What really happened when Nixon did Laugh-In
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- Опубликовано: 10 дек 2022
- Sock it to me?!?!!?
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Starting point in the Nixon tapes with Keyes:
millercenter.org/the-presiden...
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millercenter.org/the-presiden...
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Weird log of Nixon having a Kanye moment with Billy Graham (in an antisemitic way): www.nixonlibrary.gov/sites/de...
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Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In by Ken Feil
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Fine enough books, but not worth your time unless you're a Laugh-In super fan (obviously).
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Here's an idea you can work on. What really happened when George Bush Jr. got a shoe thrown at him?
I’ve watched that video so many times. Not a huge fan of Bush but his reaction speed was outstanding
Shhh you can't give away all your good ideas for free! Oh wait you can. Please do.
Or when the dad puked on the Japanese prime minister? 🤣
Haha. Top Notch suggestion.
That guy is the prime minster of a small Nordic nation now. Look it up.
I was a staff writer on Laugh-In. Your video is pretty accurate. Paul was one of Nixon’s closest friends. Nixon was at CBS taping some political commercials for his campaign. So Paul snd Executive Producer George Schlatter joined them at CBS and got Nixon to do the cameo. Nixon’s advisors were against it but he did the cameo. It took 6 takes to get the Cameo correct. Keyes was politically the opposite of mine. But we were friends and he was kind to me - i was a new comedy writer at the time.
Laugh-In was one of my favorite shows as a kid!
Took 30 seconds for me to read what this dude tried to get across in 9 minutes. Thank you!
I'm a Gen-X Republican - born after Laugh-In, and probably theoretically to the right of most of its cast and writers - but I watched Laugh-In later on with my parents and loved it, and respect Laugh-In and its creators for what it was able to do, and how it succeeded at it.
Laugh-In was brilliant, subversive, eye-opening, game-changing, highly influential, and way ahead of its time - modern political entertainment is still trying to catch up to things that Laugh-In and its writers and cast somehow looked easy with.
For me, discovering Laugh-In cast members like Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi, Jo-Ann Worley, Henry GIbson, and Goldie Hawn for the first time was like meeting long-lost relatives or family friends I didn't know existed, and so many Laugh-In gags just sort of ingrained themselves in my childhood without me even realizing it - "Here Come the Judge!", "One Ringy-Dingy", "Sock It to Me!", "The Flying, Fickle Finger of Fate", "You Bet Your Bippy!", "Verrrrry Interesting!", "Whatever Turns You On", "Look THAT Up in Your Funk & Wangalls'!" (my parents actually owned a set of Funk & Wagnalls', too, and I half suspect they bought them because of Laugh-In!) and so on, my parents and others from their generation quoted them so often!
It was like discovering some sort of Fountain of Memes that my parents had been running on all through my childhood, and finally being in on the joke - arguably, Laugh-In catch-phrases were like internet memes, before there was even an internet. I'll risk claiming that surely there wasn't much that came close to the modern internet meme before Laugh-In, aside from "Kilroy Was Here" doodles and the ancient tradition of the political cartoon - Laugh-In really took meming to its modern level.
The jump-cut editing technique as used in Laugh-In had become so ubiquitous by my time, I never realized how radical and influential it was when Laugh-In embraced it - if not pioneered it... I never really appreciated it when I watched Laugh-In for myself, I didn't notice until someone pointed it out to me later that Laugh-In did it first.
I think a lot of younger folks have missed out by not experiencing Laugh-In, and would probably be surprised by it: there's a LOT of Laugh-In in the DNA of more modern political comedy that audiences today would more readily recognize, like Saturday Night Live, Colbert, and the rest, and a LOT more Laugh-In than many people would realize in modern counter-culture animated shows like South Park, Rick & Morty, or in the sort of surreal comedy you'd find on Adult Swim late at night thanks to Tim and Eric: for better or worse, I don't think these shows would have ever have existed or been given a chance, without the ground being broken long before (often with a lot more class and imagination, too!) by Rowen & Martin's Laugh-In! I'm not sure Laugh-In was the FIRST counter-culture TV show, but it was surely the most powerful, effective, and influential one, and probably deserves to be remembered as THE ORIGINAL counter-culture show to rule them all.
And I loved and appreciated the Smothers Brothers in much the same way, though it was something of a different animal - they just don't make 'em like the Smothers Brothers or Laugh-In anymore!
