♪ ♪ stand by. here we go. >> take one. >> the average time spent watching television is five to six hours per day. >> all the residuals. >> there's a reason for calling it the boob tube and idiot box. it's changed the channel. >> yeah. >> we want to give the american viewer the kind of television people desire and deserve. >> let's try it again and see what comes out this time. >> television has grown faster than a teenager.

now it is time to grow up. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the tv was the center of

the -- i don't remember a time without tv. >> by 1960, essentially every household in america had a television. it was a new way of bringing the world to you. >> when something big happened on television, it really did happen to the entire country. and impacted the entire country at the same time. >> keep an awakened eye on the world. >> suddenly television was the main event. everything else changed. even the way in which you went about the business of getting someone elected president. >> sold out. >> david, will you hit the one-minute button, please? the 30 seconds. and the cut, please. >> in 1960, the nixon/kennedy debate was the first in television. a lot of people were watching that night and it introduced a lot of people to kennedy.

>> let me see the tight shot on camera one, please. >> hear me now speaking. is that about the right tone of voice? >> good evening. the television and radio stations of the united states and their affiliated stations are proud to provide -- >> when the networks offered a debate, kennedy immediately said yes because he was sure he could do better than nixon. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he would grant me the same. the question before us is which point of view, and which party do we want to lead the united states. mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement? >> i have no comment. >> if you're live on television and there is a camera right here, there's really no place to hide. once you see a guy sweating when asked a question, are you sure he's the leader for you? >> that's the question before the american people and only you can decide what you want. what you want this country to be. what you want to do with the

future. i think we're ready to move. >> if you saw it on television, clearly kennedy had won that debate. >> gentlemen, thank you very much for permitting us to present the next president of the united states on this unique program. >> it was the beginning of a new form of political craftsmanship. you could structure a message appropriately for the tv camera, you could have a huge impact. and if you couldn't, you were toast. >> i would like to now give a real tonight welcome to senator from massachusetts, mr. john kennedy. [ applause ] maf may i ask you so i don't look too naive, a tough question? >> whether i'm a democrat or republican? [ laughter ] >> people recognized television was now the medium that mattered. it wasn't before 1960, and it was every day after 1960 in those presidential debates. >> oh, honey, let's don't watch that. try to find a western. >> all right.

>> once everyone had a tv set in their living room and advertisers got a grip this was an effective way to sell products, the very definition of what you were doing was entertainment that would appeal to as many people as possible. >> beaver, eat your brusselss sprouts. >> i can't. my stomach is in my throat. a now, no excuses. >> leave it to beaver was something that a lot of families understood. it's the first show that was ever shot from the perspective of a child. >> beaver. >> most people have had a lot of experiences the beaver or wally had and everyone in their life has an eddy haskell. >> hi, wally. some dumb kid fell in soup. good evening, mr. cleaver. some unfortunate child is trapped up there. >> everyone has a moment they knot they'd never get over it, but they did. >> the scene of the 1961 emmy.

>> whether it's situation comedy, whether it's a western, whether it's a drama, i think it's the quality of the show itself that's important. >> the andy griffith show, mayberry, kinder gentler place, hard not to want to live in mayberry. >> the core of the andy griffith show was the rock of the center of it, calm wisdom. >> i have taken the best parts of myself and people that i've known all my life and put them into andy taylor. >> there comes a time when you have to stop the play acting, tell the truth. >> don't you believe me, pa? don't you, pa? >> people appreciate emotional honesty. they appreciate it more than laughs. it's great if you can achieve both simultaneously. the andy griffith show did that very often. for a sitcom, it shows

unexpected depth. >> we think of a new for matt, the dance number should come before the sketch. >> gee, i don't know. >> i like it. >> now i like it. >> me, too. >> i like it, too. what do you know, look at that tie you're wearing. [ laughter ] >> i only wrote what i knew about which was my life. if you're writing about that, nobody can say, that's not true. it is true. i'm living it. >> on the dick van dyke show, we could believe the actions of the characters because we could relate to them. this wasn't a genie in a bikini in someone's bottle on their mantle. these were real people. >> women are more -- more -- >> honest and direct? >> no. they're more -- >> courageous? >> we all have the same needs, feelings, relationships with husbands and wives. that was the kind of comedy we did. the problems of living. >> honey, how much do you like that baby? [ laughter ]

