Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (often simply referred to as Laugh-In) is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967, and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8 pm (ET). It quickly became the most popular television show in the United States.
The title of the show was a play on the 1960s Hippie culture "love-ins" or the Counterculture "be-ins", terms derived from the "sit-ins" common in protests associated with civil rights and antiwar demonstrations of the time. In the pilot episode, Dan Rowan explained the show's approach: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to television's first Laugh-In. Now for the past few years, we have all been hearing an awful lot about the various 'ins'. There have been be-ins, love-ins, and sleep-ins. This is a laugh-in and a laugh-in is a frame of mind. For the next hour, we would just like you to sit back and laugh and forget about the other ins."
Laugh-In had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were Olsen and Johnson's comedies (such as the free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs (George Schlatter's wife, Jolene Brand appeared in Kovacs' shows), and the topical TV satire That Was the Week That Was. The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which were politically charged or contained sexual innuendo. The co-hosts continued the exasperated "straight man" (Rowan) and "dumb guy" (Martin) double act that they had established as nightclub comics.
The show featured Gary Owens as the on-screen radio continuity announcer, and an ensemble cast. Ruth Buzzi was part of the ensemble throughout the show's six-year run, while others appeared in at least three seasons. This includes Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Dennis Allen and Richard Dawson.
In 2002, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was ranked number 42 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Laugh-In was designed to be very lightly structured and consisted mainly of short comedic sketches. Some of these would reappear multiple times throughout an episode with variations on a theme, while others involved reoccurring characters created by the cast. In others, cast members and guest stars would simply appear as themselves, delivering jokes or reacting to a previous sketch. In addition to the announced guest star or stars of the evening, some recurring guest stars would appear unannounced multiple times through a season (which was easy to accomplish given the show's non-linear taping sessions). A trademark of the series was its (even shorter) blackout sketches, often involving rapid-fire cuts between two or more scenes or camera angles, set to a six-note musical sting (or at times, an elongated 16-note version). These were used as transitions into and out of commercials, among other places.
The show started with a batch of sketches leading into Gary Owens' introduction segment, in which the cast and announced guest star(s) would appear behind open doors of the show's iconic, psychedelically painted "Joke Wall". Owens would also insert offbeat lines in his monotone, deadpan style, in the introductions and occasionally throughout the episode, generally facing a microphone to his side with one hand cupped to his ear (Owens's character loosened up and became "hipper" in later seasons).
After more short sketches leading into and out of the first commercial break, Rowan and Martin would walk in front of the show's homebase set to introduce the show and have a dialogue, generally consisting of Martin frustrating Rowan by derailing his attempt to do a proper introduction via misunderstandings or digressions.
Eventually, Rowan would end the introduction and invite the audience to the "Cocktail Party". This live to tape segment consisted of all cast members and occasional surprise celebrities dancing before a 1960s "mod" party backdrop, delivering one- and two-line jokes interspersed with a few bars of dance music. (This was similar in format to the "Word Dance" segments of A Thurber Carnival, and would later be imitated on The Muppet Show.)
Another weekly segment was "Laugh-In Looks at the News", which began with the female cast members singing the segment's opening theme in a different costumed set piece each week, often with the help of the guest star. The news varied in presentation over the years, but in the earlier seasons started with Martin reading the "News of the Present", with Rowan providing "News of the Future" and sketches depicting the "News of the Past". Alan Sues, as his "Big Al" character, would provide a typically clueless sports report.
"Mod, Mod World" was a group of sketches introduced by Rowan and Martin that fit into an announced theme. This segment is notable for being interspersed with film clips of some of the female cast members (most frequently Carne and Hawn) performing go-go dancing in bikinis to the segment's burlesque-inspired theme, with the camera periodically zooming into jokes or images that had been painted onto their bodies. The segment also usually included an additional musical number based on the topic, performed by cast members at the beginning and end of the segment, as well as in short bridges between sketches.
