As Caesar Sees It starring Sid Caesar and Second City members Barbara Harris, Paul Sand and Andrew Duncan (1962)

People Now with Mike Douglas and guest Sid Caesar (1982)

Tars and Spars featuring Sid Caesar (1946)

The Mike Douglas Show with guest Sid Caesar (1983)

The Hollywood Palace with hosts Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca and guests Edie Adams, Buddy Rich and Gene Baylos (1969)

Sid Caesar Invites You - Promo (1958)

Hollywood Backstage: The Spirit is Willing Backlot Party (1967)

Caesar's Hour with guest Benny Goodman (1954)

Your Show of Shows (1953)

The Admiral Broadway Revue starring Sid Caesar and imogene Coca (1949)

The Mike Douglas Show with guests Sid Caesar, Arthur Godfrey and The Cavemen (1966)

Wanna know more about The Cavemen? Go here.

Some of Manie's Friends with guests Frank Sinatra, Sid Caesar, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Bob Hope, Danny Thomas and Nat King Cole (1959)

The Best of The Dean Martin Show featuring Sid Caesar, Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters and Bing Crosby (1970)

The Hollywood Palace with host Bing Crosby with guests George Burns, Lola Falan, Sid Caesar and The Mamas and The Papas (1966)

The Hollywood Palace with host Donald O'Connor and guests Sid Caesar, Shari Lewis, Bob Melvin and Don Ho (1967)

Despite what IMDB may claim - the appearance of comedian Bob Melvin is not the same Bob Melvin who came to be known as The Elephant Man.

The Hollywood Palace with host Englebert Humperdinck and guests Nancy Ames, Sid Caesar, Jack E. Leonard and Gladys Knight and the Pips (1969) - Footage Offline - 09/10/10

Of all the episodes I'm posting today and have posted recently (well, that Denbobboy has posted actually) this is by far my fave. Jack E. Leonard was getting up there in age by the time of this appearance and would die less than four years later. The brief appearance of the unimpressed pianist accompanying Leonard is reminiscent of Don Rickles' live act - and makes me wonder if the idea was borrowed from Leonard's act. There was a wee bit of controversy/hostility around Rickles' act when he first made the scene in the fifties - not because of his insult style - but because some thought his persona resembled Jack E. Leonard's a bit too much.

The Dean Martin Show with guest Sid Caesar (1971)

The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards with Bob Hope, Milton Berle and Sid Caesar (1998)

The Warm Up: The Stars Get Benefit of a Pre-Heated Audience - TV Guide - January 1954

Here is an enjoyable and extremely insightful article that appeared in TV Guide, the last week of January 1954 (pictured).

The Warm Up - Stars Get Benefit of Pre-Heated Audience

An occupational hazard and one of the major causes of trauma among comedians is that dreary audience that refuses to laugh. It has long since become dogma in the radio-TV industry that a studio audience must be on hand to be insulted by the comics and cued by off screen claques so that folks at home will know when to laugh.

And if a studio audience doesn't laugh? As a precaution against such disasters, most shows employ a pre-show audience warm up so that when airtime rolls around, the audience will be giddy enough to laugh at anything.

A GAG FOR A KICK-OFF

The kingpin at audience priming is of course that old pro Bob Hope. Approximately a minute before air time, he reads from the script what is allegedly the first joke on the show. He then ceremoniously rips the first page off, crumples it in a ball, throws it on the floor and kicks it. Mr. Hope has this timed so well that the audience will be in gales of merriment at precisely the moment the show goes on the air.

Announcer Jack Lescoulie does the warm up on the Jackie Gleason Show. A typical warm up involves lining up Jackie, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, June Taylor on stage, then going into the following spiel: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the cast. Cast, meet the audience." With this, the cast runs out into the audience, shaking hands all around. The cast then rushes onstage just in time for the show.

Milton Frome, one of Milton Berle's alter egos, does the warm up on the Berle show. In line with the theory that a studio audience is several cuts lower in intelligence than the one at home, Frome goes out on the runway at the Center Theater wearing a preposterous toupee. He then rants at the audiece, "If you don't laugh tonight, I'll tear my hair out," then, "I think I'll do it anyhow." With this he tears off the toupee. They are then ripe for Uncle Miltie.

Ed Sullivan does his own warm up, with Art Hannes, the announcer, filling in when Ed is on vacation. They begin with greetings from Lincoln-Mercury, tell the audience to relax, ask out-of-towners (most studio audiences are chiefly out-of-towners)to raise their hands and then advising them to "be sure to laugh when the cameras are turned on you. You don't want to disgrace your grandpa back home in the corner saloon. If he sees that you're not smiling, he'll think you're not having a good time."

The Bishop Sheen show has a problem that is peculiar to that show alone. The warm up is handled by one of two announcers, Fred Scott or Bill O'Toole. The audience is told to enjoy itself, applaud when it wishes and to remember, above all, that it is not in church.

DON'T OUTSHINE CAESAR

Ed Herlihy (Your Show of Shows)is also on the spot. If he's too funny he'll cramp the styles of Caesar and Coco. He goes through the usual bits about putting an audience at its ease, tells them to take off their shoes, who's going to be on, and so forth.

Walt Framber, producer of Strike it Rich and The Big Payoff, frequently does the warm up on those shows himself. Walt is not averse to a little flag-waving. On Strike it Rich, he leads off by saying, "We all struck it rich when we came to America," making his audience brim over with good feelings.

Eddie Fisher's audience is warmed up just at the sight of the boy. Consisting chiefly of teenagers, it bursts into squeals the moment Eddie puts in an appearance, approximately a minute before air time.

THEY'VE GOT A SECRET

Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, producer of What's My Line, I've Got a Secret and other shows, manage some 100 warm ups a year. The boys are loaded down with various routines to get the audience gay: "Do we have anyone in the audience enjoying their honeymoon here in New York? Stand up, please." (Blushing honeymooners stand). "All right now, anybody here not enjoying their honeymoon?" (This brings the house down). "Okay, everybody, get comfortable. Men, take off your jackets, if you want. Ladies - well, do the best you can."

Jane Frohman has the best routine. While her announcer chats amiably with the audience, Jane, her dressing room very close to the stage, can be heard chirping away on that night's songs. And the way Miss Frohman sings, by the time it's air time her audience is so warm, it's glowing.

The Paul Winchell Show (1957) - Footage Offline 2/15/08