Rowan and Martin 'socked it to us'...
Sunday marks the date that the first of 140 episodes of "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" made Monday nights "must see TV" from January 22, 1968 until May 14, 1973. Originally aired as a one-time special in September of 1967, "Laugh-In" would become the #1 rated Nielsen show in the fall of 1968 and again in 1969...
Gary Owens with cupped hand over his ear (in the style of radio guys we all worked with) was the announcer, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin would follow with their monologue and it was off to the races or at least to the opening cocktail party that featured painted bodies, dancing, sight gags and tons of catch phrases and oh, what a cast. There was Goldie Hawn, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson, Jo Anne Worley, Alan Sues, Dave Madden and Lily Tomlin. Guests included John Wayne, Pigmeat Markham, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tiny Tim and Flip Wilson. The most famous guest ? That would've been then-presidential candidate Richard Milhous Nixon who offered a "sock it to me" of his own on September 16, 1968...
Just some of the catch phrases on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In":
- "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's"...
- Of course, "sock it to me"...
- "You bet your sweet bippy"...
- "Here come da judge"...
- Lily Tomlin's "one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies"...
- "Go to your room"...
- Arte Johnson's "verrrrrry interesting"...
For being the most innovative comedy show of its era, this humble blogger gives "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" a most deserving honor, the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award"...
January 20 Memories...
1885) The roller coaster is patented by L.A. Thompson...
1892) The 1st official basketball game is played at a YMCA court in Springfield, MA (the game was invented the year before by Dr. James Naismith, a phys-ed teacher at Springfield College). The game was played using peach baskets for the hoops with 9 players on each side (in 1896 when the University of Iowa played the 1st collegiate game, there were 5 players on each team)...
1958) The Silhouettes release "Get a Job"...
1961) John F. Kennedy is sworn in as our 35th President...
1961) Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller agree to disagree and get divorced (they married on June 29, 1956)...
1964) The LP "Meet The Beatles" is released...
1965) The Byrds record "Mr. Tambourine Man"...
1965) A sad day for Rock & Roll as an unemployed Alan Freed dies at 43...
1967) Arthur Conley records "Sweet Soul Music" (as Paul Power points out Wilson Pickett, mentioned in the song was 25 at the time)...
1968) In one of college basketball's classic matchups, Elvin Hayes and Lew Alcindor face off as #2 ranked Houston beats #1 UCLA 71-69 (Hayes scores 39 for the winning Cougars)...
1969) Elvis Presley records "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" in Memphis (it marks the 1st time in 13 years that Elvis has recorded in Memphis)...
1977) Stevie Wonder is #1 with "I Wish" (from his "Songs in the Key of Life" LP, only the 3rd album to debut at #1 on the LP charts)...
1981) Iran releases 52 American hostages (held for 444 days) minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as our 40th President...
1985) The 49ers beat Miami 38-16 in Super Bowl XIX (in the most-watched SB game in TV history as 115.9 million look on. For the 1st time TV commercials sell for a million dollars a minute)...
1987) Billy Vera & the Beaters are #1 with "At This Moment" (featured on "Family Ties")...
1987) Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappears in Beirut, Lebanon while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages...
1988) The Beach Boys, Beatles, Drifters, Bob Dylan and the Supremes are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
1989) George H.W. Bush takes the oath of office as our 41st President...
1993) Bill Clinton is sworn in as our 42nd President...
1993) Audrey Hepburn dies at 63...
2001) George W. Bush takes the oath of office as our 43rd President...
2003) Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld dies in New York at age 99...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1924) Slim Whitman...
1926) Patricia Neal...
1929) "Laugh-In's" Arte Johnson..."verrrrry interesting"...
1930) Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin...
1950) Paul Stanley of Kiss...
1956) Bill Maher...
1963) James Denton of "Desperate Housewives"...
1968) Melissa Rivers...
Happy Trails To...
Wilson Pickett, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who gave us "In the Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally". "The Wicked Pickett" died yesterday at a hospital near his home in Virginia after suffering a heart attack. Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave) in his own words: "He never made it easy on himself and sometimes not on other people but he sure could put on a show" (from David Hinckley's New York Daily News article)...
Wilson Pickett was 64...
Today is the 20th day of 2006 with 345 days remaining in the year but only 59 days until Spring and better yet only 27 days remain until pitchers and catchers...
Saturday, January 21, 2006...
January 21 Memories...
1789) The 1st American novel is published. William H. Brown's "The Power of Sympathy" was an account of the seduction and suicide of a young woman...
