Password with guest Jack Benny (1962) - Footage Offline - 10/11/10

Front Page Challenge with guest Errol Flynn (1959)

William F. Buckley 1925-2008: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour with guest David Frye (1969)

It's a very short clip, but it's of a very popular impressionist who you rarely find footage of on the internet. However, you often find his many LPs in thrift stores.

William F. Buckley 1925-2008: Gore Vidal debates Buckley (1968)

William F. Buckley 1925-2008: Firing Line with guest Noam Chomsky (1968)

Dick Gregory: State of the Black Union (2008)

In the stand-up comedy world, a comedian works hard to make their carefully scripted material seem spontaneous. Make no mistake about it, Dick Gregory sat down and wrote all of this material - and then rewrote it - until it was perfectly crafted. It may seem off-the-cuff, but the legendary Dick Gregory is doing much of his stand-up act in this appearance at The State of the Black Union that happened the other day. And he destroyed.

The Merv Griffin Show with guests Jimmy Grippo and Orson Welles (1981)

The Game Game with guest George Carlin (1969)

Here's the link to view.

To Tell the Truth with guest Larry King (1980)

What's My Line with panelist Woody Allen and mystery guests Allen & Rossi (1966)

A Collection of Bob Hope Special Monologues (1954-1975)

Password with guests Gary Morton, Lucille Ball, Desi Jr. and Lucy Jr. (1967)

The Oscar Streaker

I, like everyone else, watch the Oscars every year. I, like everyone else, watch it because I hope to see some spontaneous streaking. I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the Oscar streaking incident pictured here. But do you know much about him? Did you know he was a Gay activist? An enemy of Anita Bryant? Did you know he was brutally murdered in a San Francisco sex shop just a few years later? Read everything you need to know about the Oscar streaker here.

The People's Court Theme Music (1981)

The Mike Douglas Show with guest Maynard Ferguson (1977)

I always thought the pitch master's version of Star Trek was both ridiculous and hilarious. Disco Trek. But, like his Rocky theme, it was a hit.

DuMont Television Network: Friday Night Fights (1954)

The Three Stooges get the Death Penalty (1941)

This 1941 short, titled In the Sweet Pie and Pie, has The Three Stooges on death row. Wrongly accused The Stooges are almost murdered by the state! Sadly, it's something all too common in the world of this barbaric practice. Now with that in mind - enjoy the laughs!

The Hoot Gibson Show (1951)

Rango (1967)

Well, after posting the oddball Tim Conway - Ernie Anderson comedy records a couple weeks ago, I thought it might be fun to take a look at this obscurity. Between his success on McHale's Navy and The Carol Burnett Show, Tim Conway starred in this western sitcom that lasted only half of the 66-67 season on ABC. Guy Marks who had just finished a stint on The Joey Bishop Show (the sitcom, not the talk show) was co-star. Complete with commercials. A lot of familiar names in the production credits of this one.

Jackie Gleason related Mystery Guests on What's My Line?

Some swell person on YouTube has been posting several different "Mystery Guest" segments from What's My Line? that have to do with either The Honeymooners or The Jackie Gleason Show. Check these out (a couple of 'em were posted here earlier this week).
Jackie Gleason
Art Carney

Audrey Meadows

Frank Fontaine

The June Taylor Dancers

Viva Cuba: Fidel Castro and Pierre Trudeau (1976)

A CBC News Documentary hosted by Don McNeill with appearances from the crotchety former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

What's My Line with mystery guests The Smothers Brothers (1967)

The Smothers Brothers appear on What's My Line? to

The Steve Allen Show with guests Foster Brooks and Jayne Meadows (1970)

He & She with guest star Charles Lane (1967)

Here is an obscure sitcom that aired on CBS in the 1967-68 season. Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss were real life husband and wife when they were cast in their roles as spouses on the program. It had future Mary Tyler Moore Show talents Jay Sandrich directing many episodes and Jack Cassidy playing the egocentric star of the TV Show Jetman - based on the comic strip that Richard Benjamin's character created. Cassidy's character seems to be a predecessor to Ted Baxter on MTM and, in fact, Cassidy once guest starred as Ted Baxter's brother on MTM. He & She also featured folk-singer turned actor and one time Smothers Brothers writer Hamilton Camp. Other unique comedy character actors appeared as well, such as Jack Sheldon and Larry Storch. This episode features the prolific and instantly recognizable character actor Charles Lane as the immigration official.

Mickey Rooney struggles with "A Piece of Shit"

Dinah! with guests Henry Winkler and David Bowie (1976) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest The Backwards Talker (1988)

Cesar et les Romains (1965)

From Montreal television in the mid-sixties, les Romains were a pretty big deal for a while and most of their records are pretty good - some consisting of some fairly gritty garage, believe it or not.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Don Rickles (1984)

Yet another Carson appearance for Don Rickles. Watch several more by clicking on Don Rickles' name below.

Buster Keaton Plays a Little Love Song (1965)

If the clip doesn't work go here.

I have no idea what this is from, if it's actually from a movie or if it's home movie footage taken backstage somwhere, I dunno. What we do know is it is Buster Keaton and it is an appropriate clip for Valentine's Day at Classic Television Showbiz. Update: Okay, it is a clip from a good looking National Film Board of Canada documentary called Buster Keaton Rides Again - available in either VHS or DVD formats at every public library in Canada - i'll be checking it out promptly tomorrow. The NFB gave great B&W treatment to notables during this era, everyone from Paul Anka to Don Messer. Director of this film, John Spotton, was editor of the Paul Anka feature. All of these films are great.

