Time/Life Press Release: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Series (2 Viewers)

[Neil Brock]

If that happens I won't be taking the time or effort to track those down. I'm not all that interested in the 1977 episodes. They would be nice as a curiosity but as George Schlatter was sued by Rowan and Martin over those, I really don't see them ever resurfacing. I can't even find out how many episodes from 1977 were produced. Also, Time Life hasn't fully announced every bit of the bonus features on the big set. Those episodes just might be on there.

I have one of them from off air. It would be a nice bonus for completion sake but they really weren't as good as the original series.

 

[MartinP.]

I have one of them from off air. It would be a nice bonus for completion sake but they really weren't as good as the original series.

Do you know which one of the six you have?

 

[moviebuff75]

Don't forget about "Letters to Laugh-In," the short-lived game show. I believe all episodes were wiped except for one....Episode#2.

 

[MartinP.]

I remember watching "Letters to Laugh-In" at 4pm, when I came home from school!
Too bad it got erased, but glad there is one left as an example. It would be a nice extra.
If it was only on for three months that would be 65 episodes. That remaining episode
used to be on youtube, but isn't any longer, only the opening credits.

 

[TJPC]

When I was watching shows like "Laugh In" in its first run, I was also enjoying classic shows like I "Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners". My father would watch the new shows, but hated the classics, which he had seen before and which had gotten very stale for him.
I think I am that way with "Laugh In". I remember enjoying the shows in their first couple of years, but I also remember how stale and worn out it became in its last few years. It went from being "must see" to "are you still watching that?" The style of comedy went out of fashion along with the entire hippy phase. It is also full of topical political humour and Nixon and "president" Agnew" jokes that is going to go over the heads of anyone born after 1965.
I am very happy for enthusiasts who look forward to this set, but it is definitely not for me.

 

[Ron1973]

When I was watching shows like "Laugh In" in its first run, I was also enjoying classic shows like I "Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners". My father would watch the new shows, but hated the classics, which he had seen before and which had gotten very stale for him.
I think I am that way with "Laugh In". I remember enjoying the shows in their first couple of years, but I also remember how stale and warn out it became in its last few years. It went from being "must see" to "are you still watching that?" The style of comedy went out of fashion along with the entire hippy phase. It is also full of topical political humour and Nixon and "president" Agnew" jokes that is going to go over the heads of anyone born after 1965.
I am very happy for enthusiasts who look forward to this set, but it is definitely not for me.

I was born in 1973, but I'm a political and historical junkie. I bet I would be in Hog Heaven!

 

[Jack P]

The most topical type gag from "Laugh-In" that I can remember is when Garry Owens says, "And now the Frank McGee Orchestra will play the Nielsen Concerto #96", a reference to how the NBC newsman's specials were always at the bottom of the ratings!

 

[Mike Frezon]

There are clearly not enough Frank McGee references on the HTF!

 

[Mark Y]

Nope: it was shot on a combination of videotape and 16mm film. Of course it was edited on tape, as were many other film-shot series of that era. So HD is not an impossibility.

What is an impossibility is the prospect of folk not stating absolutes and spreading misinformation on the internet.

Okay, there was some filmed content, but they tended to be brief inserts of quick blackouts or girls dancing. The vast majority of it was shot on video.

(EDIT: I see this has been covered, never mind.)

I saw a litle bit of the revival version but I remember little about it. I think when I saw it, it was a couple of years after the fact because I think they re-ran the show again once Robin Williams became a star on "Mork And Mindy." But I remember little else about it. Interesting cast. Sergio Aragones (an artist from MAD magazine) was also (IIRC) on another show called "Speak Up, America" -- kind of a knock-off of "Real People." Where is "Real People," by the way? I wonder if it's a rights issue thing where every person they profiled would have to sign off and get paid. If that's the case, we'll never see it.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Not so much a "home video" release (as these weren't meant for the general public), but RCA did put some extracts of the 1977 revival on at least one in-house "test" disc for their SelectaVision CED Videodisc system: SelectaVision Demonstration Program T-0761. There are several stills on there from the Laugh-In portion (including Robin Williams, Bill Rafferty, Kareem Adbul Jabbar, Sergio Arangones and others).

