This is the first four minutes of an episode of Hullabaloo from September of 1965. The hosts are Jerry Lewis and his son Gary…and by God, it's thrilling to finally hear one of the Beatles' songs sung properly. If you've never heard the definitive version of "Help!," it's about time. You may especially enjoy the fact that Jerry seems to have learned the number about six minutes before they taped and barely takes his eyes off the cue cards the entire time.
Let's see what else there is of interest to mention. Hullabaloo had previously taped in New York and this was the first one done out here at NBC Burbank, which they always lie and claim is "Hollywood." A pre-Laugh-In Goldie Hawn is reportedly visible as a dancer on this episode, though not in this clip. One of the dancers who is seen is a lady on whom I (and 32% of all males in America) briefly had what you might politely call a crush. Hey, I was thirteen at the time and lusting after every woman on television younger than Frances Bavier. In later years, I got to meet most of my teen-year crushes, though I never got to meet this particular Hullabaloo dancer. I did, however, find out that she'd had a brief-but-torrid affair with one of my favorite comic book artists — no, not Jack Kirby — and that somehow made up for my never getting to see her in person.
That's about it, except I have to thank Shelly Goldstein for finding this clip. Shelly is a devout Beatles fan and expert, and she probably can't believe that someone got a Lennon and McCartney song right…