Anyway, Laugh-In really earned its place in TV history, and deserves more exposure with younger viewers. The show's creators, writers, and performers really brought something special to American TV with Laugh-In!
@@pietrayday9915… Why would you be ‘theoretically to the right’ of the staffers? What? You don’t know anything about the staff, or the cast or crew. You are just grandstanding and bragging about being some true, unadulterated right winger. It’s bizarre.
On topic: Nixon's 68 campaign was quite interesting media-wise: he skipped the presidential debates (given what happened in the last one) and instead did a series of townhalls called "the Nixon answer". Also, worth mentioning his TV commercials had a more daring visual style (yet suited for the time), using just still photos along with music and narration.
thanks for this additional info!
Another noteworthy related anecdote is that Richard Nixon hired Roger Ailes as his media manager and executive television producer in 1967, the same Roger Ailes that Rupert Murdoch would hire to run Fox News in 1996.
Well, he had Roger Ailes in charge of producing his campaign commercials, the town halls and other media relations. Safe to say it was a symbiosis that aggrandized both men’s careers, fraught with long-term effects on American politics, media, and history.
I watched them, they are on the Nixon Foundation channel. His advisors do say that his use of television was marvellous compared to 1960.
If you don’t get it, you had to be there. The show’s time slot was probably key too - right after the evening news packed full of horrific scenes of war and social unrest. It was a mental antidote of comedy, while social and political, it did provide a yin to the yang. Yes, it was stupid funny.
Bingo.
Back then the 7:00pm hour was considered part of the prime time schedule but over the years since it has stopped being considered part of the prime time schedule to where it’s now 8-11pm my all time favorite television series Batman aired at 7:30 pm Wednesday and Thursday night with it getting the earlier air so kids could watch before going to bed between 8&9
Spot on. Out of context the comedy can't age well and this was the anti-dote for challenging times. Folks today would miss cultural references. The jokes often missed may seem silly and many were, they worked perfectly.
Loved this show when I was a kid (pre-SNL, obviously), because it was wacky and fast-paced. I didn't get any of the Vietnam references, or even much of the post-WWII references. Then tried to watch a re-run in my 20s or so (post- a decade or more of SNL) and thought it was the dumbest, weirdest thing I'd ever seen.
Recently started watching on streaming somewhere (post Trump-etc) and it's hilarious again! Which I find really fascinating. Not nostalgia: The political and social subtexts work better for me now than they did 20 or 30 years ago, and the energy of cast and crew are evident.
You bet your sweet bippy it was!
The first time I heard of this event, this was the first ever million dollar winning question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire
i totally forgot that's where i noted it first too!
Nixon being a classically trained pianist might actually be more consequential than Clinton playing the sax. It seems like it got him all these weird ins he wouldn't have had otherwise - like with that lawyer who was in a jazz quartet from the NASA logo video, who helped secure government funding for the arts. That whole era, with stuff like Mr Rogers testifying before congress to save PBS, is perfect for content like this.
President Harry Truman also played piano. Both Nixon and Truman felt like, it helped them politically by making them seem less stiff. Although they were both pianists, Truman hated Nixon's guts.
You should also mention that the show was aired at a time when nobody had a VCR and had to watch live or not at all. What you watched was an absolute decision.
even more impressive what a massive moment it was!
It was actually prerecorded. They actually cut up the tapes to make these cutaways. This had the unintended side effect of making the tapes unsuitable for erasure and reuse, meaning every episode was preserved.
@@ryanortega1511 there was no home video.
@@jpc2470 but the fact that the studios used video tape doesn't mean people at home had any options besides watching live TV.
It's a matter of opportunity cost.
I think Nixon could have been funny if he tried dry humor but he clearly didn’t know how to do it.
Nixon/Norm MacDonald Nexus
@@PhilEdwardsInc "The only country I'm afraid of isn't Iran, it's the country of Germany. I'm not sure if you guys history buffs or not, but..."
This show hits different as an adult than it did as a kid in the 80's watching reruns on Nick-At-Nite. Having a fuller understanding of the social context in which this show originally aired lets one see that it pushed a lot of boundaries, in ways that are hard now to recognize as innovative because the boundaries have been pushed so much further out.
I first was exposed to it on Nick At Nite like you. My perspective on it changed as I grew older as well. One of the freakiest memories was when Dan Rowen predicted Ronald Reagan would be president in 1988. That was around the time I saw the particular episode.
