The great Stan Laurel died February 23, 1965. One of those in attendance at his funeral was a man named Gene Lester, a professional photographer who had been a fan and friend of Laurel's. Right there, it is said, he began telling people there should be a big TV special/tribute to Stan, explaining to the world how important and wonderful he was. Many celebrities who were present said they'd gladly participate in such a thing, especially if — as Lester also suggested — all the proceeds went to the Motion Picture Relief Fund. When Dick Van Dyke volunteered to host, the idea really took off and CBS offered a time slot and the funding.
At some point, it is further said, control of the special was shifted from Lester to more experienced producers and the final product, which aired on November 23 of that year, had little resemblance to what Mr. Lester had envisioned or what Van Dyke and others had agreed to be in. It was done on the stage where Red Skelton usually taped with most of his production staff though, as Buster Keaton reportedly quipped, Red had the good sense to not be a part of it. Keaton was on it as were — among others — Lucille Ball, Phil Silvers, Danny Kaye, Louis Nye, Bob Newhart, Fred Gwynne in his Herman Munster suit, Gregory Peck, Harvey Korman and Cesar Romero. Yes, amazingly Cesar Romero was available.
What started as a tribute with Laurel and Hardy film clips and stars telling why they loved those men so turned into a semi-splashy variety special with a lot of material that had little to do with Stan and Ollie. I remember watching it when it aired — I was thirteen — with much the same look that we would all see four years later on the faces of the audience members watching "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers. Most of those in the show, especially Dick Van Dyke, had similar expressions and muttered how glad they were Stan wasn't around to see it.
This is the entire program and you will not watch it. I promise you: You will not watch it. But you might want to watch a little here and there, skipping around, just to marvel at how a very good idea can go so horribly wrong…