At the end of every show, after a final dialogue, Rowan would turn to his co-host and say, "Say good night, Dick", to which Martin replied, "Good night, Dick!", leading into the final Joke Wall segment. The cast would pop out of their doors and either tell jokes to the camera, to each other, or to Rowan and Martin, who stood in front, or just yell out, "Good night, Dick!" This would lead into and continue under the closing credits. There would be one final batch of skits, including a closing appearance from Owens. Up until the finale of Season 4, the last gag would be Arte Johnson's character, Wolfgang, the German soldier. He would slowly rise up from among some plants, look into the camera and say with a thick German accent, "Veeeeery eeenterestingk!" This would bring the episode to a conclusion - almost. The very last thing the television audience would hear is one pair of hands clapping several seconds after all the credits had rolled. This was the conclusion to almost every show up to the Season 5 finale. For Season 6, the television audience would hear a woman laughing (Ruth Buzzi) very strangely long after the credits had rolled.
Other segments and recurring characters, listed below, would come and go throughout the years.
The September 9, 1967, was meant to be a special, sponsored by Timex, with guest stars: Pamela Austin, Ken Berry, Judy Carne, Barbara Feldon, and featuring Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Larry Hovis, Arte Johnson, Monte Landis, Jo Anne Worley, and Paul Weston and His Orchestra
Season 1 ran from January to April 1968 with 14 episodes. Gary Owens joined the cast in the first episode along with series regulars Pamela Austin, Eileen Brennan, Judy Carne, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Larry Hovis, Arte Johnson, and Jo Anne Worley. Goldie Hawn joined the cast in the third episode. She had been under contract to Good Morning World at the time of the pilot. Eileen Brennan, Barbara Feldon, and Jack Riley made frequent appearances in both season 1 and 2. Riley usually did skits as President Lyndon Johnson.
Ian Bernard (1930–2020) was the musical director for all 6 seasons. He composed the show's theme song along with numerous other pieces.
Billy Barnes composed special comedic and topical songs for the show's cast and guest stars. He was regularly seen playing a golden grand piano to accompany solos by cast members such as Ruth Buzzi, Alan Sues, and Jo Anne Worley and guest stars such as Dinah Shore and Lena Horne.
Cast departures: all continued on into Season 2 but Hovis.
Season 2 (1968–1969): New regulars included Chelsea Brown, Dave Madden and Alan Sues.
Arte Johnson now insisted on star billing, apart from the rest of the cast. The producer mollified him by having on-screen radio continuity announcer Gary Owens read Johnson's credit as a separate sentence: "Starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin! And Arte Johnson! With Ruth Buzzi..." This maneuver gave Johnson the star billing he wanted, but it also implied that he was still part of the ensemble cast.
Cast departures: Chelsea Brown and Dave Madden left at the end of season 2. Judy Carne officially left the show after episode 11 but did return for a few appearances in season 3.
Season 3 (1969–1970): New regulars included Johnny Brown, Byron Gilliam, Teresa Graves, Jeremy Lloyd, Pamela Rodgers, and Lily Tomlin. Gilliam was a dancer in seasons 1 to 2 and promoted to cast member this season. Both Brown and Tomlin joined late in this season.
Cast departures and changes: After the season finale, Gilliam returned to being a regular dancer in The Cocktail Party scene and in occasional skits. He remained until the end of the series. Graves, Hawn, Lloyd, and Worley left after the season 3 finale. Tomlin remained until the series ended in 1973.
Season 4 (1970–1971): There were major changes to the set and new additions to the cast. The overall psychedelia look was replaced with a more avant-garde ambience. The Cocktail Party set now consisted of oversized cutouts of celebrity and historical figures. The show began to depart from both its Hippie-esque "vibe" and humor and its leanings toward the counterculture of the 1960s. There were now significantly fewer jokes and less commentary about race relations and anti-Vietnam War sentiment.
New cast members: Dennis Allen, writer-actress Ann Elder, and tap dancer Barbara Sharma.
