I still can’t believe my Marine sergeant dad, the same dad who hated hippies and anti-war protesters, the same dad who tuned into Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw, actually enjoyed Laugh-In.
That show was loud, weird, colorful, and full of the exact kind of counterculture humor you would think he’d complain about. But somehow, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In worked its way into living rooms like ours. Maybe it was the fast jokes, maybe it was the pretty girls, maybe it was the one-liners, or maybe it was just goofy enough that even the strict dads could laugh before they realized what they were laughing at.
For all the things my dad would not tolerate, somehow Laugh-In got a pass. And that may be one of the funniest things about the show. It was strange enough for the kids, fast enough for the adults, and somehow ridiculous enough to bring everybody into the same room.