The Best of Laugh-In

Before Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, or The Colbert Report, there was Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, one of the most groundbreaking and iconic series of of all time. From 1968 until 1973, Laugh-In frequently was seen by fifty-million viewers, capturing the zeitgeist of the era with its anarchic energy and pop aesthetic. Combining the blackout comedy of the vaudeville tradition with a 1960s-style “happening,” psychedelic costumes, graphics, graffiti, outrageous characters, and a new political awareness, “Laugh-In” remains a genre-defining series of its era. 

Now, in advance of its PBS premiere, the Paley Center presents a special sneak preview of The Best Of Laugh-In, a delightful new tribute to the comedy-variety program, which not only transformed television, but became an important training ground for an entire generation of young writers and comic talent. Following the screening, join series cocreator and executive producer, entertainment icon George Schlatter, and members of the series' gifted ensemble of performers for a no-holds-barred conversation.