''Letters to Laugh-In'' is a daytime

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

and spin-off of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's nighttime comedy series, ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'', that aired on the network from September 29 to December 26, 1969.{{cite book , last1=Hyatt , first1=Wesley , title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television , date=1997 , publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications , isbn=978-0823083152 , url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/260/mode/2up, accessdate=22 March 2020, page=260 The show was hosted by

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American radio announcer, personality, disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

, the announcer for ''Laugh-In''.

Format

Home viewers mailed their jokes to the program, during which they were read by a panel of four celebrities – two of them ''Laugh-In'' regulars. Each joke was rated on a scale of minus-100 to plus-100 by a randomly selected audience panel. "Morgul, the friendly Drelb" (who Owens always referred to on ''Laugh-In'', but who was seen only two or three times) would hand Owens the categories for each round, in the form of a hand or puppet reaching through the top of the podium, usually with added sound effects The highest and lowest rated jokes each day won the viewers a prize. Trips were awarded for the highest-rated Joke-of-the-Week (such as a trip to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

), while the lowest-rated joke-of-the-week won a trip to "Beautiful downtown Burbank". A Grand Prize (a '69 convertible) was awarded for the highest rated joke of the entire 13-week run (see below) One particularly notable joke from the program asked the question, "What's the difference between a sigh, a car, and a jackass?" When the other person answered that he did not know, the questioner said, "A sigh is 'oh dear,' and a car is 'too dear.'" When pressed what's a jackass, the questioner responded, "You dear." The eventual Grand Prize winning entry was a joke read by actress Jill St. John: "What do you get when you cross an elephant with a jar of peanut butter? A 500-pound sandwich that sticks to the roof of your mouth!"

Broadcast history

''Letters to Laugh-In'' debuted on September 29, 1969 at 4:00 PM (3:00 Central). It replaced '' The Match Game'', which had been canceled after a seven-year run in that slot. Like ''Match Game'', ''Letters to Laugh-In'' faced the popular ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinspo ...

'' on ABC and reruns of '' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. ''Letters to Laugh-In'' was soundly beaten in the ratings. As such, unlike the nighttime ''Laugh-In'' (which enjoyed a five-year run on NBC), ''Letters to Laugh-In'' lasted only three months before being canceled on December 26. Its replacement was '' Lohman & Barkley's Name Droppers'', an equally short-lived game that was replaced on March 30, 1970, by the soap opera ''

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''.

Episode status

One episode of ''Letters to Laugh-In'' was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in July 2012. The episode featured a celebrity panel of

Jo Anne Worley Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...

Dan Rowan Daniel Hale Rowan (July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He was featured in the television show ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', wherein he played straight man to Dick Martin and won the 1969 Emmy for Outstandi ...

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

and

Jack E. Leonard Jack E. Leonard (born Leonard Lebitsky; April 24, 1910 – May 10, 1973) was an American comedian and actor who made frequent appearances on television variety and game shows. Biography Leonard was born Leonard Lebitsky on April 24, 1910, in ...

References

External links

''Letters to Laugh-In'' on IMDb
1960s American comedy television series 1969 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American comedy game shows American panel games English-language television shows NBC original programming American television spin-offs