Cast departures: Gibson left after episode 10 and Johnson left after the season 4 finale.
Notable visits for season 4: Goldie Hawn made a guest appearance in episode 3. After she left Laugh-In she made two movies, There's a Girl In My Soup and Cactus Flower, for which she won an Academy Award. Teresa Graves made two consecutive appearances toward the end of season 4.
Season 5 (1971–1972): Another new set design was introduced that combined abstract art with avant-garde. The Cocktail Party set now consisted of a main wall covered in mirrored tiles. The jokes, commentary and overall humor became even more mainstream in Season 5, and there were more schtick and vaudeville-styled musical numbers. The few political jokes told were mostly aimed at the Nixon administration. Around mid-season, the show began to air brief anti-drug messages at the end of each episode. In keeping with Laugh-In's groundbreaking nature, these messages strongly resembled 21st century GIFs.
New cast members: Hogan's Heroes alumni Richard Dawson and Larry Hovis. Both had been part of season 1. Child actor Moosie Drier was also added, doing solo cameo jokes.
Cast departures after the season 5 finale: Brown, Elder, Hovis, Sharma, and Sues. Dawson remained until the series ended.
During season 5 the show also celebrated its 100th episode. Former cast regulars Carne, Gibson, Graves, Johnson, and Worley returned for the festivities. Frequent guest stars Tiny Tim and John Wayne were also on hand to celebrate. This was Wayne's first guest appearance since 1968.
Season 6 (1972–1973): This was Laugh-In's final season. Rowan and Martin assumed the executive producer roles from George Schlatter and Ed Friendly. A new set was designed that mixed abstract art with muted psychedelia colors. There was once again a visible studio audience. Ian Bernard, the show's musical director, and five other musicians became participants in the Cocktail Party scenes as the house band known as "Ian Bernard and His Band at Large". Owens would often incorrectly introduce them as "Ian Bernard and His Band of Irvine Quickies", " ...His Band of Lard" or "...His Band of Lies". Also new for the first few episodes was a group of six women dancers called "The Downtown Beauties", referring to the show's running joke of "beautiful downtown Burbank". The members of this group were in the Cocktail Party scenes and the group was featured for many of the musical numbers. The known names of these dancers are Janice Pennington, Mary Rowan (Dan's daughter), and Adele Yoshioko.
Cast (returning veterans): Allen, Buzzi, Dawson, Owens, and Tomlin. (New members:) child actor Moosie Drier, promoted to cast member and teamed with child actor Tod Bass, character comedian Brian Bressler (up to episode 10), comedienne Patti Deutsch, German model Lisa Farringer (episodes 13–24), Sarah Kennedy, folksy singer-comedian Jud Strunk, ventriloquist act Willie Tyler and Lester, and Donna Jean Young. Former regular Jo Anne Worley returned for two guest appearances, including the series finale.
Although Owens was not in the 1967 pilot and Buzzi was not in two episodes of season 1, of the more than three dozen entertainers to join the cast over the years only Rowan, Martin, Owens, and Buzzi were present from beginning to end.
This last season was not George Schlatter's property, so it was not included in the edited and condensed rerun package of half-hour episodes that was syndicated (through Lorimar Productions) to local stations in 1983 and later to Nick at Nite in 1987. Season 6 ultimately was shown for the first time since its original 1972 -1973 run when the entire series of full, uncut episodes began airing on Decades in 2017.