>> oh, rob, don't tell me you're jealous already. >> the season episode for the 1963 season was seared into my head. >> the wife had a baby on the same day in the same hospital, and the hospital was very busy, mr. peters. what am i getting at? >> they thought they got the wrong baby from the hospital. so he calls the parents of the other kid and thinks, you know, we may have your kid. you may have our kid. >> hi, we're mr. and mrs. peters. >> come in. [ laughter ] >> mrs. peters, won't you come in. >> it was beautiful. absolutely beautiful. here they're tackling a subject without tackling it. >> why didn't you tell me on the phone? >> miss the expression on your

face? >> the network worried about the fact that the african-americans might be upset by it. the network was always a little behind. there's always somebody back there who doesn't have b-a-l-l-s, balls. >> carl reiner, dick van dyke. >> i wish somebody had told me. i would have worn my hair. i would have worn my hair. [ laughter ] ♪ boom goes the dynamite, ♪ feels like i'm taking flight. ♪ [sfx: poof] [sfx: squeaking eraser sound effect.] ♪ i am who i wanna be ♪ who i wanna be ♪ who i wanna be. ♪ i'm a strong individual ♪ feeling that power ♪ i'm so original, ♪ ya sing it louder. ♪ i am, oooh oooh oooh oooh ♪ ehhh ehhh ehhh ehhh ♪ i am, oooh oooh oooh oooh ♪ i am

son, i need to tell you what is it, dad? there's a five cent refund for this bottle in iowa and maine. means a lot pop. special moments with dos equis. keep it interesante. we didn't have to stop the movie. i didn't have to call an ambulance. and i didn't have to contact your family. because your afib didn't cause a blood clot that led to a stroke. not today. we'd discussed how your stroke risk increases over time, so even though you were feeling fine, we chose xarelto®, to help keep you protected. once-daily xarelto®, significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. in fact, over 96% of people remained stroke-free. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of stroke. while taking, a spinal injection increases the risk of blood clots, which may cause paralysis- the inability to move. you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding.

it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. be sure you're doing all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. ask your doctor if it's time for xarelto®. to learn more about cost and how janssen can help, visit xarelto.com.

janssen can help, but it's not really something yoyou want to buy.. it's not sexy... oh delicious. or delicious... or fun. ♪ but since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10%. which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like ah well i don't know what you'd wanna buy cause i'm just a guy on your tv. esurance. it's surprisingly painless. i've got to tell you this one. do you know those knock-knock jokes? >> they're old now. >> yeah, i got a real good one. i got a real funny one. >> all right. >> go ahead, start. >> knock, knock. >> who's there? [ laughter ] >> it was only three networks --

there was only one late-night show, jack parr. >> i know, it's agony. >> jack parr invent ed the late night television talk show. >> do you feel confident there is not a man in the world to beat me. i'm as pretty as li bera cci. >> jack had in his corner his personality. his fabulously frighteningly neurotic, but in other cases enthusiastic and informed personality. it made for great television. >> how much time have i done? i don't have a watch either. [ laughter ] how much? has it been charming? i'll quit now, then. >> here's johnny! >> johnny carson inherited "the tonight show," but he made it his own. >> it's going to be wild

tonight. i can always tell. >> he hosted a nightly party. >> are you married? >> oh. [ laughter ] >> and if his buddies came and they started playing together, you felt like what it must have felt like to go to vegas at 3:00 in the morning and have the rat pack come on. >> no, the guy you talk to. [ laughter ] >> i love that. >> it was a beautiful thing to watch a guy working at his best. >> okay, bingo. get your axe and let's go. [ laughter ] >> if you watch it closely, he's gauging how much longer he can wait to let the laugh die before

what he says will be irrelevant to what happened. and he gets it just on the nose. it's beautiful to watch. >> i didn't even know you were jewish. >> johnny was the best audience in the world. and he loved comedy. >> the woman is watching. she's watching out of the corner of your eye. she says, what are you looking at? i says, i'm looking at that ugly baby. [ laughter ] that's a bad-looking baby, lady. >> johnny was there listening for you. he wanted you to score. and when you scored, he scored. >> calm down. madam, the pennsylvania railroad will go to any length to avoid having differences between the passengers. i said perhaps it would be more to your convenience if we were to rearrange your seating.