The show pushed so many boundaries my parents wouldn't let me watch it. I was eight years old when the first show aired, and most of that stuff would have gone straight over my head. Regardless, it was verboten. My friends could watch it, so I sneaked in episodes at their houses during sleepovers. The memes were all over school. "Sock it to me" was a biggie, Lily Tomlin's phone lady schtick ("One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy -- SNORT"), and Arte Johnson's N.az.i in the weeds ("Verrrrrry in-ter-est-ing... but SHTUPID!")
@@hollerinwoman You bet yer sweet bippy!
and Sock it to me was a phrase birthed from the counter-culture and youth culture. Mitch Ryder and Aretha Franklin both sung the line in songs ("Sock it to me baby" and "Respect" respectively). Laugh In was definitely seen as a watered down version of the counter-culture that was acceptable to the masses.
You bet your sweet bippy.
"Laugh In" came from love-in and sit-in and be-in
@@hyzercreek and "teach-in", etc. All these forms of protests that developed over the previous ten years became satirized.
The catch phrase "Sock It To Me" was primarily invented by black people and could be heard as early as late 1965 in big cities like Detroit and Chicago. Mitch Ryder was one of the few white people to latch on to the phrase, but Aretha franklin was the one that made the phrase hit the big time in 1967.
I would like to see an one-off 60's Phil and Phil Variety Special
Yeah, Phil, how did you do that?
Jimmy Carter’s interview with Playboy was another such media moment. An evangelical and priggish presidential candidate interviewed by a nudie magazine, and confessing to lust?? Weird, but the interview humanized him.
Jimmy Carter's parents were both real partiers, so even though Jimmy was a square, he was accustomed to people from "life's otherside".
That arguably hurt him but then again he won the Presidency.
Playboy wasn't just a nudie magazine. It had some pretensions to intellectual respectability, alongside the "tasteful" nudes. It did publish some decent articles and fiction. That was kind of a cliche joke ("I read it for the articles"), but it was true.
@@sparky6086 His brother might be why he lost 1980.
@@meh8982 I agree that Playboy wasn't just some skin mag! For 1976 to have a serious Presidential candidate interviewed by them did raise some eyebrows among the pearl-clutching set.
I always assumed the phrase (sock it too me) meant that you know someone had something they wanted to talk to you about and they were unsure how to bring it up so saying "sock it to me" was like saying "just tell me right now what you wanted to talk about and don't hold back". Turns out I was totally wrong.
they really had their own...twist on it
I was a kid at the time, but I think there was a sexual suggestion to it as well. That is why it shows up in Aretha Franklin's Respect. The backup singers sing it after the "Taking care...TCB" part.
@@palmercolson7037 Franklin's on record saying that her and her girls were just singing slang that they heard in their neighborhoods as filler and it stuck. They claim at the time they didnt know what it meant either. Take that as you may.
Your first assumption is correct(and the original meaning) You are not 'totally wrong.' Laugh-In altered it. I am old enough to know.😐
@@michaelinminn, I agree. It was a “multi-faceted” expression - people used it in a lot of different contexts, whenever it seemed to fit the moment. Thus, there was no one “proper” usage. The sixties (& seventies) were a freewheeling time. To confine it to one use would be contrary to that whole era’s attitude & credo.
I was born in 1969 and I knew what "Laugh-In" was. Used to watch it as reruns as a kid. I didn't get it, but I saw it. Then I think it made the rounds on cable on "Nick -at-Nite" and I understood it. It is a must watch.
it's on "Decades" channel now at 7 a.m.
I'm old, but you having to explain Laugh In made me feel old lol. I was only a kid, but I do remember regularly watching Laugh In when it aired. It probably played a big role in mainstreaming hippie fashion for middle America.
I really love this playlist :) And this channel!
Another great one!
That late 1960s set design though... groovy!
Rowan and Martin's Laugh In was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. So nice to see people still talking about it.
I'm 33 but somehow I came across laugh in growing up (Nick at Nite I think ) and I LOVED it. It's nice to randomly find people who are not of that generation like me discovering laugh in. It's so goofy but a fun time. I had no idea it was the most popular show at the time though so thank you for teaching me something new.
There were only three networks, so you had a good shot at being number one.