1946) "The Fat Man" debuts on ABC Radio (the show was not inspired by Fats Domino)...
1954) Celtics great Bob Cousy steals the show in one of the most exciting NBA All-Star games in history scoring 10 of the East team's 14 points in OT and then icing the game with his dribbling for a 98-93 victory...
1954) The Nautilus is launched in Groton, CT (it's the 1st atomic powered submarine, christened by first lady Mamie Eisenhower)...
1957) Patsy Cline appears on Arthur Godfrey's nightime TV show singing "Walking After Midnight"...
1957) Chuck Berry records "School Day"...
1957) Filming begins on Elvis Presley's 2nd movie, "Loving You"...
1959) Alfalfa from "Our Gang" is shot fatally in Northern California (Carl Switzer is killed in a brawl in an argument over a $50 debt. Authorities rule the shooting "justifiable homicide")...
1962) Jackie Wilson appears on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
1966) George Harrison and Patty Boyd walk down the aisle (next up for Patty is Eric Clapton)...
1970) The Boeing 747 makes its 1st commercial flight from New York to London on Pan Am...
1976) The French Concorde SST begins regular service for Air France and British Airways...
1977) President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders...
1979) Terry Bradshaw's 4 TD passes leads Pittsburgh to its 3rd Super Bowl win, a 35-31 victory over Dallas in Super Bowl XII...
1984) Jackie Wilson dies after being in a coma for 8 years (he suffered a heart attack on stage, September 25, 1975 while singing "Lonely Teardrops")...
1987) Aretha Franklin is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
1990) MTV's "Unplugged" series makes its debut with Squeeze...
1991) CBS correspondent Bob Simon is captured by Iraqis in the Persian Gulf...
1994) A jury in Manassas, VA. acquits Lorena Bobbitt (by reason of insanity) for her "slice & dice" job on husband John...
1998) Jack Lord of "Hawaii Five-O" dies in Honolulu at 77...
2003) The census bureau announces that Hispanics have surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group...
2004) The recording industry sues 532 computer users it said were illegally distributing songs over the Internet...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1940) Jack Nicklaus...
1941) Richie Havens...
1942) Mac Davis...
1947) Jill Eikenberry...
1950) Billy Ocean...
1956) Robbie Benson...
1957) Geena Davis...
Today is the 21st day of 2006 with 344 days remaining in the year but only 58 days until Spring and better yet 26 days until pitchers and catchers...
Sunday, January 22, 2006...
January 22 Memories...
1889) The Columbia Phonograph Company is formed (the mother ship has landed)...
1957) Suspected "Mad Bomber" George P. Metesky is arrested in Waterbury, CT and accused of planting more than 30 explosive devices in the metropolitan New York area...
1960) Sam Cooke signs with RCA Records...
1962) Gene Chandler makes his TV debut on "American Bandstand"...
1963) The Drifters record "On Broadway"...
1966) The Beach Boys record "Wouldn't It Be Nice"...
1968) "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" debuts on NBC-TV (feature story)...
1971) John & Yoko record "Power to the People"...
1973) LBJ dies at 64...
1973) George Foreman wins the heavyweight championship with a 2nd round KO of Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica...
1973) Roe vs. Wade is born, legalizing abortion after the Supreme Court strikes down state laws prohibiting abortion...
1984) Apple introduces the Macintosh...
1984) Barry Manilow sings the national anthem at Super Bowl XVIII...
1989) Joe Montana leads the 49ers on an 11-play, 92 yard touchdown drive with 34 seconds remaining to lift San Francisco to a 20-16 win over Cincinnati in the Super Bowl (it's the 3rd SB title for SF)...
1995) Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the matriarch of the family dies at the family compound in Hyannisport at 104...
1997) The senate confirms Madeleine Albright as the nation's 1st female secretary of state...
1998) Theodore Kaczynski pleads quilty to being the Unabomber in return for a life sentence without parole...
2001) Former NFL player Rae Carruth is sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the 1999 murder of his pregnant girlfriend (the baby survives and lives with the victim's mother)...
2002) AOL Time Warner files suit against Microsoft seeking damages for harm done to AOL's Netscape Internet Browser when Microsoft gives away a competing browser...
2002) Kmart files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1928) Birch Bayh...
1932) Piper Laurie...
1937) Joseph Wambaugh...
1940) John Hurt...
1954) Islander great and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy...
1965) Diane Lane...
Today is the 22nd day of 2006 with 343 days remaining in the year but only 57 days until Spring and better yet only 25 days until pitchers & catchers...