and as a small compensation from the railroad, if you accompany me to the gaining car, we'll give you a free meal. maybe we'll find a banana for your monkey. [ laughter ] >> i'm dick cavet. funnier than chet huntley. and as pure and honest as new jersey. >> the dick cavet show was amazing. you could get people like norman mailer and woody allen. >> my new year's resolution, i'm going to try and sleep through the nixon administration. >> you would have authors on, heavy weight boxers. there were conversations. >> when you mention the national anthem and talk about playing in any unorthodox way, you get a guaranteed percentage of hate mail -- >> that's not unorthodox. >> it isn't unorthodox? no, i thought it was beautiful. >> there you go. [ applause ]

>> i just thought anything that's interesting ought to have a place on a talk show rather than young pretty actresses who use the word "excited" in every sentence. >> you're not frequently seen on television. is that by choice? >> well, of course, it is the most impressive medium of all. it's the medium that's going to either save america or send it down into demise. there's no question about t. >> i'm getting out of it myself. [ applause ] >> really? >> we'll be back after this. >> what you do is you book the best possible guests from different kinds of businesses. mabel not everybody in show business. some politics, some newspaper people. get them all on a stage together and hope that something works. but it's a great show, it's a great platform for people who have something to say. >> the point is that they take these scripts out of the drawers, they change the things around, maybe it doesn't work with green acres, but on many of these shows, and that's why night after night you turn on these serials and they all seem as if they came out of the same bread box.

>> back then, you had lots and lots of copy cats. you had the adams family and then you had the muensters. you have be witched and i dream of genie. imitation is a serious form of television. if one is a hit, we'll do that. >> is that a crime? >> i'm afraid not. there aren't laws to protect us against bad tv shows yet, so you're safe. >> thank you. >> what i'm surprised by are some of the shows that i can't even imagine the pitch meetings for. like hogan's heroes. >> it's a story about american prisoners of war in a nazi concentration camp which doesn't exactly sound like it's a funny comedy. >> why don't they trust us, schultz? >> that shows you how weird the '60s was right there. >> there's another one of our fine shows for this year. pit stop. the moving story of an efeminite

race car driver who is really a astronaut for the mafia. quarter after 2:00 pacific time. [ applause ] his luxurious fur calms my nerves when i'm worried about moving into our new apartment. why don't we just ask geico for help with renters insurance? i didn't know geico helps with renters insurance. yeah, and we could save a bunch too. antonio! fetch computer! antonio? i'll get it. get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance. don't worry. travelocity is there for you with 24/7 customer service. now, if your flight runs out of those mini bottles? then, you can worry. travelocity.

wander wisely. they feel like they have to drink a lot of water. patients that i see that complain about dry mouth, medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. listen this is not the end for you. i already put on my comfy pants. i'm so... cozy. here.

old spice swagger. listen, there is a place, full of sports, people, people watching sports, the guys are waiting. come on! ahhh. that could allow hackers devices into your home.ys and like all doors, they're safer when locked. that's why you need xfinity xfi. with the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords,

credit cards and cameras. and people inside from accidentally visiting sites that aren't secure. and if someone trys we'll let you know. xfi advanced security. if it's connected, it's protected. call, click, or visit a store today.

cbs presents this program in color. >> they didn't have color television until i was 16 years old. yes. i lived like an animal. >> the following program is being brought to you in living color on nbc. >> getting the color tv was huge. suddenly we could watch walt disney's wonderful world of color sunday nights which was like an acid trip of a show. we just could not believe it. tinker bell going, bing, bing, bing. it was like special effects par excellence. ♪ the world is a carousel of color ♪ ♪ color, color ♪ ♪ >> it also happened just coincidentally at the time when what we think of as the maude '60s came in, colors, all over the place just as tv could start to take advantage of them. >> hi. >> well, glad you could make it.

>> i remember saying, stay tuned for giget next in color. >> wednesday nights september 16 in color on abc. >> it was a big marketing thing. >> color tv was a huge step forward as far as the technology went. and yet i think of lost in space, lost in space started off as a black and white show and went to coral. it depth get any better when it went to color. >> dr. smith, you're alive. >> of course, i'm alive. do i look like a corpse? >> the period has a reputation of tv being a kind of candy. sometimes it felt like there was an aggressive innocence to it. >> you only blow that in an emergency. this is an emergency. you're standing on my foot. >> gil i beganligan's island ma sense. how is the professor able to build this stuff but not the raft? >> the stick of dynamite i made.