@@1981menso Not if you were ABC. Perpetually behind in the network ratings of the time, they were derisively described in the industry as the "Almost Broadcasting Company" ABC may have had the occasional hit, but in the 1960s and early '70s, the ratings race was basically a two way competition between CBS and NBC.
@@mrbn2022 But they had the Wide world of Sports; who can forget "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."
So happy to see Saxaphone Bill making another appearance!
He's a very fine Orthodox rabbi.
Merry Christmas and keep up the great work!
You can read and watch all the Laugh In's books and episodes all you want but unless you were alive at that time and actually watched them when they were on like alot of us did, you will never fully understand the show. And what a great time to be alive where NOBODY got offended and got their feelings hurt. It was a a GREAT show. That time is gone.
Hey! 17 year old Laugh-In obsessive here! I’ve watched most of the series and have read both of the books mentioned in this video and I can confidently say that yes, a lot of the material used on Laugh-In is, in fact, dated and relies on tokenism. However, that doesn’t mean that the younger generation can’t watch and enjoy the show from an analytical perspective.
You are LUCKY that Laugh-In has been widely preserved and is accessible in full form on this very website. Why? Only because there’s enough young people who care enough about the show to see it properly archived. Why insist on gatekeeping when there’s a whole new generation who would prefer to enjoy it with you?
Awesome follow up to the last video where you mentioned it in passing while talking about Clinton
And I'm now gonna start watching it
Great vid !!!
It's hard to believe I live in a world where people don't know what "Laugh In" was; or Tiny Tim; or "Sock It To Me." You didn't mention Goldie Hawn. I'm pretty sure she was the secret sauce.
Goldie "broke" a lot! Very interesting to see for somebody who knew her mostly from the 80s.
Especially someone with gray hair.
not just Goldie, but also Barbara Feldon (aka Agent 99). yum!
@@PhilEdwardsInc She was in character as the ditzy blonde girl. She already had the acting chops to convince people that her fumbling delivery was real. 😎
Yes, Goldie did the airhead blonde very well, but she had plenty of help from Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson ("Very Interesting"), Ruth Buzzi, Judy Carne, Jo Anne Worley, and many others.
Also I didn't think you needed to change your basement studio one but, but the saxophone bill, is a nice touch.. didn't think about the call back items to other videos...
(That you can always rotate) but they're cool Easter eggs for those of us who watch *all* your awesome videos
I'm glad I found your personal channel through vox Phill
As even topics I think "I'm not gonna enjoy this as much as Phill's video on (whatever) I find out I do enjoy it, and every video really is as good, if not better than the last"
Please keep the videos coming when life permits
Thanks Jayk!
I got absolutely obsessed with Laugh-In when the pandemic started and I feel like I might be one of the only gen z who did 😅
What streaming services on or did you pirate it or did it was it the DVD?
@@nitrosherbert888 I just watched all the clips that are on RUclips from the official Laugh-In channel and lamented the fact that the box set is so incredibly expensive xD
I think Shout Factory has a site where you can watch all the episodes.
@@ryanortega1511 ooh thanks!
Laughter is the best medicine!
What about when Carter got “attacked” by the swamp rabbit?
what?
Yeah there is SO MUCH coverup on this crucial moment in history.
I remember that Nixon episode . It made him more likable to the public as a normal jolly person who could take a joke rather than a cold hearted one.
Ah-sigh. Laugh-in was a highlight show in my youth. I was just becoming politically aware and the Smothers Brothers and Laugh-in were part of that growing sense of the world outside of my small town. The fast pace and irreverent humor were just my cup of tea. It was a sadness when they went off the air.
The same.
Thanks. I'm 57. I remember watching Laugh-In in reruns over the years. I'm too young (by a small margin) to have seen many now-classic TV shows when they first aired, but so many of them have been syndicated, that I basically grew up watching them anyway. I have very fond memories of everything from Laugh-In, to Batman, Gilligan's Island, The Banana Splits, H.R. Puffinstuff, Looney Tunes, Popeye, The Smothers Brothers, and too many others to name. Laugh-In was quite subversive for its time, and very different from anything else. Young me just thought it was funny. Older me still does. :) tavi.
Sixty two, watched 'em new.
@@-oiiio-3993 You've got me by a few, so good on you! ;) tavi.
As a Pittsburgher I thank you for ending with Barbara Feldon.
