Goldie Hawn wasn't there but many other folks involved in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In were present last evening as the Museum of Television and Radio honored a breakthrough comedy series of the sixties. The dais consisted of producers George Schlatter and Ed Friendly, writer Chris Bearde, musical contributors Ian Bernard and Billy Barnes, and performers Dick Martin, Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson, Alan Sues, Gary Owens and Joanne Worley. Ms. Worley allowed others to talk, but not often. As usual for these events, clips from the show were run and then the panel talked about what it was like to work on the series. Among the sizzling revelations we heard were that Arte Johnson got in trouble with the Polish Anti-Defamation League for telling a gibberish joke in double-talk Polish (they assumed it was dirty); that Alan Sues once stuck his head up Kate Smith's dress; that Richard Nixon used the "f" word; that the censors gave them a lot of hassle; and that Judy Carne never wore underwear.
I was a big fan of Laugh-In, and I enjoy watching the reruns that air now on the Trio cable channel — or, actually, I did enjoy watching them until I realized they only have about 40 shows that they run over and over and over. (Someone let me know if they ever get more.) But then I always enjoyed the show. In my teen years, when I started writing comic books for Disney, I'd take the bus to Burbank, drop my work off at the lot, then walk over to NBC and talk my way into a Laugh-In taping. Only a few segments ever had a formal audience but when they were taping short comedy bits, as they always seemed to be, you could sit in the bleachers if you seemed even remotely connected. So I can verify what they all said last night, which was that their tapings were enormous fun which transferred to the air. Years later, I worked on a Laugh-In imitation that was taped in the same studio. Its tapings were not a lot of fun, and I think it showed.
Not much else to report about the evening. Lily Tomlin is brilliant, but you already know that. It was nice to see George Schlatter and Dick Martin together, proving that old feuds can be buried. I was a little bothered that so many folks who worked on the show — in front of and behind the camera — went unmentioned: Not a word about Larry Hovis or Richard Dawson or Johnny Brown or Teresa Graves or Chelsea Brown or Barbara Sharma or Dennis Allen or about three dozen more, plus most of the writers. But other than that, I had a great time, and so did a whole auditorium of people who remember Laugh-In fondly.
By the way: If you can't get Trio and want to see old episodes of Laugh-In, they're coming out on video. The initial push — via a Gunthy-Renker website and upcoming infomercials — seems to be towards getting folks to sign up for a subscription. You know the kind: First one's cheap, then every month or so they send you another volume and bill your credit card at a higher price. I don't go for those and, if you have a lick of sense, neither do you. But the tapes and DVDs should be available soon after on a pay-as-you-go basis. I'll let you know when I see them being sold that way.