Who do we love from ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN?

Hollywood Squares' host Peter Marshall tells all! http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-interview-with-peter-marshall-part_5.html

Kliph Nesteroff: In your book you mention that you did not care for Dan Rowan...

Peter Marshall: No, he was an asshole.

Kliph Nesteroff: What's the story there?

Peter Marshall: Well... you know, we put them together. We were responsible for Rowan and Martin. Dan Rowan was selling used cars and Dick Martin was a bartender at a place here in the Valley and they didn't even know each other. They both wanted to be in show business and they were friends of Tommy Noonan. I knew Dick because his father and my mother worked together at Hughes Aircraft.

As much as I disliked Dan that was how much I liked Dick. He was just an angel. They wanted to be in show business so we wrote them an act. Tommy did most of it because I didn't think they were going to work at all.

We got them an agent, Joe Rollo. We would book ourselves into the Chi Chi in Palm Springs and then cancel. We'd say, "Hey, we got a great act for you," and put them in. Eddy's in Kansas City, we got them that gig.

They struggled for a few years and then Walter Winchell got on their bandwagon. Winchell could put you right on the map. They were about to break up. Much later... I said to Dick, "Did you know Dan was up for Hollywood Squares?" He said, "No." I said, "He was. That's why I did it. To fuck him." He was a terrible guy. He was a snobby shit. When Tommy Noonan was dying at the Motion Picture Home I went to everybody. I said, "Go out and see my friend. Spend an hour or two with him. Be positive and just talk."

Dan never did. He was out there almost a year. I never forgave him for that. He wouldn't have had a career without Tommy. I have a note from Dick before he died. It says, "I just want to thank you for my career."

I loved Dick, he was a wonderful guy. But - that's the story. I didn't want to do Squares. I wanted to go back to Broadway. They said, "Well, if you don't do it, Dan Rowan is going to do it." I said, "Then I'll do it." To screw him I figured I'd do it for thirteen weeks.

Fickle FInger of Fate to thread.

My favourite bit starts at 3:01, right after Nixon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbvQa-7u3ss&feature=related

caught parts of this here and there lately -- never saw it before

i know it was a different time, etc, but it's direly unfunny

It holds up less than beautifully.

All I remember is what I want to remember: Goldie Hawn, "Then you know what I'm here after," Alan Sues, some of R&M's inane banter, Goldie Hawn.

There is an LP "Laugh In", on BBC records (yes, really)...

There is no Rowan/Martin on it.

https://img0.etsystatic.com/019/0/5879322/il_fullxfull.496531684_nkp7.jpg

I probably haven't seen hardly any of it since I was 11. Network TV doing burlesque/blackout humor for the psychedelic era... how good could it be? Comedy in a variety context was all "And now, ladies and gentlemen" til then. That's all.

But the '77 revival was really dire.

this is a series that needs to be shown on hulu or some shit. I saw reruns at some point when I was a kid and then never again.

Dan Rowan, in his News from the Future segment, correctly predicted in 1969 that the Berlin Wall would be torn down in 1989 (see youtube). In 1968 he correctly predicted Ronnie Reagan would be US Prez in 1988.

it's on Amazon Prime btw! I can't stop watching it, it is so baffling and fascinating to me. It relies so much on cultural context, not just specific events that were happening but on an entire climate (social, political, comedic, etc) that watching it now makes way less sense than watching a lot of other things from that era. I guess I get that the late 60s and early 70s were really mod and psychedelic and all of that but like, what exactly is the cocktail party referencing? What exactly is the WWII soldier referencing? It all feels so inexplicable and like the most "you-had-to-be-there" TV show I've ever seen.

Like even if you pick up on some of the specific people/cultural moments/etc that the show jokes about, there is so much that is lost, like the fact that massive things like WWII, racial integration, youth counterculture, etc were so recent and thus so much more present in peoples minds. It reminds me of the gag in the beginning of Clueless where Cher's talking to Dionne on her cell phone in the school hallway and then Dionne turns the corner, revealing that they were close by the entire time time. The idea that a high school student in 1995 would even have a cell phone was funny but then using it to communicate w someone in the same building several feet away is farcical, but all of this humor has been forever lost in a world where everyone has cell phones and people use them to talk to anyone anywhere all of the time. Laugh-In feels entirely composed of jokes like this.

also holy crap *soooo* much of the racial stuff would never, ever, ever fly today

I mean, true of virtually everything that was on TV at the time.

Kind of stunning how poorly this show has aged, though.

yeah it feels zeitgeisty in a way that would (and did) age horribly. I wonder what shows of the past decade will also age this poorly. Girls?

Yes.

My daughters have a real a real thing for time-capsule TV—they have gone in deep on everything from Andy Griffith to Mod Squad—and I thought they'd get an add'l kick out of the colors and novelty of Laugh In, but they were begging me to shut it off about 15 mins in. "This is Terrible." "Not funny."

also holy crap *soooo* much of the racial stuff would never, ever, ever fly today

cultural stick up ass

I was 10 when the show premiered, and totally loved the fast pace and the silliness (and Goldie.) My kid is now 10, and he thinks it's terrible.

i get this on a OTA show. it's pretty rad. Ringo was a guest last episode i caught.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f2mlvMTeNY8/WqCaL-qHWlI/AAAAAAABbGk/8ZfsMVqdTJQxbHd4qEeobPPg4TLgtlbOgCLcBGAs/s400/S3EP23_CAROLANDRINGO.jpg

i meant OTA channel. antennas still work

Can't fault any show that gave Nixon the opportunity to show how hip and with it he was.

I watched Laugh-In when it was new. The major fascination was probably the pace of the show, which was about ten times faster than any other show that had aired up until that time. The 'zany', 'fun', and 'hip' signifiers just rained down on your head by the bucket load, so you felt a bit like you were speed-reading all the cultural changes that were happening at the same time - which were equally fast-paced and confusing.

You weren't really getting anything out of it, but it gave that impression and it didn't give you time to notice how empty it was.

Like flippin' through a deck of Wacky Packages.

Bumping this because it has more Laugh-In content than the other thread.

So who's left? None of the male cast, it seems.

Goldie, Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin, and Ann Elder

Joanne Worley is still yelling!

I got maybe about two minutes into the Netflix tribute special.

How could I forget her!

Willie Tyler (and Lester!) from the last season is still kickin' at 78.