Thank you Youngin, I was barely 8 years old when Lathan started and we watched it every week. It wasn’t till years later when I got the DVDs that I realize how much of the jokes went over my head at such an age. We also watch the smothers brothers every week while they were on the air. I knew they were anti-war but how political they were I had no idea at that age. There again only when I got the DVDs a few years back can I see it. In Tulsa Oklahoma I think my family were the only Democrats in my second grade class.
There is a joke with Jack Finney I wanted to show my sisters but they would need a lot more context and your video provided it. Thank you
Laugh-In was a great show. As was TW3 - That Was the Week That Was. And like you mentioned, we also tuned into the Smother Brothers.
I was watching when that episode aired, and ran to tell my parents that Nixon was on Laugh-In. In 1970 our senior class skit night (yes that was a thing) was based on the show. I played Artie Johnson's dirty old man character.
Loved it as a little kid. Haven't seen it since. I'll rewatch on YT. Be interesting to check it out now.
I was watching that original appearance on Laugh-In. Thanks for the info - it's all more to Nixon's credit.
This content is exactly what I needed about world history (I am not American), it's fun and quite entertaining, I love it
Def needs more views bro
(May 2023) - Dan Rowan once admitted Laugh-In was a difficult show to do. But everyone pulled together. He gave great kudos to the editor. But Rowan once said he regretted that Nixon’s appearance on a comedy show influenced the public slightly, to vote for him! But Laugh-In to this day remains amazing for many.
If Ned Flanders and Dick Smothers had a son, it would look like this guy Phil. Also, he looks old enough to have been a page on the Laugh In set back in '68.
i'm not 72!!
I would love to hear your take on the famous Happy Birthday Mr President moment between Monroe and JF Kennedy. What made this such a prevalent, significant and awkward moment in history.
I never missed an episode of Laugh-In! I was only nine, but I still got most of the jokes.
Want a Walnutto? said Big Al, the Farmer's Pal.
You know what I find weird, in light of how things are now: our parents were extremely conservative, and I do mean extremely. Yet we all watched Laugh-In and the Smothers Brothers with no apparent concern on their part that the children were being corrupted. They were my favorite shows when I was 10-ish.
I'm a bit too young to have seen it until I saw it later as a teen with my parents in reruns in the '80s or '90s, but my parents were pretty conservative by that time too, but we all watched Laugh-In and the Smothers Brothers and enjoyed them together... I think our conservative parents' generations had a lot more open-minded flexibility and faith than we give them credit for in our ability to be exposed to different points of view, appreciate new or different ideas for what they are, and come around to making the right choices when contradictions arise between what other people tell us, and what our parents instilled in us.
And, after all, Laugh-In and the Smothers Brothers generally played fairly with our parents and with us: they give a conservative point of view a benefit of doubt that maybe not all their cast or writers were naturally inclined to give, and I for one never felt like these shows were insulting, smug, patronizing, or condescending to conservatives the way that a paler imitation might be, and I think the show's creators and casts were introspective enough to realize that they weren't perfect either, and many of the criticisms that they might level against conservatives could very easily apply to the counter-culture as well, with much of the more pointed and effective political commentary from these shows, it seems to me, being designed to work both ways.
As a result, I for one have always felt felt fond and protective of these shows, even if I might not always see eye-to-eye with '60s counter-culture politics in general - I can't always say that about the modern counterparts to these shows (in fact, I'm not sure I could say that about many modern shows at all!)
If I were to somehow be entrusted to make a modern conservative counter-culture comedy show in a progressive "mainstream" environment, I would hope I would be able to successfully do much the same that the creative team from Laugh-In or the Smothers Brothers did, and be able to at least invite "the other side" to sit down together with us and laugh at ourselves a little as a family, rather than declaring each other irreconcilable enemies and ripping each other apart - I still like to think that we're all capable of doing that today, if we were able to do so back when these shows first aired!
This! I was nine years old when the series began, and even with all its innuendo, body-paint, and skimpy bikinis, I was allowed to watch it along with my very traditional parents and my older siblings. We also watched the Smothers Brothers.
I never knew Nixon played the piano. This is a great follow-up to the Clinton video.
Verry interesting!
“Hey dad, I don’t really need your help I’m just here to let you know that I’m gonna win the million dollars.”
