Mel Tolkin 1913-2007

Tolkin's writing career spanned the gamut of American television. Watch Tolkin talk about that career in detail over here.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Chuck Berry (1991)

Fractured Flickers with host Hans Conreid and guest Allan Sherman (1960)

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show with guests Wayne and Shuster (1960)

Shelley Berman at Home

Go here and watch some footage of Shelley Berman at home, from an upcoming documentary named Compass.

Colt 45 Commericial with Redd Foxx (1975)

The Gong Show (1976) - Footage Offline - 12/31/10

An entire episode.

Charlie Rose with guest Mort Sahl (1994)

You need to skip to the final twenty minutes of this episode of Charlie Rose to watch an interview with Mort Sahl. Sahl sadly endorses Alexander Haig and Henry Kissenger(!) in this segment. Overall, it really isn't that great of an interview, but Sahl footage on the internet is very limited.

The Spirit is Willing (1967) - Footage Offline - 2/28/08

Shock gimmick master William Castle made a handful of horror-comedies in the nineteen sixties including a remake of The Old Dark House starring Tom Poston and this film starring Sid Caesar. Great character actors appear like John Astin, Jesse White, Harvey Lembeck, Nestor Paiva and Doodles Weaver. Not only did the star of The Addams Family, Astin, appear, but Vic Mizzy, best known for composing the theme song to that sitcom, did the soundtrack of this film.

The David Frost Show with guest Groucho Marx (1970)

The Last of the Secret Agents? (1966)

Marty Allen is alive and well, still performing stand-up, primarily on the cruise ship circuit, making a decent, if not rather anonymous, living. At the height of his fame as part of the comedy team of Allen & Rossi and their string of comedy LPs and appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (including the episode that had The Beatles play the program for the first time) the boys made this awful film. That's Nancy Sinatra singing the title theme.

National Association for Justice PSA with Marty Allen (1974)

The Dick Cavett Show (1969)

An opening from an early version of The Dick Cavett Show - not sure if it's from his 1968-69 daytime show or the first of his primetime shows.

Name That Tune with host Tom Kennedy (1975)

Perry Comes to London (1971)

Don't think I could ever picture Como hanging with Rufus Thomas.

The Mike Douglas Show with guests Andy Kaufman, Robert Goulet and Carol Channing (1977)

This picture depicts a magazine article called Nervous Laughter. A good desciption of this fine selection.

Watch in the clip below and realize that the whole set starts spinning with ridiculous speed and the whole panel keeps a straight face as it happens. The motorized 1970s talk show set - I'm surprised Conan has never got around to doing a take-off gag based on the idea.

Password Plus with guest host Bill Cullen and panelist Bill Anderson (1979)

Cool Super Password word.

The Colgate Comedy Hour (1953) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

Will Jordan always insisted that he invented the Ed Sullivan impression and that anybody else who did Ed was just doing an impression of Will Jordan doing an impression of Ed Sullivan. He also states that those people are assholes. However, as we will see in this footage, it may very well have been Jerry Lewis who invented the Sullivan impression. The Ed Sullivan Show had previously been known as The Toast of the Town, hence the name given to this satire with Martin & Lewis.

The Ed Sullivan Show with guest Totie Fields (1967)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest host David Letterman (1979)

Handwhistler Ben Brenner is the guest in this segment. After David gives it a try, an annoying between monologue joke gimmick was born. Much like David's "Hey, hey, kids," the ol' hand whistle he does here became a regular staple whenever he felt like it on Late Night with David Letterman.

Rusty Warren interviewed by Tom Leykis (1987)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: The Great Comedians of a Generation (1992)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Emmanuel Lewis (1984)

90 Minutes Live with Paul Soles and David Letterman (1978)

Presumably Letterman was in Toronto to do stand-up when he made this appearance with the voice of Peter Parker and Spiderman in the old Krantz/Grantray-Lawrence cartoon, Paul Soles.

Up Close with Tom Cottle with guest Andy Kaufman

The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (1980) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

The introduction to the first episode of The Tomorrow Show that featured Rona Barrett as co-host.

To Tell the Truth with guest Gene Roddenberry (1977)