Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Episodes

Cast

Pilot and season 1

Seasons 2 and 3

Seasons 4 and 5

Season 6

Cast tenures

• All seasons: Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Gary Owens, and Ruth Buzzi
• Season 1 : Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Pamela Austin, Eileen Brennan, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Larry Hovis, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Jo Anne Worley
• Season 2 : Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Jo Anne Worley, Dave Madden, Alan Sues, Chelsea Brown, "Sweet Brother" Dick Whittington, Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall, Pigmeat Markham, Jack Riley, Muriel Landers, J.J. Barry, Byron Gilliam, Barbi Benton
• Season 3 : Judy Carne, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Teresa Graves, Jeremy Lloyd, Pamela Rodgers, Byron Gilliam, Lily Tomlin, Stu Gilliam, Johnny Brown
• Season 4 : Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Dennis Allen, Johnny Brown, Nancie Phillips, Barbara Sharma, Ann Elder, Harvey Jason, Glen Ash, Byron Gilliam
• Season 5 : Alan Sues, Lily Tomlin, Dennis Allen, Johnny Brown, Ann Elder, Barbara Sharma, Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson, Moosie Drier, Byron Gilliam, Barbi Benton
• Season 6 : Lily Tomlin, Dennis Allen, Richard Dawson, Moosie Drier, Tod Bass, Patti Deutsch, Sarah Kennedy, Jud Strunk, Willie Tyler, Donna Jean Young, Brian Bressler, Kathy Speirs, Lisa Farringer Note: not all cast members appear in all episodes this season, and rotate with some frequency.

Regular guest performers

• Jack Benny
• Johnny Carson
• Carol Channing
• Tony Curtis
• Sammy Davis, Jr.
• Phyllis Diller
• Barbara Feldon
• Zsa Zsa Gabor
• Peter Lawford
• Rich Little
• Jill St. John
• Tiny Tim
• John Wayne
• Flip Wilson
• Henny Youngman