-John Carpenter
legend
Back then, there was no internet, no youtube, no videos, just whatever was on TV. So when Laugh-in came on, everyone sat down to watch it. It was popular and it was fun, and everybody wanted to be a guest on it. And to have The President on it was a gas! :)
It's amazing to see a whole video deal with Laugh-In. I forgot that I knew about this show! I watch a couple episodes of it with my parents. Thought some of it was still pretty funny. It's sad, though: with all these celebrity appearances I was hoping to see just one more... ⭕️👓...
How is it that every documentary I've ever seen about this NEVER EXPLAINS WHAT SOCK IT TO ME means!?
Rowan and Martin’s laugh in who is truly a unique television show. There was not a show on before that was anything like it. And there has not been a show on since that has been anything like it. It was truly one of a kind.
Actually, R&M borrowed heavily from a first-generation TV comic named Ernie Kovacs (who died in a car crash just as he was hitting his stride). Kovacs was the one who perfected "blackout" sketch humor for TV -- short visual bits that lasted only a few seconds. His most famous was a used car salesman who slaps the top of a car...only to see the entire vehicle collapse to the ground. (It was a hugely expensive joke that lasted only 2 seconds.) Rowan & Martin acknowledged their debt to Kovacs, once doing an extensive tribute to the man on their own show.
...and Tiny Tim lived in our town after his wedding to Miss Vicky.
As a GenX who was alive but not aware during the Nixon years, I’m absolutely fascinated by all this.
I grew up with some part of the country seething about him, and as you mentioned, he was considered so extreme by some that they refused to appear with him.
So, let’s fast forward to the current dumpster fire of American electoral politics and consider what was accomplished during Nixon’s administration:
- founded the EPA
- Clean Water Act
- Clean Air Act
- Endangered Species Act
- desegregation of public schools
- established the office of minority business enterprise
- extended the voting rights act
- mandated federal hiring of women and minorities
- national “war on cancer” and sickle cell anemia, with massive government funding for research
- supported founding of OSHA
- noise control act
- consumer product safety commission
- lowered the voting age to 18
- supported the Equal Rights Act
- went to China
- withdrew from Vietnam
- detente with USSR
- SALT I treaty and ABM treaty
This is all a gross oversimplification, but consider that Nixon has been the dark right wing bogeyman of American electoral politics for 5 decades, but accomplished more progressive goals than any Democrat since. Meanwhile, it would be impossible for any Republican to make it past the primaries today supporting any of Nixon’s accomplishments. The GOP platform today is basically to repeal every single one of these things.
This is how crazily the Overton Window has swung in 5 decades. Ignore that little bit of light treason with Watergate, and the guy was a really productive President 😂
The Overton Window is the dumbest Libertarian concept ever conceived.
You forgot about tribal sovereignty. The Nixon administration more or less resolved the legal status of indigenous peoples more than 50 years ago and Canadian politicians are spitefully refusing to learn from Americans' example.
I love your points!
I'm from a pretty conservative background, but still only heard/saw Nixon as the scary boogey-man. Reading 'All the President's Men' in High School probably sent me down that path.
Seeing what the individuals *did* work on reveals the complexity to the stories. Thanks for sharing!
That also means ignoring arguably Nixon's biggest political legacy, the Southern Strategy. The long-term effects of that are probably a lot worse than any of the good he did.
Yeah I wish I could figure out exactly what all changed.
To get the jokes, you had to be there! I was and they pretty funny at the time. There was a segment called "News of the Future" based on it being 20 years into the future. One of the "news" items talked about President Ronald Reagan. It got a big laugh, but 20 years later Reagan was the President!
I was a kid, and I remember that happening. We all thought it was a big deal.
Yet another +1 for "I saw this when it originally aired." I was nine, with nary a clue about politics. We regularly watched this show as a family, which in retrospect I find surprising, given that my parents were very "traditional" and "Laugh-In" was somewhat risqué for TV of that era, especially given its 8pm (Eastern) airtime. This was years before the short-lived 8-9 "Family Hour" content restrictions were imposed by the FCC.
Was that one line the entirety of his appearance? I feel like a barely got anything from those two books you read. I'll have to watch it again. Love your content in general.
That was it! And fair enough!
Phil, I just wanted to tell you that I love your videos. You are always so well researched, and I love that you seemingly just make videos about whatever is tickling your fancy at the moment. The eclectic mix of subjects is awesome! Keep up the great work. I look forward to seeing what you have planned for 2023.
I love the aesthetic you chose it's so neat, way groovy!
