Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In Quiz | Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What were the first names of "Laugh-In's" two hosts, ___ Rowan and ___ Martin?

Answer: Dan and Dick

Dan Rowan and Dick Martin had a club comedy act in the 1950s and 1960s with Dan as the straight man and Dick as the comic fool. Their appearance on Dean Martin's TV variety show in 1966 led to a "Laugh-In" special in the fall of 1967, which was picked up for a weekly series starting in January 1968.

The term "laugh-in" was derived from the 1960s counterculture term for a "happening," such as a "sit-in" peaceful protest, a "teach-in" current affairs forum, or a "love-in" rock concert.

2. Besides Rowan and Martin, two cast members were featured in all six seasons of "Laugh-In." Which multiple-roled comedienne and which voice actor stayed the course?

Answer: Ruth Buzzi and Gary Owens

Ruth Buzzi featured on the original 1967 TV special and played her Gladys the spinster, Busy Buzzi, and many more characters through to the final season in 1972-73. Gary Owens performed as a plummy, baritone, radio-style announcer throughout the series.

Tomlin played four "Laugh-In" seasons, but Pardo was the announcer on "Saturday Night Live," not "Laugh-In." Brennan and Strunk performed in the first and last seasons, respectively. McCall and Brill, the "Fun Couple," only played in Season 2, but have an interesting claim to fame, having appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the night the Beatles premiered.

3. What standard sketch typically began with a chorus line of "Laugh-In" cast ladies singing, "What's the news across the nation? We have got the information / In a way we hope will amuse you. We just love to give you our views! Ladies and gents, _____."

Answer: Laugh-In Looks at the News

An aspect of this sketch was "News of the Future," always played for laughs. It correctly predicted a few events, though, for instance in 1968 there was this: "Item: Washington, DC, 1988. President Ronald Reagan today denied once again that he is a candidate for the office of Governor of California." "News of the future: Now that marriages between homosexuals are legal, we have the story of the first gay divorce.

The reason the couple gave for the divorce: Irreconcilable similarities." Also, "Berlin, 20 years from now, 1989.

There was dancing in the streets today as East Germany finally tore down the Berlin Wall. The joy was short-lived, however, as the wall was quickly replaced with a moat full of alligators." Okay, the alligators have not yet been deployed.

4. A running gag line on "Laugh-In" was "Sock it to me!" This was frequently followed by what physical gag?

Answer: Pail of water thrown at the speaker (usually Judy Carne)

Judy Carne was frequently tricked into saying the trip phrase "sock it to me" through puns, as in,
Dan: "Read any good books lately Judy?"
Judy: "Well, right now I'm reading that old Greek saga The Odyssey."
Dan: "You mean Homer's epic?"
Judy: "It may be an epic to you but it's a saga to me."
Splash!

Other physical gag follow-ups included falling through a trap door, having hundreds of ping pong balls drop on her, and having her dress torn away (but not the slip beneath).

Nixon did come on "Laugh-In" as a presidential candidate once, saying, "Sock it to ME?"

5. What sketch writer got a start on "Laugh-In" and moved on to great success producing "Saturday Night Live?"

Answer: Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels, creator, writer, and producer of "Saturday Night Live," had one of his first jobs as a writer on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" for the first two seasons of the show. Lorne Greene, of "Bonanza" fame, had a cameo on the very first "Laugh-In." Larry David and Laraine Newman have been involved with "Saturday Night Live," but did not feature in "Laugh-In."

6. Where was "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" filmed and produced?

Answer: NBC Studios, Burbank, CA

"Beautiful downtown Burbank," of course, as Gary Owens announced during most episodes. Beginning in 2007, the NBC Studios in Burbank moved to a new campus nearby at Universal City, CA. The new facility has access to the Los Angeles Metro Rail line and is considered more environmentally friendly.

7. Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson had a running gag on "Laugh-In" where he was the dirty old man sitting beside her on the park bench muttering innuendos, and she was the hairnetted, orthopedic-shod spinster who whacked him with her purse. What were the character names of this cute couple?

Answer: Gladys Ormphby and Tyrone F. Horneigh

Of course, it was pronounced Hor-NIGH. Here's a sample seen recently on YouTube:
Tyrone Horneigh shuffles over to the park bench holding a flower and sits next to Gladys, muttering,
"Miss Ormphby, do you believe in love at first sight?" She hits him with the purse.
"Do you believe in two hearts beating as one?" She whacks him again.
As he slowly falls over, he says, "Do you believe in mouth to mouth resuscitation?" And Gladys storms away.

8. "Here come da judge. Here come da judge. Order in de court 'cause here come da judge!" Several regular and guest comedians got to vamp up that line through the "Laugh-In" years. Who of the following did NOT say those lines on the show?

Answer: Eddie Murphy

Pigmeat Markham originated the schtick in the 1930s and 1940s when he was a stand-up comedian at the Apollo Theater and traveling shows. When Sammy Davis and Flip Wilson started using it on "Laugh-In," he lobbied for the opportunity to play his own skit on national TV. Markham reprised the role for three episodes in season two, delivering his rhymes with percussion and a rap-like beat.

Eddie Murphy was born in 1961 and did not start stand-up comedy until 1979, six years after "Laugh-In" ended.

9. The Farkel Family running skit included dark-haired Rowan as Frank Farkel the dad, Joanne Worley (originally) as Fanny Farkel the mom. They had a series of red-haired, freckled Farkel children including Mark, Fritz, Frank IV, Flicker, twins Simon and Gar, twins Sparkle and Charcoal, and Flicker - for a whole lot of tongue-twisting fun. Who played the "trusted friend and neighbor," red-haired, freckle-faced Ferd Berfel?

Answer: Dick Martin

Gee, those kids looked an awful lot like neighbor Ferd. The twins were a puzzlement, however, as they were always played by actors of different races. Both regular cast and guest stars played Farkel family members. With all the tongue-twisting punny business going on, the sketch hit the funny bone on a lot of levels.

10. Choose what verbal gag ended each "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" show.

Answer: Rowan, "Say good night, Dick." Martin, "Good night, Dick!"

Rowan and Martin may have borrowed the closing from George Burns and Gracie Allen's radio show. Carol Burnette ended her variety show in the 1960s and 70s with a song and a "So long." "Hee Haw," which borrowed several sketch formats from "Laugh-In" and put them in an exaggerated country setting, ended with Cathy Baker saying, "THAT's all" after the credits rolled.

"Laugh-In" episodes didn't completely end with the Dan and Dick exchange, but with additional pop-out jokes from the Joke Wall and prolonged clapping by the show's producer, George Schlatter, after the credits faded to black.

Source: Author SonOfSaradoc

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In Trivia Quiz

This #1 TV comedy sketch series in the late 1960s featured a hilarious cast and frenetic pace and style that inspired future shows such as "Saturday Night Live" and "You Can't Do That On Television." What can you remember of its six funny seasons?

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