*Indicates an extended guest performer and not a regular cast member
The writers for Laugh-In were: George Schlatter, Paul W. Keyes (head writer), Larry Hovis (pilot only), Digby Wolfe, Hugh Wedlock Jr. and Allan Manings, Chris Bearde (credited as Chris Beard), Phil Hahn and Jack Hanrahan, Coslough Johnson (Arte Johnson's twin brother), Marc London and David Panich, Dave Cox, Jim Carlson, Jack Mendelsohn and Jim Mulligan, Lorne Michaels (before he became the producer of Saturday Night Live) and Hart Pomerantz, Jack Douglas, Jeremy Lloyd, John Carsey, Dennis Gren, Gene Farmer, John Rappaport and Stephen Spears, Jim Abell and Chet Dowling, Barry Took, E. Jack Kaplan, Larry Siegel, Jack S. Margolis, Don Reo and Allan Katz, Richard Goren (also credited as Rowby Greeber and Rowby Goren), Winston Moss, Gene Perret and Bill Richmond, Jack Wohl, Bob Howard and Bob DeVinney. Script supervisors for Laugh-In included Digby Wolfe (comedy consultant, season 1), Phil Hahn and Jack Hanrahan (season 2), Allan Manings (season 3), Marc London and David Panich (seasons 3–6), and Jim Mulligan (season 6).
The musical director for Laugh-In was Ian Bernard. He wrote the opening theme music, "Inquisitive Tango" (used in Season 1 and again permanently from season 4), plus the infamous "What's the news across the nation" number. He wrote all the musical "play-ons" that introduced comedy sketches like Lily Tomlin's character, Edith Ann, the little girl who sat in a giant rocking chair, and Arte Johnson's old man character, Tyrone, who always got hit with a purse. He also appeared in many of the Cocktail Party scenes, primarily Season 6, where he directed his band as they stopped and started between jokes. Composer-lyricist Billy Barnes wrote all of the original musical production numbers in the show, and often appeared on-camera, accompanying Johnson, Buzzi, Worley, or Sues, on a golden grand piano. Barnes was the creator of the Billy Barnes Revue of 1959 and 1960. For the entire 141-episode series of Laugh-In, including the pilot, the show's musical coordinator was West Coast bebop jazz pianist and composer Russ Freeman.
The show was recorded at NBC's Burbank facility using two-inch quadruplex videotape. As computer-controlled online editing had not been invented at the time, post-production video editing of the montage was achieved by the error-prone method of visualizing the recorded track with ferrofluid and cutting it with a razor blade or guillotine cutter and splicing with adhesive tape, in a manner similar to film editing. This had the incidental benefit of ensuring the preservation of the master tape, as a spliced tape could not be recycled for further use. Laugh-In editor Arthur Schneider won an Emmy Award in 1968 for his pioneering use of the "jump cut" – the unique editing style in which a sudden cut from one shot to another was made without a fade-out.
When the series was restored for airing by the Trio Cable Network in 1996, the aforementioned edits became problematic for the editors, as the adhesive used on the source tape had deteriorated during 20+ years of storage, making many of the visual elements at the edit points unusable. This was corrected in digital re-editing by removing the problematic video at the edit point and then slowing down the video image just before the edit point; time-expanding the slowed-down section long enough to allot enough time to seamlessly reinsert the audio portion from the removed portion of video.
Frequently recurring Laugh-In sketches included:
The first season featured some of the first music videos seen on network TV, with cast members appearing in films set to the music of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Bee Gees, the Temptations, the Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the First Edition.
During the September 16, 1968, episode, Richard Nixon, running for president, appeared for a few seconds with a disbelieving vocal inflection, asking "Sock it to me?" Nixon was not doused or assaulted. An invitation was extended to Nixon's opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, but he declined. According to George Schlatter, the show's creator, "Humphrey later said that not doing it may have cost him the election", and "[Nixon] said the rest of his life that appearing on Laugh-In is what got him elected. And I believe that. And I've had to live with that." In an episode of the ill-fated 1977 revival, Rich Little as Nixon says, "I invited the American people to sock-it-to-me.... you can stop now".
After winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Cactus Flower, Goldie Hawn made a guest appearance in the third episode of the fourth season. She began the episode as an arrogant snob of an actress; however, a bucket of water thrown at her transformed her back to her giggling dumb blonde persona.