 

[MartinP.]

^^^^^^

How the heck did you ever find that?!

 

[Jack P]

View attachment 38304 There are clearly not enough Frank McGee references on the HTF!

They missed their chance to have McGee deliver a joke in close-up and then cut to Ruth Buzzi as Gladys going, "Tain't funny, McGee!"

 

[AndyMcKinney]

^^^^^^

How the heck did you ever find that?!

I found it while browsing around the excellent CED Magic website a few years back. CED was the first home video format I ever bought into (the players and discs were much less expensive than their VHS/Beta alternatives when I was a 12-year-old in 1982 who paid for this indulgence by mowing yards). It was my only way to watch Star Trek episodes until the series was re-syndicated a few years later (more episodes were available on CED than on VHS/Beta at that time and as I said, CED software prices were lower than VHS/Beta, which were still priced primarily for the rental market).

That website is a great blast-from-the-past for anyone who used a CED player.

 

[MartinP.]

I never used a CED player, but I was enjoying looking at all the stills on that link!

 

[MartinP.]

Time-Life's website has moved the release date up a week:

"Expected to ship week of June 12th."

 

[likewow]

I wonder if each segment will have a chapter marker. There were so many short skits!

 

[MartinP.]

^^^

That would be a lot of chapter markers!

FWIW: The Guthy-Renker releases had no chapter markers.

The Rhino releases had ten chapter markers per episode, usually for things like the news segment,
the party, Mod Mod World, a special celebrity number or the like.

 

[MartinP.]

TODAY on Time Life's website they have a new configuration of the Laugh-In Series for purchase: $99.95
I edited this info a bit, leaving out the Guest Stars noted, for example. All info is from the website.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”

To celebrate Laugh-In’s 50th Anniversary, Time Life is proud to present The Best of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In DVD collection. You’ll get the most memorable episodes from all six seasons on 11 DVDs, plus a free DVD and more than 5 hours of exclusive bonus features.

• 40 hilarious episodes from all six seasons on 11 DVDs, all available together for the first time ever, and only right here
• Never-before-released Laugh-In episodes
• The Pilot Episode which originally aired September 9, 1967
• Three Christmas episodes
• An exclusive bonus DVD and exclusive bonus features only available in this collection including the highlights from the Laugh-In 25th Anniversary Cast Reunion, Bloopers, Still Laugh-In: A Tribute to George Schlatter (Laugh-In Executive Producer and Creator), plus interviews with Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson, and Alan Sues.
• Additional DVD Bonus Features include interviews with Dick Martin, Ruth Buzzi, George Schlatter, and Gary Owens.
• Plus! You’ll receive Laugh-In Memories, a Collectible Memory Book filled with jokes, pictures from the show, behind-the-scenes photos, and a note from Laugh-In Producer and Creator, George Schlatter.

___________________________________________________________________________________________


The episodes included in this collection are:

*Previously released on Guthy-Renker
**Previously released on Rhino

Season 0– Pilot Episode

Season 1–Episode 1
Season 1–Episode 3**
Season 1–Episode 9**
Season 1–Episode 13*

Season 2–Episode 1**
Season 2–Episode 5*
Season 2–Episode 9*
Season 2–Episode 11*
Season 2–Episode 12*
Season 2–Episode 18**
Season 2–Episode 21
Season 2–Episode 22*
Season 2–Episode 23
Season 2–Episode 24

Season 3–Episode 1
Season 3–Episode 2*
Season 3–Episode 4
Season 3–Episode 7
Season 3–Episode 9
Season 3–Episode 15*
Season 3–Episode 17*
Season 3–Episode 20**
Season 3–Episode 23*
Season 3–Episode 25**

Season 4–Episode 2
Season 4–Episode 3*
Season 4–Episode 4
Season 4–Episode 7*
Season 4–Episode 14
Season 4–Episode 21**

Season 5–Episode 1*
Season 5–Episode 8
Season 5–Episode 12
Season 5–Episode 17

Season 6–Episode 5
Season 6–Episode 11
Season 6–Episode 13
Season 6–Episode 16
Season 6–Episode 24

According to the listing, the Pilot episode is a bonus feature on the first dvd, and the three Christmas episodes are on a separate dvd. They are listed as special features, but are included as part of the "40 episode" total.