>> makes sense if you pull a thread, but it's the show designed to live forever in syndication. >> what are you looking for? >> a nunn, who else? >> are you kidding? >> flying nunn is the most crazy show. like what is that about? >> look, carlos, it's very simple. i only weigh 90 pounds and the combination of my cornet and the wind lifts me. >> it was just complete nonsense. let's face it. it was the height of the '60s. everything was dropping out and doing god knows what else, and i wasn't. >> hello, central? i'm switching to my eyeglasses. put a hold on my wallet, but keep my shoe open. >> television more than ever in the '60s was a place to escape to. >> let's go.

>> seemed like it was almost a sort of willful respite from the stuff that was going on out in the world and in real life. >> here is a bulletin from cbs news. there's been an attempt, perhaps you know now, on the life of president kennedy. he was wounded in an automobile driving -- >> until the early '60s, television used, by and large, seen as something of a back water to print journalism and even to radio. but the kennedy assassination was the moment that television journalism came of age. >> we'll continue full-day coverage of the presidential funeral and final procession. >> more and more people were depending on television to give them the headline news of the day. >> 330 americans were killed in combat last week in vietnam, but the number of wounded, 3886 was the highest number. >> most of the 1960s, the contrast between what you saw on entertainment and what you saw on the news was, you know, planetary. >> never has this descent been

as emotional, as intense. >> in the '60s, it was one thing after another. each year it was filled with important events. >> governor wallace has ordered 500 alabama national guards men into tuesdscaloosa. at the moment they are under his control. >> whether it was the civil rights movement or the kennedy assassination or the space race when there was a huge thing that happened, it happened on tv. >> the witness to that violence said it seemed to be unprovoked on the part of the demonstrators. >> television became the fire in which the whole tribe gathered around to listen to the elders tell them what was going on. >> police reinforcements moving down balboa street now. [ crowd chanting ] >> the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching. the whole world is watching.

working with top airlines to turn their unsold seats into amazing deals, sports fans are seeing more away games. various: yeah-h-h! isn't that a fire hazard? uh, it's actually just a fire. priceline. every trip is a big deal. ♪ woo! vacation isn't about where you are, it's about how you see things. you just have to make home, the place you want to write home about. stella artois. summer like you're on vacation. yesss, i'm doing it all. the water. the exercise. the fiber. month after month, and i still have belly pain and recurring constipation. so i asked my doctor what else i could do, and i said yesss to linzess. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess is not a laxative, it works differently. it helps relieve belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. do not give linzess to children less than 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to less than 18,

it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. i'm still doing it all. the water. the exercise. the fiber. and i said yesss to linzess for help with belly pain and recurring constipation. ask your doctor.

good evening, ladies and gentlemen. tonight live from new york. >> from hollywood. >> from beautiful downtown burbank. >> here is the star of our show, bob hope. [ applause ]

>> variety was the backbone of television that year. one year there were 18 different variety shows. everybody had a variety show. ♪ it's the jimmy dean show ♪ >> everyone was different because of who was helming the show. ♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> dean martin was just so loose, he acted as though he was doing the whole show drunk without a rehearsal. >> this is a real international show. now, where else could you see a smooth italian and a slippery pole? [ laughter ] >> it was funny. he was really, really funny. [ applause ]

>> he always looked as if he was a bit lost. people thought it was because he was tiddly, that was part of the charm. >> here he is, ed sullivan. ♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you very much. thank you. >> no matter who controlled the tv set the other nights of the week, on sunday night 8:00, you were going to watch ed sullivan. >> now, ladies and gentlemen, a very fine act -- >> ed sullivan was a phenomenon. he was a powerful force. >> quiet, please. quiet. >> the beauty of the sullivan kind of variety show, something else would be on in four minutes. >> why? >> it's very difficult. >> advertisers wanted everybody, and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents would watch the same show. >> they would have an elephant on, then the next thing someone

was doing shakespeare. an acrobat, an opera singer the next bit. which was true variety. ♪ ♪ >> anything that was current was on the ed sullivan show. >> richard pyle. >> thank you. >> rodney danger field. >> everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan, you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? >> my whole life i didn't get no respect, no respect from anyone. >> as a performer, you couldn't get a better place to sell your product. [ applause ] >> when i started out, they would say, variety is a man's game. dean, milton berle, the guys. variety is what i knew.