On multiple occasions, producer George Schlatter attempted to get William F. Buckley Jr. to appear on the show, only to be refused each time until he suddenly agreed to an appearance. In the episode that aired December 28, 1970, Buckley appeared in an unusual sit-down segment (portions of which were scattered throughout the episode) flanked by Rowan and Martin and fielding questions from the cast (which included Lily Tomlin doing her Babbler and Ernestine shticks) and giving humorous answers to each. Near the end, when Rowan asked Buckley why he finally agreed to appear on the show, Buckley explained that Schlatter had written him "an irresistable letter" in which he promised to fly Buckley out to Burbank "in an airplane with two right wings". At the end, Rowan thanked him for appearing: "You can't be that smart without having a sense of humor, and you have a delightful one."
The 100th episode featured John Wayne, Tiny Tim and the return of several former cast members. Wayne, with his ear cupped, read the line "and me, I'm Gary Owens" instead of Owens himself. Wayne also shook Tiny Tim's hand, pretending that his grip was too overpowering.
In addition to those already mentioned, the show created numerous catchphrases (for a full description of characters and recurring characters, see above sections.):
A chain of Laugh-In restaurants opened in several states during 1968–69; primarily in Michigan, Ohio and Florida. Psychedelically-themed like the show, they offered such menu items as Bippy Burgers, Is That A Chicken Joke Chicken, Fickle Finger Of Fate Fries, Beautiful Downtown Burbank Burgers, Fickle Finger Franks, Verrrry Interesting Sandwiches, I'll Drink To That beverages, Sock It To Me soups, Laugh-In Fortune Cookies and Here Come Da Fudge sundaes. Staff often rode around on red tricycles wearing yellow raincoats and hats. All locations were closed by the mid-1970s. Menus, French fry bags, sandwich wraps, napkins, salt and pepper shakers and other memorabilia are still sold on EBay.
A humor magazine tie-in, Laugh-In Magazine, was published for one year (12 issues: October 1968 through October 1969—no issue was published December 1968), and a 1968-1972 syndicated Sundays and daily newspaper comic strip was drawn, without actors likeness, by Roy Doty and eventually collected for a paperback reprint.
The Laugh-In trading cards from Topps had a variety of items, such as a card with a caricature of Jo Anne Worley with a large open mouth. With a die-cut hole, the card became interactive; a finger could be inserted through the hole to simulate Worley's tongue. Little doors opened on Joke Wall cards to display punchlines.
On Letters to Laugh-In, a short-lived spin-off daytime show hosted by Gary Owens, cast members read jokes sent in by viewers, which were scored by applause meter. The eventual winning joke was read by actress Jill St. John: "What do you get when you cross an elephant with a jar of peanut butter? A 500 pound sandwich that sticks to the roof of your mouth!"
A cross-promotional episode of I Dream of Jeannie ("The Biggest Star in Hollywood", February 1969) features Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Gary Owens, and producer George Schlatter playing themselves in a story about Jeannie being sought after to appear on Laugh-In.
In 1969, a Laugh-In View-Master packet was issued by General Aniline and Film (GAF); The packet featured 21 3D images from the show.
The horror spoof film The Maltese Bippy (1969,) starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin as low-budget moviemakers, was loosely related to the series. Pamela Rodgers was the only Laugh-In cast member to co-star in the film. The film received only a token release by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer—it never even appeared in many key cities—and its disappointing performance resulted in no further Rowan & Martin films.
In 1969, the 1969 Pontiac GTO 2 Door Hardtop "The Judge" was an options package: rear spoiler, striped body paint and “The Judge” decals, and engines: 366 hp Ram Air III, or 370 hp Ram Air IV.
In 1969, Sears, Roebuck and Company produced a 15-minute short, Freeze-In, which starred series regulars Judy Carne and Arte Johnson. Made to capitalize on the popularity of the series, the short was made for Sears salesmen to introduce the new Kenmore freezer campaign. A dancing, bikini-clad Carne provided the opening titles with tattoos on her body.
Two LPs of material from the show were released: the first on Epic Records (FXS-15118, 1968); the second, which did not feature Rowan or Martin, was entitled Laugh-In '69 and released on Reprise Records (RS 6335, 1969).
