strumming singer with a falsetto voice, the legendary Tiny Tim. A two-minute song medley catapulted him to worldwide stardom and led to a record contract, a nationally-televised wedding and frequent return visits to the show that launched him.
Not that everyone who appeared on the programme was an unknown … N.B.C. made sure each edition featured a famous guest-star, with Flip Wilson, Joey Bishop, Terry-Thomas, Sammy Davis Jr, Tim Conway, not to mention network stablemates like Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Robert Culp joining in the festivities. And a host of other big names made it a cameo-laden presentation with John Wayne, Jerry Lewis, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Peter Lawford, Dinah Shore, Johnny Carson, James Garner and Harry Belafonte stopping by to record one-liners which were sprinkled throughout. Laugh-In was the “in” show with everyone clamouring to be part of the silliness.
The fourteen episodes in early 1968 paved the way for an eagerly-awaited return season that September with new additions including Alan Sues as Big Al, the bell-tinkling sports announcer, Dave Madden as a confetti-tossing party hound and a moustache for Dan Rowan’s upper lip. Guests included Victor Borge, Tony Curtis, Marcel Marceau and Rev. Billy Graham with walk-ons by Rock Hudson, Jack Benny, Kirk Douglas, Perry Como and even campaigning Presidential candidate, Richard M. Nixon (“sock-it-to-me?”).
Laugh-In was now America’s top-rated show, an achievement it repeated the following season as well, and the hosts were signed to star in another movie, The Maltese Bippy. But, like all enormous success stories, once the pinnacle has been reached, there is only one way to go.
With an ensemble cast of popular personalities, desertion from the ranks became the major problem. Dave Madden (who would soon reappear with The Partridge Family) left at the end of the second season, Judy Carne midway through series 3 (in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid being typecast as the sock-it-to-me recipient), followed by Goldie Hawn and Jo Anne Worley a year later.
What had started as new and novel, was beginning to look stale and repetitive. By the fourth season (in late 1970), only Johnson, Buzzi, Gibson, and Owen remained from the original supporting cast, and of the newcomers, Lily Tomlin (with her telephone lady Ernestine) seemed the sole bright light in the field of replacements. Gibson left six months later and Sues and Johnson departed at the conclusion of the fifth series.
By season six, graffiti wasn’t the only writing on the wall. Laugh-In had lost its sparkle and a sizeable chunk of the viewing audience went with it. In May 1973, the show was cancelled and Rowan and Martin began to pursue separate career paths, last appearing together in 1981. Martin retreated to the other side of the camera, writing and directing sitcoms, while his partner devoted much of his time to travelling and taking things easy (he died, aged 65, from lymphatic cancer in 1987).
Laugh-In, meanwhile, had a brief (but ill-advised) revival in the late 1970s when producer George Schlatter assembled a totally new cast for six one-hour specials. About the only thing of interest in the new programmes was the participation of Robin Williams (a year before his involvement with Mork And Mindy).
Episode Guide
140 x 60-minute editions, January 22 1968 to May 7 1973
plus 6 x 60-minute editions, 1977/8
(120 x 25-minute edited versions were made available to syndication in the early 1980s)
The Rowan And Martin Show: NBC June 16 to September 8 1966 (not August 22) (12 x 60 minutes)
Special : NBC September 9 1967 (60 minutes)
with Pamela Austin, Ken Berry, Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Barbara Feldon, Henry Gibson, Larry Hovis, Arte Johnson, Monty Landis, Jo Anne Worley
Season 1: NBC January 22 1968 to April 29 1968 (not Mar 18) (14 x 60 min)
with Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Goldie Hawn, Henry Gibson, Larry Hovis, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Jo Anne Worley, Gary Owens
Jan 22 Barbara Feldon, Flip Wilson, Pamela Austin, Strawberry Alarm Clock
Jan 29 Robert Culp, Flip Wilson, Eileen Brennan, First Edition