i felt it was in my genes to do this. >> oh,! >> she had been so good on the gary moore show, she always knew she could sing and dance it would be funny. >> on my show, i would do prank falls and jump out of windows and get pies in the face. it was heaven. >> i think it's going to -- oh, god. >> i see a rerun of carol burnett show. god damn, they're funny. there's never been a three-wall sketch show ever. she was great in bed, too, dicky. remember that? >> you never went to bed with -- well. >> i'm not supposed to kurtzy, i bow. >> i get dizzy when i bend over. >> when tim conway came on, this golden life w his goal in life was to destroy harvey. >> this is a brand-new dentist with his very first patient.

>> we had a pool back stage not as to when harvey would break up, but how far he could get in his lines before he broke up. >> take a firm hold of the hypodermic needle. >> right. [ laughter ] >> they never knew what he was going to do, but they knew it was not going to be what they expected. [ laughter ] >> when they did the dentist sketch, none of that was rehearsed. >> we'll be right with you. >> poor harvey was helpless. tears coming down. tim swears that harvey wet his pants during that sketch. [ laughter ] >> i don't know why that worked so well, watching two actors break character and just crack each other up should not be as entertaining, but somehow when it's tim conway and harvey

corman doing t i could watch that stuff forever. >> i thought if we have fun, the audience will. we're going to go out there and do what we do best. and it worked. >> you can plan t you can write it, you can rehearse it, you can hope for some magic. it was carol. carol, the magic of carol burnett. this is something big. this is something bigger. [ "movin on up" by primal scream ] that is big.

not as big as that. sure that's big. that's bigger. big. bigger. big. bigger. big. but that's bigger. wow, big. so much bigger. this is big. but that's...well, you got this.

this is mia's pulse. with pressure rising, and racing. this is also mia's pulse. that her doctor keeps in check, so she can find balance. this is mia's pulse, and now it's more stable than ever. this is what medicare from blue cross blue shield does for mia. and with over 80 years of healthcare expertise, imagine what we can do for you. this is the benefit of blue.

you say he's a tv addict. perhaps he's been staring at this electronic blessing television set so long, his life has become his. he's reached such a stage of confusion he no longer knows whether he's watching the action or participating in it. >> you unlock this door with the key of imagination. beyond it is another dimension. >> there was desire on the part of writers and producers to push the envelope and stretch the medium. you certainly saw that with "the twilight zone." it was a cinematic show. >> this is not a new world. it has patterned itself after the dictator who printed the boots on every page of history since the beginning of time. >> rod surling realized through

the lens of science fiction he could tell stories about racism, he could tell stories about fascism. >> tonight i shall talk to you about glorious conformity. >> it was a way to deal with a lot of issues america was starting to go through at that time, but in a fantastic setting so there was some divide between you and the show. >> they sent four people, a mother and father and two kids who look just like humans. but they weren't. >> the twilight zone had these little oh, henry like twisted on it and was allowed to have unhappy endings. >> we picked the most dangerous enemy they could find and it's themselves. ♪ ♪ now six months a fugitive, this is richard kimball with a new identity. >> it is a somber character

study. >> viewing through the eyes of strangers. keep moving. >> everybody wanted to see what happened to the fugitive. >> how long is it ever going to go on? >> i'm about ready to give up. i'm tired. >> when it ended, it broke the viewership record set by the beatles on ed sullivan. it was one of the first tv shows that actually went somewhere. >> you know youngstown is not exactly on our course. >> in a lot of ways, television was showing slices of the world that people had never seen before. route 66 was an innovative show because it was actually filmed on location, so the audience was being exposed to things that just weren't part of their local orbit. >> space, the final frontier. >> you know what, there is a little bit of the mayberry aspect to the world of star trek. that's going to sound like an odd analogy, but follow me here. people want to believe such a place can exist. the idea of a future in which a

lot of the biases and fears of the past has evolved out of us. >> where i come from, size, shape or color makes no difference. >> there's one episode where some of the members of the crew were taken over by these mental giants. >> this psycho kinetic power of yours, how long have you had it? >> they forced captain kirk and lieutenant ohura to kiss. ♪ ♪ >> it was the first inter racial kiss on television. >> nbc asked me if i would do my own special, and i had always adored harry belafonte. we decided to do one duet called "the path of glory." it's an anti-war song, and we both felt very strongly about it. i just touched his arm.