"Murder on High C", a 1975 episode of the TV series Get Christie Love!, which starred former cast member Teresa Graves, featured a number of other Laugh-In cast members, including the villain (Arte Johnson), Johnny Brown, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Gary Owens and Joanne Worley.
On June 24, 2003, and then February 24, 2004, Rhino Entertainment Company (under its Rhino Retrovision classic TV entertainment brand), under license from the rightsholder at the time, SFM Entertainment, released two respective The Best Of releases of the show, each containing six episodes presented in its original, uncut broadcast version. In 2003, Rhino, through direct-response marketing firm Guthy-Renker, also released a series of DVDs subtitled The Sock-It-To-Me Collection, with each DVD containing two episodes.
On June 19, 2017, Time Life, another direct-response marketer, released Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1, in a deal with current rightsholder Proven Entertainment. The 38-disc set contains all 140 episodes of the series, complete and uncut, restored and remastered as well as many bonus features and a special 32-page collector's book.
On September 5, 2017, Time Life began releasing individual complete season sets on DVD, beginning with the first season. This was followed by the second season on January 9, 2018, and the third season on March 6, 2018. The fourth season was released on May 8, 2018. Season 5 was released on July 10, 2018. Finally, Season 6 was released on September 4, 2018.
TV season, ranking, average viewers per episode
In 1977, Schlatter and NBC briefly revived the property as a series of specials – titled simply Laugh-In – with a new cast. The standout was a then-unknown Robin Williams, whose starring role on ABC's Mork & Mindy one year later prompted NBC to rerun the specials as a summer series in 1979. Also featured were Wayland Flowers and Madame (as well as his other puppet, "Jiffy"), former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner, former Barney Miller actress June Gable, Good Times actor Ben Powers, Bill Rafferty of Real People and comedian Ed Bluestone. Barry Goldwater appeared in three episodes. Rowan and Martin, who owned part of the Laugh-In franchise, were not involved in this project. They sued Schlatter for using the format without their permission, and won a judgment of $4.6 million in 1980.
In 1987, George Schlatter attempted a revival of the program called George Schlatter's Comedy Club, the weekly half-hour program that appeared in syndication through King World Productions during the 1987-1988 television season. Featuring stand-up comedy routines alongside quick comedy sketches similar to Laugh-In, the series was hosted by Schlatter himself.
In 2019, Netflix produced a special tribute to the original series entitled, Still Laugh-In: The Stars Celebrate. Tomlin, Buzzi and Worley appeared in the special.
Critics' views in retrospect, while noting that the show was groundbreaking and unique, have also indicated that it has not aged well. Various aspects of the show are now recognized as being racist in current times and other portrayals stereotyped gay people and women. While the show included Black actors and made occasional comments on racism, at the same time the show also featured White actors portraying Asian people in "yellowface" and offensive portrayals of Native Americans. The show's humor was generally appreciated at the time and some skits and jokes were even quite progressive; however, other aspects are often not seen as humorous in the context of modern day standards.
Emmy Awards
Golden Globe Award
1983 saw the first 70 one-hour shows syndicated to broadcast stations (the pilot, first three seasons and the first four episodes of season 4). Alternate recut half-hour shows (seasons 1–5, not including the pilot) were syndicated through Lorimar Television to local stations in 1983 and later on Nick at Nite in 1987 through August 1990.
The Vivendi Universal-owned popular arts/pop culture entertainment cable network Trio started airing the show in its original one-hour form in the early 2000s; the same abbreviated 70 episode package was run.
In September 2016, digital sub-network Decades started airing the show twice a day in its original one-hour format, complete with the NBC Peacock opening and 'snake' closing. The entire 6 season run was supplied by Proven Entertainment.
In 2018, the original series became available in full on Amazon Prime Video.
In 2020, the partially complete series became available on-demand on Tubi.
As of 2023, four episodes air per weeknight on the Z Living channel.