Sunday's Emmy awards telecast featured an incredibly ill-advised reunion of former Laugh-In regulars attempting to do the "joke wall" schtick that was such a beloved part of the original show almost forty years ago.
Laugh-In, for the uninitiated, was a sketch comedy that aired on NBC in the late sixties/early seventies. Actually, the "sketches" were typically no longer than 15-30 seconds in length, and relied heavily on old jokes and double entendre. It was such a product of its pre-ERA times, that it regularly featured bikini-clad go-go dancers - and nobody was offended.
Getting back to the Emmys - I found the reunion too painful to watch. Was it really a good idea to trot out an 82 year-old, half-dead Alan Sues? At least Goldie Hawn (above - who curiously played "stupid" on the old show) had the good sense not to show up - which is more than we can say for Lily Tomlin, who really should know better.
Here's Laugh-In in happier times.
