On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 3:42 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 12:20 PM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > > 3. While not a major part of his resume, Lorne Michaels was a writer for >> the show. It's interesting that he is not a part of the show. I saw some >> minor SNL alumni in the cast but with Lorne's participation they could have >> gotten much better comics. >> > > Less Lorne and less SNL influence can only help this special. > If the guest list showed a better caliber of comedian I would agree with you. I have no faith in the people they got. > > I picked up the first couple seasons of Laugh-in on DVD last year. I think > the humor still works, at least more than Tom W indicates. It is very much > of its time... swing pad jokes about excessive drinking, promiscuous sex, > and Nixon aren’t going to play with new audiences, but if you existed in or > around that era, the jokes still land. There were also efforts at Ernie > Kovacs style video manipulation and sight gags, tricks of editing, and old > fashioned slapstick that work with any audience. > > Hindsight has led us to believe the humor found on the Smothers Brothers > topped that of Laugh-in, and I won’t argue that point of view. But I’m > alright with a legitimate celebration of Rowan & Martin, if it is done > right. > Their high spots in the early days still stand up. Eileen Brennan was in the first season and she was great. Goldie Hawn was very good until the writers went overboard on the ditzy blond act. I think my problem stems from watching 5 days a week on Decades. The show might hold up better if it's only seen once a week. With the size of the announced cast I don't see the special being done right. I must have seen the Smothers Brothers Show at the same age I saw Laugh In and I remember nothing about the Smothers Brothers but I do remember bits from Laugh In. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
