SOCK IT TO ME! ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON - My Review

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy. No monetary compensation was offered. All opinions are my own.

Although "Saturday Night Live," "MADtv" and other sketch shows have captured some of the flavor of "Laugh-In," no other comedy show has matched it in terms of its hyper-speed outrageousness and offbeat sensibility. -- The Los Angeles Times "The frenetic, chaotic comedy still earns laughs 50 years later... it's a wonderful time capsule of the era" -- DVD Talk From 1968 to 1973, anarchy reigned supreme on NBC, and network television was never quite the same -- Winston-Salem Journal MORE LAUGH-IN FROM TIME LIFE?   YOU BET YOUR SWEET BIPPY! THIS SEPTEMBER, TV'S GROUNDBREAKING VARIETY SHOW LAUNCHES AT RETAIL WITH A ZANY, STAR-STUDDED INAUGURAL SEASON DVD SET ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON Street Date: September 5, 2017 DVD SRP: $24.95 The 4-Disc Set Features 14 Remastered Episodes from the Landmark  Emmy® and Golden Globe®-Winning Series - 64% of Which Have Never Before Been Available at Retail -- Hours of Bonus Programming Including the Pilot Episode and a New Interview with Creator George Schlatter; Guest Stars Include Harry Belafonte, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Cher, Tim Conway, Sammy Davis Jr., Sally Field, Jerry Lewis and Many More! The Laugh-In Joke Wall PROGRAM SYNOPSIS The '60s gave us "in-crowds," "be-ins" and "love-ins," and starting in 1968, the happening place for free-form comedy was Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, broadcast from beautiful downtown Burbank. Straight man Dan Rowan and wisecracking co-host Dick Martin led a gaggle of goofballs through a rapid-fire assault of one-liners, skits, bits and non sequiturs that left viewers in hysterics and disbelief. Anything and anyone in the public eye was a target.  Political correctness?  Forget it!  The off-the-wall groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning show would go on to anchor the Monday 8 p.m. time slot on NBC until March 12, 1973, transforming both pop culture and the medium of television.  Following the acclaimed release of LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE SERIES (available exclusively through TimeLife.com/Laugh-In), the TV-DVD archivists at Time Life are making ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON available for classic TV aficionados and comedy lovers alike.  Comprised of 4 DVDs and 14 complete episodes - 64% of which have never before been available at retail -- the star-studded set delivers audiences to the beginning of the landmark series which became an instant classic and one of the most popular shows in the history of television.  Flip Wilson as Adam (now residing outside of the Garden of Eden); Tim Conway and Cher as John Smith and Pocahontas; a silent salute to presidential candidate George Wallace; a Mod, Mod World look at the Olympics -- these are just a few of the zaniest things crammed into Season 1.  Also making their appearances for the first time: Goldie Hawn's giggly blonde, Judy Carne's "Sock-It-To-Me" girl, Jo Anne Worley's anti-chicken-joke militant, Ruth Buzzi's perpetually-frustrated spinster and Arte Johnson's "verrry interesting" German soldier.  The biggest news, however, was the first national television appearance of Tiny Tim, the ukulele-toting, falsetto-singing throwback to a bygone era of American pop music.  He made the rest of the cast seem normal -- and Dan and Dick squirm.  The show's first season was also highlighted by long running fan favorite features including "Sock It to Me," "Cocktail Party," the "Joke Wall", and the first appearance of Johnson's elderly Tyrone F. Horneigh and Sammy Davis Jr. introducing the all-time classic sketch "Here Comes the Judge". ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON includes hours of specially-produced extras, including the rare Laugh-In pilot, an all-new interview with creator and executive producer George Schlatter, 25th Anniversary Cast Reunion Highlights and Laugh-In Bloopers. CAST  Dan Rowan Dick Martin Pamela Austin Ken Berry Eileen Brennan Ruth Buzzi Judy Carne Barbara Feldon Henry Gibson Goldie Hawn Larry Hovis Arte Johnson Gary Owens Jo Anne Worley  PROGRAM INFORMATION Format: DVD/4 Discs Running Time: 869 minutes Genre:  TV DVD/Comedy Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audio: Stereo The 411 by Maria: Before Saturday Night Live and Living Color there was the Emmy Award Winning Laugh In. Laugh In won 7 Emmys and more awards and honors over the course of their short existence from 1968-1974. As a child I didn't always get all the jokes but found it so funny. My parents would watch it and laugh. I loved it. Ruth Buzzi, Joanne Worley, Artie Johnson, Flip Wilson and who didn't love Goldie were just a few of my favorites. Watching it now was interesting. My daughter didn't really understand why it was funny or why it was OK to show smoking on TV. All through the intro and the farewell Dan Rowan smokes. I loved looking at the old sets which are very 60s - 70s, the fashion and the political humor, the catch phrases "sock it to me, you bet your bippy", and "here come de judge" are all there. Laugh In was constantly battling TV censorship and laid the ground work for some of the humor we see today. If you enjoy classic humor and want to see how far we have come at pushing the envelope OR you were a fan, you need to own this!

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