Feb 5 Tim Conway, Cher, Tiny Tim, Paul Gilbert, Eileen Brennan
Feb 12 Don Adams, Pamela Austin, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Feb 19 Kaye Ballard, Pamela Austin
Feb 26 Connie Stevens, Larry Storch, The Temptations
Mar 4 Terry-Thomas, Sally Field, The Bee Gees
Mar 11 Barbara Eden, Sonny Bono
Mar 25 Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr, Pamela Austin
Apr 1 Barbara Feldon, Flip Wilson, The Bee Gees
Apr 8 John Byner, Flip Wilson, Pamela Austin
Apr 15 Kaye Ballard, John Byner
Apr 22 Barbara Feldon, Tim Conway
Apr 29 Tiny Tim
Season 2: NBC September 16 1968 to March 31 1969 (not Nov 4, Dec 9 or Dec 23) (26 x 60 min)
with Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Dave Madden, Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Chelsea Brown, J.J. Barry, Pigmeat Markham, Charlie Brill & Mitzi McCall, Dick Whittington, Gary Owens
Sep 16 Barbara Feldon, Hugh Hefner
Sep 23 Eve Arden
Sep 30 Abbe Lane
Oct 7 Robert Culp, Franco Nuyen
Oct 14 Bobby Darin
Oct 21 Flip Wilson
Oct 28 Marcel Marceau
Nov 11 Dick Gregory
Nov 18 Victor Borge, The Banana Splits
Nov 25 Tiny Tim, Phyllis Diller
Dec 2 Liberace
Dec 16 Douglas Fairbanks Jr
Dec 30 Kate Smith, Vincent Price
Jan 6 Peter Falk
Jan 13 Peter Lawford, Paul Winchell
Jan 20 President Richard Nixon, Nancy Sinatra
Jan 27 Cliff Robertson
Feb 3 Don Rickles
Feb 10 Davy Jones
Feb 17 Tiny Tim
Feb 24 Connie Stevens
Mar 3 James Garner, The Weire Brothers
Mar 10 Flip Wilson
Mar 17 Sammy Davis Jr
Mar 24 Tony Curtis
Mar 31 Billy Graham
Season 3: NBC September 15 1969 to March 16 1070 (not Dec 22) (26 x 60 min)
with Arte Johnson, Judy Carne (part season only), Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Teresa Graves, Pamela Rogers, Jeremy Lloyd, Lily Tomlin (latter part of the season only)
Sep 15 Debbie Reynolds
Sep 22 Diana Ross
Sep 29 Sonny and Cher
Oct 6 The Monkees
Oct 13 Jack E. Leonard
Oct 20 Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson
Oct 27 Flip Wilson
Nov 3 Buddy Hackett
Nov 10 Carol Channing
Nov 17 Sid Caesar
Nov 24 Sammy Davis Jr
Dec 1 Engelbert Humperdink
Dec 8 Phyllis Diller
Dec 15 Greer Garson
Dec 29 Nancy Sinatra
Jan 5 James Garner
Jan 12 Jonathan Winters
(* On January 14 1970 NBC aired a 60-minute special Rowan And Martin Bites The Hand That Feeds Them with guests Carol Burnett, Sammy Davis Jr and The Smothers Brothers)
Jan 19 Peter Lawford
Jan 26 Tony Curtis
Feb 2 Jack Benny
Feb 9 Carl Reiner
Feb 16 Dan Blocker
Feb 23 Ringo Starr, Sheldon Leonard
Mar 2 Danny Kaye
Mar 9 Milton Berle
Mar 16 Carol Channing, Tiny Tim
Season 4: NBC September 14 1970 to March 15 1971 (not Dec 21) (26 x 60min)
with Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Gary Owens, Dennis Allen, Johnny Brown, Ann Elder, Nancy Phillips, Barbara Sharma, Harvey Jason
Sep 14 Art Carney
Sep 21 Don Rickles
Sep 28 Goldie Hawn
Oct 5 Ken Berry
Oct 12 Tim Conway
Oct 19 Zero Mostel
Oct 26 Orson Welles
Nov 2 Carol Channing
Nov 9 Carl Reiner
Nov 16 Bob Newhart
Nov 23 Desi Arnaz
Nov 30 ?
Dec 7 Phil Silvers
Dec 14 Debbie Reynolds
Dec 28 William F. Buckley Jr
Jan 4 Sammy Davis Jr, Wilt Chamberlain
Jan 11 Johnny Carson
Jan 18 Joey Bishop
Jan 25 Andy Griffith
Feb 1 Marcello Mastrioanni
Feb 8 Dinah Shore
Feb 15 ?
Feb 22 Peter Lawford
Mar 1 Richard Crenna
Mar 8 ?
Mar 15 George Raft, Fernando Lamas
Season 5: NBC September 13 1971 to March 20 1972 (not on Nov 15, Dec 6, Jan 17 or Feb 7) (24 x 60min)
with Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Gary Owens, Dennis Allen, Johnny Brown, Ann Elder, Barbara Sharma, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis
Sep 13 Raquel Welch, Martha Mitchell
Sep 20 Roman Gabriel
Sep 27 Rita Hayworth
Oct 4 Karen Valentine
Oct 11 Edward G. Robinson, Frank Gorshin, Tony Curtis
Oct 18 Richard Crenna
Oct 25 Lee Grant
Nov 1 (100th edition anniversary show) John Wayne, Tiny Tim, Judy Carne, Jo Anne Worley
Nov 8 Liza Minelli
Nov 22 James Coco
Nov 29 Three Dog Night
Dec 13 Carroll O’Connor
Dec 20 Joe Namath
Dec 27 Buddy Hackett
Jan 3 Robert Goulet
Jan 10 Mort Sahl, Henny Youngman
Jan 24 Carl Reiner
Jan 31 Chad Everett, Jack Carter
Feb 14 Carol Channing
Feb 21 Sandy Duncan
Feb 28 Gene Hackman
Mar 6 Debbie Reynolds
Mar 13 Jo An Pflug
Mar 20 ?
