Samples of American humor from the beginnings till now are examined. A host of stars participate including Phil Silvers, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Burns and Allen, Buster Keaton, Fred Allen, Laurel and Hardy, W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx and Jack Benney. This premiere show for the series was produced by Donald B. Hyatt and his Project 20 staff. Written by Richard Hanser and Rod Reed. Original musical score by Robert Russell Bennett.             

 
October 14, 1962 - December 30, 1962

This excerpt represents the final 6 minutes of this premiere short lived (12 half-hour episodes) Sunday Edition which aired during the late afternoon, 4:00 to 4:30pm. Simultaneously, the series was also presented on weekdays, Monday thru Friday (1960-1962).                          

Stanley Kauffmannn uses excerpts from three Hal Roach Sr. comedies to examine the techniques of Laurel and Hardy.                          

The careers of Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy are profiled by host Conrad Nagel with additional anecdotes from John McCabe.             

A tribute to the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 

A tribute to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.      

Chuck McCann pays tribute to the late comedy team, Laurel and Hardy. John McCabe, Al Kilgore, and John Tillman contribute. Clips are shown and commented upon, featuring classic Laurel and Hardy shorts and features. 

First broadcast in prime time as a WPIX TV Special (9:30-1100pm) on March 9, 1965. One time only, this program was rebroadcast on March 28, 1965.
Afterward, the original master 2” Quad Video Tape was wiped and never seen again. 

NOTE:
ATA Archivist Phil Gries, who recorded this broadcast off the air on ¼” Reel to Reel Audio Tape, presented a copy of this special program to Chuck McCann in 1995 when having lunch together. He had been unsuccessfully searching for this TV program for decades, and was thrilled to receive a copy for his archives.

TV Broadcast History:

WPIX Ch. 11 had been running L&H films on Saturday afternoons since the late 1950's, but without a host. By 1960, the station executives felt that someone should entertain in-between the films.

Laurel & Hardy Show (in NYC "Laurel & Hardy & Chuck") was seen weekday afternoons and Sunday afternoons on WPIX TV Ch. 11 in NYC beginning on Wednesday September 7, 1960 and Sunday October 14, 1962. Chuck would perform puppet skits (in serialized form) to introduce and end the rerun of The L&H film for that day's broadcast. Chuck McCann would also provide information about "the Boy's careers" with extra info provided by film historians: "Prof John" McCabe (the founder of The L&H Film Appreciation Club The Sons Of The Desert and author of Mr.Laurel & Mr.Hardy) and Al Kilgore.

Laurel & Hardy & Chuck went off the air on Friday December 28, 1962 and on Sunday, December 30, 1962. Almost none of these broadcasts are known to exist (Video or Audio). 
 
                                                                                      

October 1, 1962-May 22, 1992. Johnny Carson, host of NBC's network late-night "Tonight Show" reigned for 30 unprecedented years...five times the combined tenure of Steve Allen, and Jack Paar. Carson was impervious to competition, including efforts to dethrone him by Les Crane, Joey Bishop, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, Jack Paar, Pat Sajak, Joan Rivers, and Arsenio Hall. Sadly, very few complete "Tonight Show" broadcasts survive during Johnny Carson's first ten years of broadcasting. Around 1965, through the early 1970's, oldest tapes were first erased systematically by orders from myopic NBC executives, to be recycled for purposes of saving money. Ironically, in many cases, these older master tapes were too brittle, and portended probable drop-outs for re-use after being erased. Subsequently blank after being erased, these older questionable master 2" Quad tapes were either sparingly used or never used again for recording new programming and eventually were discarded. Saving thousands of dollars at the time (wiping master tapes for potential re-use) resulted in losing millions of dollars by NBC in today's marketplace, and more importantly wiping thousands of historic TONIGHT SHOW broadcasts, which contain precious personal anecdotes from political, show business, and sports icons of the past.



Johnny Carson's reminisces with Hal Roach Sr. about Laurel and Hardy.             

September 12th, 1970- September 4th, 1971. (NBC)


Hot Dog was a Saturday morning documentary series for children seen on NBC.

with Woody Allen, Jonathan Winters, Joanne Worley, The Monkees, Dick Cavett who reads football poetry, films of Laurel and Hardy.                           

June 6, 1974-August 15, 1974. 

'Dean Martin's Comedy World' was a summer replacement consisting of 10 one hour broadcasts (pre-emted Aug. 1st) for "The Dean Martin Show," whose final broadcast aired on May 24, 1974 after a nine year run (September 16, 1965 - May 24, 1974). 

PREMIERE EPISODE

This series was a showcase for comics, known and unknown. Most  segments were videotaped on location in various clubs. Jackie Cooper hosted the hour show, which also featured Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon. Viewers can expect to see six to eight new faces. There is also comedy by regulars Rodney Dangerfield and an improvisational group, the Committee: and a nostalgic touch is added to each show via film clips of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy. 

Jackie Cooper was the "anchorman" in the control room coordinating and introducing many of the comedy acts that appeared from all over the world. Nipsey Russell and Barbara Feldon were on location to do introductions from varied locations including Hollywood, London and San Francisco.    

Duplicate of #1824.