Jeri Jacquin
It's that time again as Time Life continues to keep the
laughs coming with another amazing DVD set of ROWAN and MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: The
Complete Third Season.
Comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin would come to be the
iconic dynamic-humor duo beginning in 1967 as LAUGH-IN hit the airwaves with
what was suppose to be a one-time special. What actually happened was that a
comedy series like no other would make its way onto television sets and become
one of TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time!
Gary Owens would introduce the program with his infamous
hand over the ear and slap stick voice letting us know it was basically time to
prepare our funny bones for what was to come. Rowan and Martin would give both
the 'live' studio audience and those of us at home a well choreographed humor
dance that was perfection.
A cast of regulars and weekly special guests always brought
their own unique brand of funny. As the first season included cast members Ruth
Buzzi, Arte 'very interesting...but stupid' Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Pamela
Rodgers, Teresa Graves, the laughable Jo Anne Worley and lovely Judy Carne -
the third season brought a woman who would shape my comedy mind so thank you Lily
Tomlin.
Arte Johnson brought his Rabbi Shankar and Tyrone F.
Horneigh to the screen with the latter chasing Ruth Buzzi's Gladys Ormphby as
far as his old legs would carry him. Gladys was a elderly drab woman in a
hairnet looking for love but not in the army of Horneigh! Although in this
season we come very close to what I thought they would have been the cutest
wedding ever on television. The opposite of Gladys would be Doris Swizzle
sitting on a barstool next to hubby Leonard!
Tomlin brought to the show a plethora of characters that
still have my heart today with Ernestine 'one ringy dingy' the telephone
operator who had no problem keeping it real, grocery clerk Dotty who rang up
laughs along with her ability to cut to the quick and finally, my beloved Edith
Ann 'and I'm only five years old' who rocked her way into hearts with her
outlook on life and a nice big raspberry like an exclamation point at the end
of a sentence.
Time Life continues to bring never before released anywhere
classic collections of television shows for fans to revisit and remember what
has made television so special. Time Life has released Mama’s Family, CPO Sharkey
and The Tonight Show and they now
reminds of us of a time when sex and politics were up for grabs with ROWAN
& MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN. For more of what Time Life has to offer fans of
classic television visit www.timelife.com.
In this 26 episode-7 DVD Complete Third Season there are so
many famous guest stars as well as the cast regulars. Appearances on the show
included Johnny Carson, Debbie Reynolds, Peter Sellers, Flip Wilson, Michael
Caine, Bob Hope, Diana Ross, Sonny & Cher, The Monkees (hold me back!),
Carol Channing, Buddy Hackett, Sid Ceasar, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Jack Benny, Engelbert Humperdinck, Peter Lawford, Phyllis Diller, Roger Moore,
Romy Schneider, Greer Garson, Lorne Greene of BONANZA fame, Ed McMahon, Frank
Sinatra Jr. and his sister Nancy Sinatra, James Garner, Bing Crosby, Jim
Backus, Andy Williams, Carl Reiner, Ringo Starr, Andy Griffith and the ever
handsome Tony Curtis.
An amazing Bonus Feature is an interview with Lily Tomlin
and featurette of Still Laugh-In - A Tribute to George Schlatter who was the
shows creator and executive producer.
This is a series that is so much fun to explain to someone
who may not have seen it before. They are surprised to learn that many of the
saying they had come to know had their origins in this very series. I also love
that my generation still gets excited having the opportunity to re-watch a
series that most thought was gone forever.
Reliving Sock It To Me, the Cocktail Party, Sammy David Jr.
teaching us how to strut to 'here comes the judge!', and The Flying Fickle
Finger of Fate Award given to someone who truly deserved to be called out. This
would be the season that we were introduced to the Farkle Family with Dad Frank
Farkle, his wife Fanny Farkle and two children Simon and Gar Farkle. The family
had a very interesting way of speaking and along with neighbor Ferd Berfel
(which by the way was my first hamsters’ name), it was a group that I could
have easily spent time with.
That is what ROWAN and MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN did for my
generation actually. It gave us a brand of humor that would light up our minds
as it took the comedy road to point out the government, what women were going
through at the time as well as that of
Native Americans. There was nothing and no one off limits to
the sketches and final poke as the show closed with a wall of doors as the cast
had a chance to make jokes and take one last jab of fun.
Each show ended with Rowan telling his counterpart 'Say
goodnight Dick' and the reply was ever faithful with 'Goodnight Dick!'. So if
you can recall how much fun ROWAN and MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN was, I am willing to
bet that the opportunity to experience it all once again on DVD, all 1425
minutes, will bring a huge grin and we have Time Life to thank for that!
In the end - political correctness? Forget about it!
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