Pat S.P. Fitzgerald
One of the greatest shows of the sixties that still has yet to find a worthy opponent is Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Six seasons of political skewering, racy humor and tons of guest stars. Under the guise of a "variety show" our amiable hosts Dan Rowan and the beautiful Dick Martin (!) introduce a new show every week tackling all forms of current affairs from pollution, to higher education to the fourth estate, all turned inside-out and lampooned in a very stylized, hilarious way that continues to be fresh and funny to this day. The editing effects were way ahead of their time I (and a precursor to MTV). There were many, many guests because people would practically fight to get on this popular, funny show. Tony Curtis, Sammy Davis Jr., Greer Garson, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, Richard Nixon, Hugh Hefner, Bobby Darin, and so many more that I would run the limit of my review by mentioning them all here. Just got the complete 140 episode box set from Time Life and if you I'm having the time of my life watching these, you bet your sweet bippy I am! Live from Beautiful Downtown Burbank it's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In! No other show like it.
ajlposh
This show is hilarious. I have only seen 6 episodes, but those six were enough to make me like it. What I like about this show is that it is so random. I love comedy where they will do the most random thing. Dan and Dick's comedy, Goldie's stupidness, Arte Johnson's foreign accent, and political humor are just some of the things that make this show funny. Sock it to me is the best skit, in my opinion. The one with Richard Nixon is funny. The episode where they tell Jack Benny,who is a true comedic legend, to keep the show moving can't be watched with out laughing your head off. And random appearances by guest stars are hysterical. Now if only they would show it in reruns....
alistair.bell
The first three seasons of this show encapsulated the sheer energy of social and sexual revolution of the late 1960's.On the surface it was patchy,often very funny,satirical and not afraid to poke fun at the US involvement in the Vietnam war and the Nixon administration.It launched the careers of many of todays Film and Tv stars and inspired many a generation with it's trademark "Sock it to me", "Fickle Finger of Fate" and those epilepsy-instigating Party Sequences each episode. True, as with all shows of their time, a lot of the references and humour may have dated badly, but for a Pre-PC generation, it was naughty and not what your parents would want you to watch.Perfect. Many contemporary reviewers dismiss the show as vulgar and irrelevant, but for people who actually watched it at the time, it was breaking the formula of the TV variety show.It was the epitome of groovy and psychadelia for Network TV-very fast, energetic, colorful and loud which really hadn't been seen before. By 1970,most of the original cast had gone and the show started to look back on itself and died. It lasted another 3 years, but it could never recapture the excitement of the first three years.I think this holds true for society in general.Maybe today's politically correct generation really cannot appreciate the enjoyment gained by watching Laugh In for the first time.
McKiller
This show is a true snap-shot of the expression "My, how times have changed!" The scariest part of watching re-runs of this awful show is that an entire generation of Americans actually found the sketches (if you can call them that) funny. I watch it a few times a week just out of morbid fascination. Kind of like watching a car wreck as you drive by. Nearly every pop culture icon of the late 1960's & early 1970's did a guest spot on the show. Even Nixon. To call it "sketch humor" is a bit rediculous. It's mostly a dated show of 1960's one-liners. Political humor, sexist humor, and just plain corn-ball crap. No one now would find it remotely interesting unless they had a first hand knowledge of the times or were just into 20th Century history. It is fun to see dead stars of the past and those who aged really bad. It is also fun to watch celebrities who have sold their souls to the devil. This is based on several actors who have not changed at all since the show aired! LOL.... This show really sucks to put it bluntly. It's scary to think it was once the number one rated television show in America. I guess so many people were on hallucenogens, that no one noticed how horrible it was.