  Series writers

Musical direction and production numbers

Post-production

Recurring sketches and characters

Sketches

• "Sock it to me"; Judy Carne was often tricked into saying the phrase, which almost invariably led to her falling through a trap door, being doused with water, or playfully assaulted in various other manners. The phrase was also uttered by many of the cameo guest stars, [|most notably Richard Nixon], though they were almost never subjected to the same treatment as Carne.
• "The Party", in which Dan would invite the audience to a wild party attended by the regulars and the guest stars. The orchestra would play a few bars of a dance song, only to temporarily stop while the cast and guests would exchange one-liners.
• "The Joke-Wall", near the end of every episode, the regulars along with the guests would poke out of doors from the wall or floor in a psychedelically-designed wall and exchange one-liners. Rowan and Martin often stood in front of the wall during this segment, though at the top of every episode, when announcer Gary Owens introduced the cast, Rowan and Martin were inside the windows rather than standing in front of the wall. In the sixth season, instead of coming in and out of view, the entire cast just hung out of the holes and told their jokes and one-liners.
• "Mod, Mod World" comprised brief sketches on a theme interspersed with film footage of female cast members go-go dancing in bikinis, their bodies painted with punchy phrases and clever wordplay. On occasion, a cast member would cast off a one-liner while the dancing took place. Usually, there was also a song which the entire cast sang, paying tribute to the theme.
• "The Farkel Family", a couple with numerous children, all of whom had bright red hair and large freckles similar to their "good friend and trusty neighbor" Ferd Berfel. The sketch employed diversion humor, the writing paying more attention to the lines said by each player, using alliterative tongue-twisters. Dan Rowan played father Frank Farkel the Third, Jo Anne Worley, Barbara Sharma and Patti Deutsch played his wife Fanny Farkel, Goldie Hawn played Sparkle Farkel, Arte Johnson played Frank Farkel the Fourth, and Ruth Buzzi played Flicker Farkel. Two of the children were twins named Simon and Gar Farkel, played by cast members of different races. All of the Farkel skits were written or co-written by David Panich.
• "The Judge", originally portrayed by British comic Roddy Maude-Roxby, was a stuffy magistrate with a black robe and oversized judge's wig. Each sketch featured the unnamed judge bantering with a defendant brought before the court. For a time guest star Flip Wilson would introduce the sketch saying "Here come da judge!", which was a venerable catchphrase by nightclub comedian Pigmeat Markham. Surprised that his trademark had been appropriated, Markham asked producer George Schlatter to let him play the Judge himself; Schlatter agreed and Markham presided for one season. After Markham left, the sketch was briefly retired until Sammy Davis Jr. donned the judicial robe and wig during his guest appearances, introducing each sketch with a rap that always finished with "Here come da judge, here come da judge...".
• "Laugh-In Looks at the News", a parody of network newscasts, introduced by the female cast members in a highly un-journalistic production number. The sketch was originally called the Rowan and Martin Report. The sketch itself featured Dick humorously reporting on current events, which then segued into Dan reporting on "News of the Past" and "News of the Future", the latter of these segments, on at least two occasions, correctly predicted future events, one being that Ronald Reagan would be president, and another that the Berlin Wall would finally come down in 1989. This segment was influenced by the BBC's That Was the Week That Was, and in turn inspired Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segments. The News segments were followed by "Big Al" and his sports report in seasons 2-5. After Sues left the show, Jud Strunk took over the sports segment by featuring films of oddly-named events which were actual sports films played backwards. An example is the "Cannonball Catch", featuring a backwards film of a bowling tournament where the "cannonballs" are caught one-handed by the catcher after rolling up the alley.
• "New Talent Time" introduced oddball variety acts, most notable of which was Tin Pan Alley musician Tiny Tim. Laugh-In writer Chris Bearde took the "New Talent" concept and later developed it into The Gong Show.
• "The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award" sardonically recognized actual dubious achievements by public individuals or institutions, the most frequent recipients being members or branches of the government. The trophy was a gilded left hand mounted on a trophy base with its extended index finger adorned with two small wings.
• "The Wonderful World of Whoopee Award" was a counterpart to the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award", described by Rowan as a citation "for the little man who manages to outfight or outfox the bureaucracy"; the statue was similar to the Finger of Fate, only it was a right hand pointing straight up, and with a hidden mechanism that when activated caused the finger to wave in a circular motion.

