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Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In was a US sketch comedy show that ran from 1968 to 1973 on NBC, with a pilot in 1967. The BBC showed some of the series in the early 70s, and that is where I first saw it. Comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin were the hosts. It was on Laugh-In that Goldie Hawn shot to stardom after joining the regular cast early on. The things that I remember about the show include...
The joke wall at the end of the show. Members of the cast would open a window in the wall and tell a one-liner.
Female cast members like Goldie Hawn and Judy Carne go-go dancing in bikinis, and the camera would zoom into a part of their body where a joke would have been written.
Gary Owens as a 40s style radio announcer with one hand cupped over his ear.
A guy, maybe dressed as a stereotypical German soldier, who would pop up from time to time and say "Very interesting...but stupid."
Sock it to me time, where Judy Carne would get water thrown over her, or playfully hit in some way.
It was on Laugh-In that Tiny Tim sang Tiptoe through the Tulips for the first time.
There were guest stars like John Wayne, Terry-Thomas, Douglas Fairbanks and even Richard Nixon pre-election in 1968.
Laugh-In was a forerunner of Saturday Night Live, though the satire was subtler. Being from the late 60s to early 70s there were lots of references to hippies and lots of psychedelic effects.
The show was very popular in the US, though I am not really sure how popular it was over here. I suspect many references to US culture and personalities would have been lost on UK viewers, though there was a frenetic energy about the whole thing that made it very enjoyable.
The joke wall at the end of the show. Members of the cast would open a window in the wall and tell a one-liner.
Female cast members like Goldie Hawn and Judy Carne go-go dancing in bikinis, and the camera would zoom into a part of their body where a joke would have been written.
Gary Owens as a 40s style radio announcer with one hand cupped over his ear.
A guy, maybe dressed as a stereotypical German soldier, who would pop up from time to time and say "Very interesting...but stupid."
Sock it to me time, where Judy Carne would get water thrown over her, or playfully hit in some way.
It was on Laugh-In that Tiny Tim sang Tiptoe through the Tulips for the first time.
There were guest stars like John Wayne, Terry-Thomas, Douglas Fairbanks and even Richard Nixon pre-election in 1968.
Laugh-In was a forerunner of Saturday Night Live, though the satire was subtler. Being from the late 60s to early 70s there were lots of references to hippies and lots of psychedelic effects.
The show was very popular in the US, though I am not really sure how popular it was over here. I suspect many references to US culture and personalities would have been lost on UK viewers, though there was a frenetic energy about the whole thing that made it very enjoyable.
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