The Love Experts with panelists David Letterman and Soupy Sales (1978)

Happy Valentines.

The Love Experts with panelists Soupy Sales and Geoff Edwards (1978)

The Best of "What's His Name "- The Jack Paar Comedy LP

I've owned several copies of this obscurity over the course of time and it is the only album I've ever seen on the phallic sounding Ramrod Superrecords. The back cover has an advertisement for Jiffy Sew. The LP is quite funny, consisting of two monologues from The Tonight Show with Jack Paar from 1960 or so. One is from an episode of the program that was broadcast from England, although the album provides zero context, and this is something the listener is pretty much left to themselves to figure out. I've heard a rumor that this was a "premium give-away" promo LP courtesy of NBC, but I don't know if that is true. If it is, it makes the label's name all the more confusing. Here it is in its entirety - The Best of "What's His Name."

What's My Line Celebrity Guests: Steve Allen, Art Carney and Jerry Lewis - Footage Offline - 6/01/09

Art Carney, again, simply hilarious - Steve Allen's Vix Vapo Rub line in the same episode is also pretty damn good.

The Morey Amsterdam Show with Art Carney (1949)

The Dick Cavett Show with guest Stan Freberg (1971)

I've Got a Secret with guest... a Theremin (1966)

Carson's Comedy Classics (1983)

Here is another enjoyable episode of Carson's Comedy Classics. Funny how Hank Kingsley-esque Ed was.

You Don't Say with guest Rod Serling! (1967)

You Don't Say with guests Mel Torme and Pat Carroll (1967)

And my favorite game show host, Tom Kennedy!

The Dean Martin Show: Celebrity Roast of Evel Knievel featuring Don Rickles (1973)

Network Nights (1955-1969) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

The Museum of Broadcast Communications has posted some great footage on the site brightcove.tv - I tried to embed their videos here as they'd have been a great fit for Classic Television Showbiz but it simply does not work. So instead, I send you to their site to watch their "Network Nights" series. Today I offer three different three and a half hour videos that depict, as closely as possible, what it was like to sit in front of your TV with only three channels for three and a half hours in these three years including commercials and network promos.


1955 - Primetime

What was on the air primetime in '55? We'll see The Lone Ranger and You Bet Your Life on NBC, flip over to CBS for Climax! with a dramatization of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted by Gore Vidal and back to NBC for The Ford Theater presentation of The Clay Pigeon with recognizable character actor Tom Tully. Fall asleep in the easy chair watching WGN's Late Show featuring the 1935 Bela Lugosi stinker Murder By Television including those late night cheapo commercials, this time courtesy Polk City Hallicrafter. Check it out here.

1963 - Primetime

The night starts off on ABC with a now-classic episode of The Outer Limits starring The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s David MaCullum. Then over to CBS for 90 minutes worth of Desilu powerhouse programming. First, something that you've probably seen in the public domain, The Lucy Show. Flipping through TV Guide we see that one of my all time favorite sitcoms is up next, the former Make Room For Daddy, The Danny Thomas Show. This episode includes an animated Thomas espousing the virtues of Post brand cereals. Morey Amsterdam makes a guest appearance as his character from the Danny Thomas produced Dick Van Dyke Show as well. The Danny Thomas Show's spin-off, The Andy Griffith Show continues the hour long Post cereal block with a Don Knotts-less episode. Back to ABC for the drama Breaking Point with special guest star John Cassavettes in an episode titled There Are the Hip and There Are the Square. Here it is.

1969 - Primetime

First up on Chicago's ABC affiliate it is the Irwin Allen adventure program Land of the Giants sponsored by Raleigh Cigarettes. Switch over to NBC and dig the forgotten Desi Arnaz presentation The Mother In-Laws featuring Classic Television Showbiz favorite Richard Deacon. On CBS it's Hee Haw with guest appearances from Charley Pride and Minnie Pearl, followed by Mission: Impossible. Here ya go.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Steve Martin (1973)

You'll have to follow this link, but it's the whole thing.

This Fall on CBS...

Promos for Gilligan's Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Gomer Pyle USMC, My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction and The Munsters.

Make Room For Daddy with guests Joey Bishop and Richard Deacon (1961) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

Gilligan's Island: The Pilot Episode (1964) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

Needs Russell Johnson. Desperately.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett and Burt Reynolds (1973) ) - Footage Offline - 05/23/09

I think I've posted some of this show before, but here is an extended chunk of Johnny's eleventh year special.

The Soupy Sales Show with guest Alice Cooper (1979) - Footage Offline - 12/12/08

Tightrope (1959)

Tightrope is a forgotten noir-ish crime drama that aired on CBS during the 1959-60 season. The show's noir feel is no accident. The show's creators also wrote two low-budget film noir classics: D.O.A. (1950) and The Thief (1952). This episode originally aired May 10th, 1960 and features Whit Bissell who you may remember as the mad scientist in both I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) and I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957).

Death of a War Criminal (1973)

Password with guest Bob Denver (1967)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Carol Wayne (1974)

Carson's Comedy Classics (1983)

The Dick Van Dyke Show Blooper Reel

It's always fun to hear Richard Deacon mutter "Bullshit." We also get to see the late Allen Melvin flub a line.

The Ed Sullivan Show with guests Senor Wences, Joan Rivers and Richard Pryor (1969-70) - Video Offline 2/21/08

M*A*S*H* Outtakes

Playboy After Dark with guest Mort Sahl (1969)

The Mike Douglas Show with co-host Bobby Darin and guest Peter Lawford (1970)