  Characters

• Dan Rowan, in addition to hosting, appears as a character known as General Bull Right, a far-right-wing representative of the military establishment and outlet for political humor.
• Announcer Gary Owens regularly stands in an old-time radio studio with his hand cupped over his ear, making announcements, often with little relation to the rest of the show, such as, "Earlier that evening..."
• Arte Johnson:
• *Wolfgang the German soldier – Wolfgang would often peer out from behind a potted palm and comment on the previous gag saying "Verrry interesting", sometimes with comments such as "... but shtupid!" He eventually closed each show by talking to Lucille Ball, as well as the cast of Gunsmoke — both airing opposite Laugh-In on CBS; as well as whatever was on ABC. Johnson later repeated the line while playing Nazi-themed supervillain Virman Vundabar on an episode of Justice League Unlimited. Johnson also reprised his Wolfgang character in a series of skits for the second season of Sesame Street, and in 1980 for a series of small introductory skits with a plant on 3-2-1 Contact, during the "Growth/Decay" week.
• *Tyrone F. Horneigh was a dirty old man coming on to Gladys Ormphby seated on a park bench, who almost invariably clobbers him with her purse. Both Tyrone and Gladys later became animated characters in "The Nitwits" segments of the 1977 Saturday morning animated television show, Baggy Pants and the Nitwits.
• *Piotr Rosmenko, the Eastern European Man, stands stiffly and nervously in an ill-fitting suit while commenting on differences between America and "the old country", such as "Here in America, is very good, everyone watch television. In old country, television watches you!" This type of joke has come to be known as the Russian reversal.
• *Rabbi Shankar was an Indian guru who dresses in a Nehru jacket dispensing pseudomystical Eastern wisdom laden with bad puns. He held up two fingers in a peace sign whenever he spoke.
• *An unnamed character in a yellow raincoat and hat, riding a tricycle and then falling over, was frequently used to link between sketches. The character was portrayed by many people besides Johnson, including his brother Coslough, Alan Sues, and John Brown.
• Ruth Buzzi:
• *Gladys Ormphby – A drab, relatively young spinster, she is the eternal target of Arte Johnson's Tyrone; when Johnson left the series, Gladys retreated into recurring daydreams, often involving marriages to historical figures, including Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin. She typically hit people repeatedly with her purse. The character was recreated, along with Tyrone, in Baggy Pants and the Nitwits. Buzzi also performed as Gladys on Sesame Street and The Dean Martin Show, most notably in the Celebrity Roasts.
• *Doris Swizzle – A seedy barfly, she is paired with her husband, Leonard Swizzle, played by Dick Martin.
• *Agnes Gooch – An exceedingly friendly hooker, commonly seen in sketches or at the cocktail party propositioning people while leaning against a lamppost.
• *Busy Buzzi – A cold and heartless old-style Hedda Hopper-type Hollywood gossip columnist.
• *Kathleen Pullman - An always helpful, but exceedingly overdramatic woman who is eager to help people.
• Henry Gibson:
• *The Poet held an oversized flower and nervously read offbeat poems. He pronounced his name "Henrik Ibsen".
• *The Parson – A character who makes ecclesiastical quips. In 1970, he officiated at a near-marriage for Tyrone and Gladys.
• Goldie Hawn is best known as the giggling "dumb blonde", stumbling over her lines, especially when she introduced Dan's "News of the Future". In the earliest episodes, she recited her dialogue sensibly and in her own voice, but as the series progressed, she adopted a Dumb Dora character with a higher-pitched giggle and a vacant expression, which endeared her to viewers.