♪ ♪ the sponsor went crazy. my star doesn't touch a black man's arm. >> petula clark says, i'm not doing it over and it's my show and it's going in that way. >> we weren't having any of that nonsense, no way. so it went out the way we wanted it to go out. i didn't really have any other problem with sponsors, but that sort of gave me a taste of what could happen. ♪ ♪ >> in the tv business, the '60s was probably about the last decade during which the sponsors had a really iron grip on content. >> brought to you by dash. >> even if they tried to keep tv this white homogenous whole milk product, the world found its way in. it just had to.

>> don't you ever remember to bring a silencer? >> runs a lot of my suit. >> with "i spy" robert culp and bill cosby were equals. cosby is a pioneer in terms of a black male leading a drama. he made race a nonissue. >> the winner is bill cosby. [ applause ] >> we try to put forth an example of the way it should be racially in this country. we need more people in this industry to put forth that message and let it be known to the bigots and the racists that they don't count. thank you. [ applause ] >> as television changed, it was helping all americans to

understand that this is what america looks like. >> currently, you're not exactly what i expected. >> no? >> no, not from what i read here. >> did you expect me to be older or younger? >> "julia" was going to be the first time a black woman starred in her own television show. >> has mr. colton told you? >> told me what? >> i'm colored. >> what color are you? >> she was a young black woman who had been educating her son alone. it had a universality. something new. >> and you'll keep out of mischief. >> i'll just watch the old tv. >> in the '60s, america was exploding in a way that needed to be reflected on tv. >> stand still. >> "dragnet" came back in the late '60s. friday was now in a different world than he had been in in the black and white days.

suddenly there were the damn dirty hippies. >> jack webb would lecture you about the dangers of marijuana smoking and crazy drug culture. >> they're trying to deal with the counter culture, but they don't understand it, so basically their stereotypes of what the hippies were like and it plays exactly like that. >> keep your nose out of my purse. >> keep your nose out of the acid next time, i will. fundraising. giving back. subaru and our retailers have given over one hundred and sixty-five million dollars to charity. we call it our love promise. and it's why you don't even have to own a subaru to love a subaru retailer. love. it's what makes subaru, subaru

travelocity is there for you. not right in the room. that'd be awkward. but you know, online, on the phone, when you realize you want to extend your stay. travelocity. wander wisely. son, i need to tewhat is it, dad?. if you ever have any questions, you call 1-877-522-5001. it means a lot pop. special moments with dos equis. keep it interesante. [baby cooing on baby monitor] psst....

it's too late for me. it's 8 pm on a saturday. we gotta go, the guys are waiting. come on. here. old spice. shhhh. wait. bring back potato skins.

nbc presents rowan and martin's "laugh-in." ♪ >> our country will be much better off with a strong leader. >> i know, but sinatra can't do everything. >> when "laugh-in" came along, we'd never seen anything that was kind of like grown-ups acting goofy and hip that way. they had girls dancing in bikinis and the joke wall. >> who's in there with you? >> cool hand luke. >> and it was nothing but jokes. >> i was at the hospital. >> anything serious? >> a black widow bit me. >> well, it never would have happened if he'd been a gentleman. >> jugs. >> we took it to the network and the network said what the hell is this? this makes no sense. i said, right. >> they acknowledged the hippie

generation, yet the hosts were in tuxedos smoking cigarettes. they were still your parents. but the other people let loose on the show were this kind of young vaudeville. >> it's sock it to me time. >> hey, she socked it to herself. >> we knew that sock it to me didn't mean sock it to me. right? so we thought, oh. >> sock it to me. >> sock it to me. >> sock it to me? >> it wasn't as subversive as it sounds. yes, it was. it was fun. >> sock it to me? >> was the first time presidential candidate had ever appeared on a comedy show. and that may have got him elected, and i've had to live with that. anyway. >> the family that watches "laugh-in" together really needs to pray together. >> just seemed like it's