Season 6: NBC September 11 1972 to March 12 1973 (not on Nov 6, Dec 25, Jan 1) (25 x 60-min)
with Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin, Gary Owens, Richard Dawson, Dennis Allen, Moosie Drier, Patti Deutsch, Sarah Kennedy, Jud Strunk, Willie Tyler, Donna Jean Young, Brian Bressler, Todd Bass, Lisa Farringer
Sep 11 John Wayne
Sep 18 Dyan Cannon
Sep 25 William Conrad
Oct 2 Lucy Arnaz
Oct 9 Michael Landon
Oct 16 Jack Benny
Oct 23 Jean Stapleton
Oct 30 Mike Connors
Nov 13 Sally Strothers
Nov 20 James Caan
Nov 27 Carol Burnett, Demond Wilson, Ross Martin
Dec 4 Jack Klugman
Dec 11 Steve Lawrence
Dec 18 Howard Cosell, Vin Scully
Jan 8 Don Rickles
Jan 15 Robert Goulet
Jan 22 Sammy Davis Jr
Jan 29 Totie Fields, Angie Dickenson, Monty Hall
Feb 5 Phyllis Diller
Feb 12 Ernest Borgnine
Feb 19 Meredith Baxter, David Birney
Feb 26 Johnny Carson, Sandy Duncan, Arthur Godfrey
Mar 5 Dom DeLuise
Mar 12 ?
Rowan And Martin Special
NBC September 13 1973 (60 min)
with guests Harry Belafonte, Bob Newhart, Ruby Keeler, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Cathy Rigby, Ed Asner, Jimmie Walker, Redd Foxx, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Carter, Glenn Ford, Martin Milner, Kent McCord
The Rowan And Martin Report
ABC November 5 1975 (30 minute pilot edition)
LAUGH-IN specials
NBC (6 x 60-min)
with Nancy Bleiweiss, Ed Bluestone, Kim Braden, Claire Faulkonbridge, Wayland Flowers and Madam, June Gable, Jim Giovanni, Ben Powers, Bill Rafferty, Michael Sklar, Lenny Schultz, Antoinette Atell, Robin Williams, Sergio Aragones
September 5 1977 Bette Davis
October 10 1977 Bea Arthur, Henry Fonda, Roger Moore, Seals & Crofts
November 2 1977 Frank Sinatra, Cindy Williams, Flip Wilson, James Garner
December 20 1977 Shirley MacLaine
February 1 1978 James and Gloria Stewart, Susan Ford
February 8 1978 Henry Fonda, Gore Vidal, Barry Goldwater
Laugh-In’s 25th Anniversary
February 7 1993 (2 hours)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In: Past Christmas Present
December 2 1993 (60 min)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In: A Valentine’s Day Special
February 14 1994 (2 hours)
DISCOGRAPHY
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
Epic LP FXS 15118, Harmony LP KH 30976, Sony CD A-28852, Laugh.com CD LGH 1154
Cuckoo Laugh-In World
Monologue And Cocktail Party
New Talent
Personality Of The Week
News – Past, Present And Future
Etcetera
Half Time
Here Come The Judge
The Other Cocktail Party
Sock It To Me – Potpourri
Mod Mod World
The Cuckoos
Goodnight Dick!
Laugh-In ’69
Warner/Reprise RS 6335
The Big Cocktail Party
Laugh-In Strikes Again
By Henry Gibson
An American Institution
Children Of Laugh-In
The News
Well, Ring My Chimes
Beautiful Downtown Burbank (Vacation In + Chamber Of Commerce + Trading Centre + Swingers + Mecca + Bus Stop + Up Town + Broncos + Down Town + Dum Dums)
JUDY CARNE
Sock It To Me + Right, Said Fred
Reprise single RS 20680
HENRY GIBSON
The Alligator And Other Poems By Henry Gibson
Liberty LP LRP 3261/LST 7261
By Henry Gibson
Liberty LP LST 7593
Grass Menagerie
Epic FLS 15120
ARTE JOHNSON
Very Interesting + Don’t Fuzz Around (both with Ruth Buzzi)
Reprise single 0753
You’re On The Air
GNP Crescendo LP GNPS 2060
The Common Cold
Pedro The Hero
The Jewish Mother
Police Brutality
Flouridation
The P.U.