• Lily Tomlin:
• *Ernestine/Miss Tomlin – An obnoxious telephone operator, she has no concern at all for her customers. Her close friend is fellow telephone operator, Phenicia; and her boyfriend, Vito. Tomlin later performed Ernestine on Saturday Night Live and Happy New Year, America. She also played the Ernestine character for a comedy album called This Is A Recording.
• *Edith Ann – A -year-old child, she ends each of her short monologues with: "And that's the truth", followed by blowing a raspberry. Tomlin performs her skits in an oversized rocking chair that makes her appear small. Tomlin later performed Edith Ann on children's shows such as Sesame Street and The Electric Company.
• *Mrs. Earbore – A prim society matron, Mrs. Earbore expressed quiet disapproval about a tasteless joke or remark, and then rose from her chair with her legs spread, and sometimes got doused with a bucket of water.
• *Dotty – A crass and rude grocery checker who tended to annoy her customers at the store where she worked.
• *Lula – A loud and boisterous woman with a Marie Antoinette hair-do who always loved a party.
• *Suzie Sorority of the Silent Majority – clueless hippie college student who ended each bit with "Rah!"
• *Fast Talker – A character given to speaking exuberantly and at great length while digressing after every few words and never returning to the previous subject, producing an unbroken, incomprehensible monologue.
• Judy Carne had two characters known for their robotic speech and movement:
• *Mrs. Robot in "Robot Theater" – A female companion to Arte Johnson's "Mr. Robot".
• *The Talking Judy Doll – She is usually played with by Arte Johnson, who never heeded her warning: "Touch my little body, and I hit!"
• *The Sock-it-to-me Girl in which she would end up being splashed with water and/or falling through a trap door.
• Jo Anne Worley sometimes sings off-the-wall songs using her loud operatic voice, but is better remembered for her mock outrage at "chicken jokes" and her melodic outcry of "Bo-ring!". At the cocktail parties, she would talk about her never-seen boyfriend/husband "Boris".
• Alan Sues:
• *Big Al – A clueless and fey sports anchor, he loves ringing his "Featurette" bell, which he calls his "tinkle".
• * He would dress in drag as his former co-star, Jo Anne Worley.
• *Uncle Al, the Kiddies' Pal – A short-tempered host of a children's show, he usually goes on the air with a hangover: "Oh, kiddies, Uncle Al had a lot of medicine last night." Whenever he got really agitated, he would yell to "Get Miss Twinkle on the phone!"
• *Boomer – A self-absorbed "jock" bragging about his athletic exploits.
• *Ambiguously gay saloon patron – while the tough guys ordered whiskey, he would saunter up to the bar and effeminately say "I'll have a frozen daiquiri!"
• * In the last season where he was a regular, he would be the one who got water thrown on him after a ticking alarm clock went off.
• Dennis Allen:
• *Lt. Peaches of the Fuzz – a stumble-bum police officer.
• *Chaplain Bud Homily – a droll clergyman who often falls victim to his own sermons.
• *Eric Clarified – a correspondent for Laugh-In Looks at the News who further muddles up obfuscatory government statements he has been asked to clarify. Rowan would often throw to another correspondent to analyze Eric Clarified's statements in turn.
• Barbara Sharma:
• *The Burbank Metre Made – a meter maid who tickets anything from trees to baby carriages.
• *An aspiring actress who often plays foil in cocktail-party segments to another "high-society" character.
• *In season four, a Ruby Keeler-esque dancer who often praises Vice President Spiro Agnew.
• Johnny Brown lent his impersonations of Ed Sullivan, Alfred Hitchcock, and the Kingfish from Amos 'n' Andy.
• Ann Elder as Pauline Rhetoric, the chief interviewer for the Laugh-In News segments.
• Richard Dawson appears as Hawkins the Butler, who always started his piece by asking "Permission to...?" and proceeded to fall over.
• Flip Wilson would appear as his character "Geraldine", originating the catchphrases "What you see is what you get" and "The devil made me do it".

  Memorable moments

Catchphrases

• "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!
• "You bet your sweet bippy!"
• "Beautiful downtown Burbank".
• "One ringy-dingy... two ringy-dingies..."
• "A gracious good afternoon. This is Miss Tomlin of the telephone company. Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?" Ernestine's greeting to people whom she would call
• "I just wanna swing!" Gladys Ormphby's catchphrase
• "Is that a chicken joke?" Jo Anne Worley's outraged cry, a takeoff on Polish jokes
• "Sock it to me!" experienced its greatest exposure on Laugh-In although the phrase had been featured in songs such as Aretha Franklin's 1967 "Respect" and Mitch Ryder's 1966 "Sock It To Me, Baby!"
• "Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere."
• "Now, that's a no-no!"
• "Morgul the Friendly Drelb" – a pink Abominable Snowman-like character that appeared in the first episode and bombed so badly, his name was used in various announcements by Gary Owens for the rest of the series and credited as the author of a paperback collection of the show's sketches.
• "Want a Walnetto?" was a pick-up line Tyrone would try on Gladys, which always resulted in a purse drubbing.
• "Here come da Judge"
• "Verrry Interesting"
• "And that's the truth – PFFFFT!"
• "He pushed me!" – usually said by Sues when another cast member would bump him
• "He was a much better person for that" – as "Sock it to me!" was phased out following Carne's departure, this became the line used for similar sketches
• "Well, I'll drink to that", "I did not know that!", and "That's funny, so did she" – Martin
• "Goodnight, Lucy." During the first three seasons, Laugh-In was scheduled opposite Lucille Ball's third television series, Here's Lucy. At the end of the show, one or more cast members would say, "Goodnight, Lucy." Dick Martin had been a regular cast member in the first season of Ball's second series, The Lucy Show.