happening right now and it's about right now that is the greatest thing ever. a fusion of politics and comedy and everything else into one show. >> when we take over, i'm going to look out for you. >> the subjects that were verboten, we don't talk about these things, were starting to come up in tv. and because it was well executed, it changed everything. >> this is the smothers brothers comedy air. take one. production 124 air, take one. ♪ >> good evening and welcome to "the smothers brothers show." >> if rowan and martin and the smothers brothers are the new stars of tv comedy, it is the comedy itself rather than the comedians which is more often in the spotlight. these two programs have consciously tried to influence people by comedy techniques that break through the traditional song and skit routines and by subject matter that is often on the cutting edge of what is new. >> our government is asking us as citizens, good citizens, to refrain from traveling to

foreign lands. >> okay. all you guys in vietnam, come on home. >> times were changing so quickly in the '60s. and we didn't change them. >> we just reflected them. >> i can't hear you. what are you doing? >> i'm getting ready to go to college. >> cbs gave the smothers brothers that show because they were clean-cut folk satirists. you know, they wore blazers. they could sing well. they were funny. >> mom liked you best! >> you lower your voice. >> mom liked you best. >> they told us what they thought we could do and what we should do, and it was totally wrong. and tommy came in saying, i would like a show where we can be relevant. ♪ if we could get a war without blood and gore i would be the first to go ♪ ♪ but until then mr. mcnamara ♪ i'm only 18 ♪ and i always carry a purse >> the people in the counterculture started making these shows and they don't want to play by the rules that other

people did before then. but who would expect the smothers brothers of all people to be raising this much of a fuss? >> good script. >> i held my breath every time they did the show. because i knew the network people were befouling their trousers with fear. >> nothing funny in this. yeah, boys, we're through censoring your show. >> they said that the social subjects we touched on were not appropriate for the 9:00 family viewing hour. they came up with any excuse to make it difficult. >> and i came up with any excuse to push it. >> yeah. ♪ cbs would like to give us notice ♪ ♪ and some of you don't like the things we say ♪ ♪ but we're still here ♪ oh yeah we're still here >> they were going to speak truth to power. and they were not compromising.

>> you have something important? >> something very important to say on american television. >> a lot of times we don't have the opportunity to say anything important because on american television, every time you try to say something important -- [ cheers and applause ] >> well, whether you can say it or not, keep trying to say it. that's what's important. you get that? >> there's no way in the world if anything is meaningful and truthful that you're not going to offend someone. you've got to be able to say what it is. say how it is. and take the consequence. >> cbs announced today that the "smothers brothers comedy hour" will not return to the cbs television network next season. network president robert woods said it became evident that brothers, quote, were unwilling to accept the criteria of taste established by cbs. cbs news efforts to reach the brothers for comment have been unsuccessful. >> i was angry. but we never regretted it.

we never did regret it. >> what do you think television, honestly, do you think it's good? >> yes, i do. i think particularly for what it is. for the amount of hours that it gives you for enjoyment. either in education or for pure entertainment, it's remarkably good. >> what television did in '60s was to show the american people to the american people. until then, we did not truly know much about each other. we knew only what we had seen, which was very little, and what we had read, which was even less. >> a few years ago i thought it was the end of the world. >> no, it's just the beginning. >> i think people looked at television for answers, maybe. that the world's just confusing, it's going to hell all over the place. maybe something on here will help. >> there was no denying the shift in attitudes towards sex, towards race relations, towards politics. it was all televised. >> that you will faithfully execute the office.

>> that i will faithfully execute the office. >> when it works, television conveys impressions and evokes memories. when it works well, television makes us feel. >> good morning. it's t-minus 1:29:53 and counting. >> television created a sense of national unity around cultural events. >> okay, neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> you could turn on a machine and be somewhere else. >> you're looking good. >> boy. >> television changed absolutely everything. >> beautiful view. isn't that something

going into 2000, it was a cultural shft f cultural shift for television. >> you start to see the bar get raised and raised and raised. >> it's an abstract. >> not abstract enough. >> there's so many opportunities in television. so many platforms. >> i don't think dramatic series television has ever been stronger. >> i hate you all. >> go! >> in the end, what we regret most are the chances we