Foreign Policy
The Bruise
GARY OWENS
The Funny Side Of Bonnie And Clyde
Epic LP BN 26377
(with Joan Gerber, David Ketchum, Gene Moss, Jim Thurman, Jesse White, Bruce Gordon)
The Enforcer
The Getaway
Marshal And The Sheriff
The Lesson
The Handshake
The Agent
Marshal And Café #2
The Commercial
Philosophical Chat
The Bank Hold-Up Note
Marshal And Hotel Clerk
Bonnie’s Poem
The Love Scene
The Wrong Getaway Vehicle
Marshal And The Barber
The Parking Ticket
The Used Car Salesman
Marshal And The Café #1
Put Your Head On My Finger
Pride LP PRD 0002
Horoscope
Win That Dwarf
Tip To Gardeners
The Sky Is My Partner
Norbert T. Krelk Funeral
Foonman Home For The Perterbed News
Glur Awards
Miss Oz Sings
Golden Voice Announcers’ School
Church Announcement
Nurny Creed
Incredible But True
Sure Fire Employment
The Presidents
Ballad Of Willie Jackson
Republican Commercial
Democrat Commercial
Harold Stassen Commercial
Dates To Remember
See Your Doctor
Lunatics’ Book Of World Records
Teenage Manners
Booking Agent
Safety Tips
School For Double Talk
Telephone Help For The Desperate
Horoscope – Part 2
Song Festoons
Fono-Graf LP F 727
Jonathan Winters / Gary Owens – Outpatients
Laugh.com CD LGH 1011 (2001)
Sports Fan
Plastic Surgeon
Jimmy Stewart
Ebay
Amazing Dog
Johnny Carson
Shutterbug Sam
Travel Agent
Schwarzenegger
Firearms
Hotel Manager
Maude’s Nursery
John Wayne
DAN ROWAN and DICK MARTIN
Rowan & Martin At Work
Trey LP TLP 901, ATCO/Atlantic LP SD 33-257
Special Events Interview
X2 And X4 (The Spy Story)
The Payola Problems Of “Hogey” Scott Key
The Humor Of Rowan & Martin
Epic LP FLM 13109/FLS 15109, Laugh.com CD LGH 1155
The Doctor Interview
Girls
Camp Sunny Sunshine
The Birds And The Bees
Mates, Inc
Introduction + Adagio + Allegro
LILY TOMLIN
This Is A Recording
Polydor LP 24 4055, Laugh.com CD LGH 1114
Alexander Graham Bell
Mr. Veedle
The Marriage Couselor
Joan Crawford
Obscene Phone Call
The Repairman
The Bordello
Strike
Peeved
Ernestine
The Pageant
The F.B.I.
The Mafia And The Pope
Mrs. Mitchell
Awards Dinner
Boswick 9
I.B.M.
And That’s The Truth
Polydor LP PD 5023, Laugh.com CD LGH 1157
Hey Lady
I Always Kiss Buster
My Sister Mary Jean
Look In The Sky
I Dressed Him Up
Here’s The Empty Lot
Guess The Riddle
I Can’t Go To The Movies Here
I Go To Sunday School
Here’s My House
Lady Lady Open Up
I Like Your Kitchen
Do You Have Any Chewing Gum?
Don’t My Toes Look Pretty?
I Will Help You Unpack
Does This Chair Lean Back?
Tell Me Something Lady
Finish Putting Your Groceries Away
I Want You To Go
Modern Scream
Polydor LP PD 6051, Laugh.com CD LGH 1146
Exclusive Innerview ? Rubber Freak
Suzie Sorority
Adult Sex Education
Judith Beasley Exclusive
Dear Dr. Dacey
The Trip
On Call
Bad Carma
Grrr
Boogie Broadcast
Hipigrams
On Stage
Arista LP AB 4142, Laugh.com CD LGH 1156
Mr. Theater Goer And The Shopping Bag Lady
Mrs. Judith Beasley
Lud And Marie Meet Dracula’s Daughter
Ernestine
Tell Miss Sweeney Goodbye
Shopping Bag Lady And U.F.O. Guy
Glenna – A Child Of The 60’s
Lily And Shopping Bag Lady
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In (script for stage performance)
Samuel French paperback, 1968
Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In – The Burbank Edition
World Publishing 1969
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In
Signet paperback, 1969
Mod, Mod World by Roy Doty
Signet Paperback, 1969
Inside Laugh-In by James E. Brodhead
Signet paperback, 1969
Jo Anne Worley’s Chicken Joke Book or Poultry’s Complaint
Signet paperback, 1969
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