  Merchandise tie-ins and spin-offs

DVD releases

Ratings

• 1967–1968: #21
• 1968–1969: #1
• 1969–1970: #1
• 1970–1971: #13
• 1971–1972: #22
• 1972–1973: Not in the Top 30

  Revival

Awards and honors

• Won:
• *1968: Outstanding Musical or Variety Program, George Schlatter
• *1968: Outstanding Musical or Variety Series, George Schlatter
• *1968: Outstanding Writing Achievement in Music or Variety, Chris Bearde, Phil Hahn, Jack Hanrahan, Coslough Johnson, Paul Keyes, Marc London, Allan Manings, David Panich, Hugh Wedlock, Jr., Digby Wolfe
• *1968: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Electronic Production – Arthur Schneider
• *1969: Outstanding Musical or Variety Series – Paul Keyes, Carolyn Raskin, Dick Martin, Dan Rowan
• *1969: Special Classification Achievements – Individuals, Arte Johnson
• *1971: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music, Mark Warren
• Nominated:
• *1968: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music, Bill Foster
• *1968 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety or Music, Gordon Wiles
• *1968: Outstanding Writing Achievement in Music or Variety, – Larry Hovis, Paul Keyes, Jim Mulligan, David Panich, George Schlatter, Digby Wolfe
• *1969: Special Classification Achievements – Individuals, Ruth Buzzi
• *1969: Special Classification Achievements – Individuals, Goldie Hawn
• *1969: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music – Gordon Wiles
• *1969: Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music – various writers
• *1969: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music – Billy Barnes
• *1969: Special Classification Achievements – Individuals – Ruth Buzzi
• *1969: Special Classification Achievements – Individuals – Goldie Hawn
• *1969: Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Scenic Design – Ken Johnson
• *1969: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Electronic Production – John Teele and Bruce Verran
• *1969: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Electronic Production – Arthur Schneider
• *1970: Outstanding Variety or Musical Series – George Schlatter, Carolyn Raskin, Paul Keyes, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin
• *1970: Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music – various writers
• *1970: Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music – various writers
• *1970: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – Individuals, Goldie Hawn
• *1970: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – Individuals, Arte Johnson
• *1970: Outstanding Achievement in Music, Lyrics and Special Material – Billy Barnes
• *1970: Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design – Michael Travis
• *1971: Outstanding Variety Series, Musical – George Schlatter, Carolyn Raskin, Paul Keyes, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin
• *1971: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – Individuals – Arte Johnson
• *1971: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – Individuals – Lily Tomlin
• *1971: Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork – Marvin Ault, Ray Figelski, Louis Fusari, Jon Olson, Tony Yarlett
• *1972: Outstanding Achievement by a Performer in Music or Variety, Ruth Buzzi
• *1972: Outstanding Achievement by a Performer in Music or Variety, Lily Tomlin
• *1972: Outstanding Achievement in Music, Lyrics and Special Material – Billy Barnes
• *1973: Outstanding Achievement by a Supporting Performer in Music or Variety – Lily Tomlin
• *1978: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music, Bea Arthur
• *1978: Outstanding Achievement in Video Tape Editing for a Series – Ed. J. Brennan

• Won:
• *1973: Best Supporting Actress – Television, Ruth Buzzi
• *1969: Best TV Show
• Nominated:
• *1972: Best Supporting Actress – Television, Lily Tomlin
• *1971: Best Supporting Actor – Television, Henry Gibson
• *1970: Best TV Show – Musical/Comedy
• *1968: Best TV Show

  International and U.S. re-broadcasts

• The first four seasons were broadcast on BBC2 from January 1969 to November 1971. Some episodes from seasons 1, 2 and 3 were retransmitted during late 1983 and early 1984. Early broadcasts had to be shown with a black border, as technology was not available to render the 525-line NTSC video recording as a full-screen 625-line PAL picture. This issue was fixed for later broadcasts.
• The series was broadcast on RTÉ One.
• The series originally aired on the 0-10 Network in the 1960s and 1970s. It later appeared in re-runs on the Seven Network in the early 1980s.
• CTV aired the series at the same time as the NBC run.