I begrudgingly admit I was born in the wrong generation.
much as I love 60s/70s aesthetics I’m very glad I was born in the early 00s and not back then
Back in the late 80s when I was about 11-14 I became so fascinated with all things late 60s, especially the music. I was especially all into reruns of the Monkees and Laugh-In on Nick and Nick-at-Night. But Laugh-In always kept my attention. The late 60s style, look, and of course the absurd humor. That was right up my alley. It is interesting how as I got older and found who all these folks on this show were and how important they were, really make me enjoy it even more. So many cameos I that went right past me back then. LOL.
I remember seeing parts of a best of show of Laugh-in. I was young and did not understand it all that fully but my parents were laughing.
President Trump had his own TV show! And won some awards.
Other than that, I came here because of John's final answer on "Who wants to be a Millionaire".
Artie Johnson used to play a German behind a bush on the show with lines like "Very interesting ... but stupid." I remember back in the '80s or '90s saying to a co-worker, "Very interesting," and without missing a beat, she shot back: "...but stupid." And we both laughed. The show was big for a few short years when we were kids and people of that era remember the gags.
my father in law quotes this all the time and my wife and i had no idea until i started researching this video
I was in grade school when Nixon went on Laugh-In and I remember thinking that Nixon was a LOT cooler than I realized. I don't think I was the only one - remember, this is a man who tanked his televised debate with Kennedy (and whose makeup and profuse sweating made him look worse). So it was amazing to see him with the "cool" people, who referenced life and used words that were new to the staid, older generation. All of a sudden, we had to look at Nixon differently because he was seemingly fitting in - or nearly fitting in - with the young, hip people.
Never knew I’d care to know this 🤯
George Schlatter, the producer of Laugh-in, regretted having Nixon on the show, but only after the fact; as a liberal, he couldn't believe that this one appearance helped Nixon get elected.
Bill Clinton on Arsenio: "Uh, sock it tah me?" *saxophone solo* *ascends into heavens* *doesn't move, but makes sounds* *lands in Phil's mailbox*
David Frye's two comedy albums about Nixon were even funnier. The voice impersonations were nearly perfect. They're a comedy time capsule of his two sad terms as President.
I think Laugh In was an experiment done on audiences to see how much a person could get attached to a TV show by feeding them familiar, reoccurring gags to which they eventually recognize and feel akin towards like sharing an inside joke with somebody.
Laugh In was an experiment in a lot of things.
you bet your bippy.....
You could say they created the first "memes."
@@AllenUry - exactly what I was just saying: the Laugh-In running gags were very much precedents for modern internet memes! I don't think they were the first - I mentioned the "Kilroy Was Here" doodles and old-fashioned political cartoons as being even earlier examples.
Or, rather, the modern Internet meme is actually the modern incarnation of the old political cartoons, flavored by a sort of Laugh-In style counter-culture aesthetic! But, I don't think you can point to much before Laugh-In that looked so much like a modern internet meme!
I was just a bit too young to have seen Laugh-in until later reruns in the '80s and '90s, but I grew up hearing my parents and their friends and family saying weird and mysterious things like "You Bet Your Bippy!", "Find THAT in your Funk & Wagnalls!", "Here Come the Judge!", "Verrrrrry Ineresting!", "Sock It To Me!", "The Flying Fickle Finger Finger of Fate!", and so on, like a nation-wide in-joke for their generation... when I saw Laugh-In with them at last, it was like suddenly being in on the jokes and (more or less) getting it at last! I think that post-Meme generations would be in much the same boat, without the help of "The Urban Dictionary" or "Know Your Memes" to bail them out on unfamiliar Memes! (That's a benefit that we wouldn't have had in a pre-internet world where Laugh-In went off the air, time went on, and the gags still kept making the rounds without younger people having been there to see the memes evolve naturally in context!)
Anyway, I think that memes are a great comparison to what Laugh-In gags were all about!
Nixon always maintained that appearing on Laugh-in got him elected president. Humphrey was also offered a spot, but turned it down.
I really miss Paul he was such a good friend. Its a shamed he died in 2004 I would have really like to have fun on the show again. Its crazy how in the Late 60s how Lives shows looked so trippy but regardless. I liked you video on bringing light to this subject you have my seal of approval 👍
thanks mr n!
Are you still in a jar on Futurama?
Are the rumors of you two being gay lovers true?
Laugh-In was so avant-garde my folks were sort of afraid of it. They acted there might be four-letter words or nudity at any moment.