The three Christmas episodes are:
Season 2–Episode 12*, Season 5–Episode 12, Season 6–Episode 13

The above info means that 20 of the 40 episodes have been previously released.
7 on Rhino Home Video and 13 on Guthy-Renker.

Rhino originally released 12 episodes in two volumes at retail and Guthy-Renker released 38 episodes
in 19 volumes on a subscription mail order basis.

Hope this information helps anyone interested in purchasing this series.

 

[likewow]

Wow! Thank you for all that information. That'll help people decide what to buy

 

[MartinP.]

During the next two weeks, if anyone receives this DVD Collection, here are a couple things you can check out
regarding the special features and also if the press release statements about the episodes being complete and
uncut are accurate.

Two pertinent items from the Press Release at the beginning of this thread:

--Fans of classic TV, comedy and variety will be treated to the series in its entirety for the very first time:
all 140 original broadcast episodes, plus the pilot, complete and uncut and remastered from the original
broadcast elements for optimal viewing.

--Other exclusive bonus features include:
Interviews with Dick Martin, Ruth Buzzi, Gary Owens, Arte Johnson, Alan Sues

Concerning the interviews, the Rhino releases had interview segments with all five of those people listed above,
and I'm wondering if these will be the interviews they are including. (There was also a sixth one with Hal Erickson,
who authored a book about the series.)

Interviews on the Rhino releases with running times noted:

Dick Martin (20:40)
Ruth Buzzi (25:04)
Gary Owens (20:32)
Arte Johnson (25:00)
Alan Sues (18:59)
Hal Erickson (31:13)
_____

Concerning the "complete and uncut" part, here are two episodes worth checking out to see if that's going to be accurate. It will also suggest if the episodes are time compressed or not.

For one episode I compared airings on Trio and Decades, and the other I compared the Decades airing with the Guthy-Renker dvd release. These comments are taken and edited from two posts I made on a previous Laugh-In thread topic.


Season 1, Episode 7
(Guests: Terry-Thomas, Sally Field, The Bee Gees)

Both the Trio and Decades episodes are edited, but not in the same way. For no particular reason some short jokes are edited out of one episode and not the other. The biggest/longest edit seems to be that in a Mod World song, Decades edited out one of the verses which was about a minute, but...in the Trio version they edited out an Arte Johnson segment where he sings one of his made up songs for about a minute.

There were some other musical interludes in this episode, one being a Bee-Gees song. I timed the song in both episodes, and while complete, the segment was about 20 seconds shorter in the Decades version, leading me to believe that the Decades episodes are, in fact, both edited and sped up. Just using the running time of the song in question as a basis, that would extrapolate another two minutes into the episode, making it 48 mins. of content. (All of the DVD available episodes that were released on Rhino and Guthy-Renker run 48 mins. give or take.)

So, there are some additions and subtractions from both episodes.


Season 2, Episode 20
(Guest star: Tiny Tim)

Example of music rights issues.

This episode features a Mod World segment with a very lengthy "Salute to the Past", traveling through previous decades with Tiny Tim singing a song from each one: "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street", "Out of Nowhere", "Stage Door Canteen", "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree", "Hound Dog", and a 60's rock version of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."

The Decades airing of this episode features all of these musical numbers, but the Guthy-Renker dvd release of the program edits them all out, except for "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

Also edited out was the opening joke, where Dan Rowan, as Leonardo Da Vinci, is "talking" some of the lyrics to the song "Mona Lisa" whereupon the camera pans from Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa painting over to Tiny Tim, playing the Mona Lisa model, where he says the song lyric, "I guess I'm just a cold and lonely lovely work of art." It follows with the Cocktail Party. The Guthy-Renker dvd release starts with the Cocktail Party.