That was kind of the point. I think the Smothers Brothers show was even more on the edge in that they were heavy with double entendre and just saying normal mundane things with a wink and a nudge.
Laugh-In played on reruns on Nick at Night. I watched it in the 90s. My mother even went to school with one of the people on the show. I forget the ladies name but she had a very loud voice. Nice video, Thanks for the upload.
It was probably Jo Anne Worley.
Joanne Worley?
I remember seeing this when I was 9. It was my favorite show, 8pm on Monday! My family voted for HH.
I love this content. What’s your non-personal channel? It’s not in the description and not found when I search for Phil Edwards.
i work over at vox (they cover a wide range of stuff)
I remember when Nixon was on Laugh=In. I was 14 at the time. Wow.
Funny thing is that Nixon is remembered for Watergate, which is minuscule in comparison to political crime today. But, Nixon also created the Environment Protection Agency, signed the Equal Rights Amendment, ended the Vietnam war, normalized relations with China and relations with the Soviet Union, he negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt, revenue sharing between the Federal and State governments. I'd say he did more positive things than any subsequent president has done. But ask anyone today and they'll say "Watergate", even though few people even know what it was about.
I think Laugh-in is groovy, big fan of Tiny, love the wit. But I was really confused when I saw Nixon, don't really play/watch trivia stuff, didn't know it was a whole thing. Fun and neat video! (Would love more videos about laugh-in but I don't think that's gonna happen)
That's the way the squash!
To think that clip of Nixon won a guy 1 million dollars on Millionaire
“I forgor” - laugh in
Ahead of its time
True
The 1969 Pontiac GTO "Judge" was named after the Laugh-In sketch "Here come the judge."
i remember this being very popular at that time, but as a teenager i preferred to put on my $8.50 converse, white, high top, chuck taylor all-star sneakers, and go play basketball. but my classmates would talk about it next day on Tuesday.
Thanks..I've never heard of the backstory....
Bill Clinton's appearance at the 2022 video game awards was also game changing
Hey phil, love the channel, hope you recall seeing me in the comments before because i hate critisizing without someone knowing I'm a big fan. I have to be honest: i feel like this video just told us THAT something happenned as oopossed to the usual WHY something happenned that your videos normally demonstrate. Still a good video, never knew this happenned, but i still don't understand how or why this matters to anything in history. I think that's a solid trademark of your videos and (maybe its just me ) but I missed that in this video.
Fair enough! Thanks for taking the time to write!
@@PhilEdwardsInc Thanks for understanding, you do great work and there wasn't a drip of malice in my comment!
Actually saw the Nixon "sock it to me?", at age 13, while watching TV with the family. My yellow dog Democrat parents were outraged.
I was a kid. MY parents probably shouldn't have let me watch this. I saw my first go-go dancers.
Thanks !
Laugh In was maybe the last TV show that could be considered Appointment Television.
That way eye opening. The very short clips remind me of RUclips Shorts. Boomer Shorts😂
Totally!
George Schlatter has a new book out, and writer Ken Levine interviews George on his Hollywood & Levine podcast this week.
Ah yes, glad you discuss this presidential moment.
I remember this clip because it was literally the million dollar question on "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"
Which, in all honesty, it's that moment when it jumped the shark.
If you think *Laugh In* was weird ...
... You have no idea how weird *Laugh In* was.
*Laugh In* was *quintessential 1960s.* And *you weren't there.*
For those of us who were there, the 1960s ran:
- from when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in February, 1964
- until America withdrew from Vietnam in March, 1973.
I only knew of the show from a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars parody in the second episode of the first season. And I also wonder if the lyric “sock it to me daddy” from Glamorous Monique’s “38 Triple D” song comes from that.
I'm still looking for a performance of Piano Concerto #1 by Richard M. Nixon, performed by someone other than the composer.
Veeerrrryyyy interesting.....
Tricky Dicky Nixon Approved!
✌️🤥✌️
Do American politicians appear on entertainment shows in other nations?
I remember some of the American campaigns for the mid-terms and presidential elections since 1970 and one thing I remember from the 1972 election was listening to comedy sketches on the radio aired here in Canada that would parody interviews with Richard Nixon, George McGovern and others using popular song clips of the day as their responses.
I came here after watching John Carpenter win a million bucks on who wants to be a millionaire!