(mellow music) ♪ (narrator) From the moment television first illuminated our living rooms, they attracted viewers like bugs to the light.

(Ed Sullivan) Now how about saying goodnight to everybody out there?

Give them a big, you know, a big wave.

(puppet) I can't wave.

What's the matter with you?

(Ed Sullivan) Oh, that's right.

(laughter) People didn't even flush the toilet.

I mean, they stayed glued to the set when Sullivan was on.

Every performer wanted to be on the Ed Sullivan Show.

I mean, that was the place to be.

(vibrant music) (narrator) They became television's favorite stars.

(crowd cheering) ♪ Oh, sorry, Roy.

(Carol Burnett) ♪ There was Hannah pouring water on a drowning man ♪ It was just a great place to be on Monday.

We couldn't wait to get there, and we had so many adventures during the week.

(narrator) They set the standard for sketch comedy, song, and dance.

-Tony, get to the point.

-The point?

The point is simple!

To show you how much television has changed, that's the point.

It can make you cry, it can make you laugh, it can make you feel exuberant, it can make you think.

Uh, waiter?

(slams) (laughter) We did all different kinds of sketches, and we did all different kinds of musical numbers.

(narrator) They pushed the boundaries of satire and social commentary.

♪ CBS would like to give us notice ♪ ♪ And some of you don't like the things we say ♪ -♪ But we're still here ♪ -♪ He's still there... ♪ And I had no idea we were saying anything important until they said, "You gotta stop."

(narrator) They changed the timing of television and influenced the pace of modern life.

Very interesting.

They would say to me, "Slow it down."

I said, "No, people will understand it."

And they said, "But they'll miss the jokes."

I said, "Well, so what?

There's another one coming along in just a few moments."

(narrator) They created a new art form called the television variety show.

(gentle music) They are the Pioneers of Television.

♪ (bright jazz music) ♪ The person who left the biggest mark on television variety had absolutely no visible talent, but behind the scenes was another story entirely.

His name was Ed Sullivan, perhaps the most improbable star in television history.

...he came out here some years back with Fidel LaBarba, and there was a whole flux-- fans-- flux of eastern athletes to the coast, and I'd like you to meet him.

He was one of the strangest personalities that you could imagine in the history of the business, 'cause he had no business being on the air at all.

-You don't sing.

-No.

(Jack Benny) You can't dance, you don't tell jokes.

-You merely introduce acts.

-Uh-huh.

(laughter) (Jack) And you've been doing this for 19 years?

(Ed) That's right.

Mm-hmm.

(Jack) Well, Ed, if I may be so bold, and I don't like to ask this, but actually, how much do you make?

I mean, how much do you-- how much money do you get for this particular job?

(Ed) Jack, I'd say approximately $800 million-- $800,000, I mean.

(laughter) I raise it, but I'm gonna cut it down.

(Jack) He's reading it, and he got it wrong.

(laughter) (bright jazz music) (narrator) Sullivan knew he was awful on camera, but he wouldn't give up the limelight.

More than anything, he wanted fame, and to be famous, he needed to stay where the public could see him.

We would all kind of laugh about Ed because half the time he couldn't remember your name or he couldn't remember someone's last name or...

But I think the audience loved that, the fact that he was himself.

♪ (narrator) Despite his odd stage presence, Sullivan did have a unique talent for booking acts thanks to years of experience as a Broadway columnist.

His skillful mix of highbrow, lowbrow, and newsworthy remains unmatched.

(woman) ♪ And if you're with a gal, she better be your sister ♪ ♪ 'Cause if she ain't, you'll wish she was, all right ♪ (narrator) A typical hour might include a washboard band, a ventriloquist act... -I would love to hear this.

-You wanna talk to him?

(grand music) (narrator) ...and an excerpt from Shakespeare's King Lear.

The shows were masterpieces for the masses.

(King Lear) You do me wrong to take me out of the grave.

He had a peculiar... you might call it a genius because it was a radar kind of thing.

He knew what the audience would like to see and hear, and he brought it to them.

(mellow music) (narrator) Even the order of the acts was an art form under Sullivan.

On some nights, he would change the lineup during the broadcast to maximize the entertainment value.

He knew how to get those acts on.

He knew how to charm those people.

♪ (narrator) Behind the scenes, Sullivan was a master puppeteer, rewriting punchlines, adjusting costumes, editing sketches.

For the ladies, if your gown was cut just a little too low...

I did it many times where they added the lace, you know?

So as we'd walk out, he'd say, "Cut four minutes."

We can't cut four minutes, it's a sketch!

You know, so we'd hurry everything.

We never came off well on the Sullivan Show.

You know, it's easier if you take out six minutes at the top or six minutes at the back, but when you take out six minutes in the middle and they got it down to two or three minutes, yeah, that's tough, that's really tough.

And that happened a lot.

Terrified, and all I remember-- I followed trained camels, and all I remember was there was a blue spot on the stage, and this stage manager, when it came my turn after the camels were done, he said... And I go out on that stage, and I do the football monologue to no laughs.

None.

♪ (narrator) Sullivan was especially concerned about promoting good taste.

Even his favorite acts, like Stiller and Meara, were not immune to Ed's watchful eye.

Once, when the duo rehearsed a sketch about a maid who cleaned the astronauts' bathroom, Sullivan took decisive action.

And he said, "That's-- we're not gonna do that sketch tonight," he said, you know?

I says, "What's wrong, Mr.

Sullivan?"

He says, "Well, it's-- it's not up to your, uh, your standards."

I said, "What's wrong with it?"

He says, "It's all about..." And he used the word that had to do with excrements.

And I looked at him and I said to myself, "Well, gee whiz, if I back off, it's admitting that he's right and I'm wrong," but I did.

(narrator) Stiller didn't dare defy Sullivan.

In truth, everyone in the entertainment business was beholden to Ed.

Even the Rolling Stones changed their lyrics to please him.

And if Sullivan wanted performers to audition at 8 a.m. at his apartment, they did it.

Ed comes in, in a dressing robe, barefoot, slippers, with his dog, a black Poodle, and while I'm doing my, what I thought was very funny, the dog is nibbling on my toes!

I'm going nuts, I can't concentrate.

And of course, Ed, it's his first cup of coffee, he's coughing and groaning and... (dry heaving) It was a disaster.

Well, he probably liked my looks.

And remember, that was my old face.

(gentle music) (narrator) Whether Sullivan molded popular taste or reflected it is still open for debate.

♪ But he clearly had a gift, a sixth sense for entertainment that kept him on the air for nearly a quarter century.

♪ (bright music) ♪ Ed Sullivan's chief rival in the early years was the man who essentially invented television variety, Milton Berle.

Premiering just 12 days ahead of Sullivan in 1948, Berle took a completely different approach-- wild, energetic, and ready to jump into any act at any time.

So when Elvis came on his show, Berle grabbed a guitar.

(cheering, applause) (upbeat rock music) ♪ I was the master of ceremonies, I worked with all the acts, I did all the shticks, we did slapstick, visual comedy.

(upbeat music) (narrator) Berle had come of age in Vaudeville and perfected his act in nightclubs.

So the intense pressure of live television didn't faze him.

He could handle anything.

Please, will you, please?

-Excuse me, I lost my head.

-You got another one.

I'll tell you--look.

(laughter) Don't ad lib, kid.

I was schooled in it.

We did everything live in Vaudeville.

There was nothing on tape.

The audience sat in front of you.

They either laughed or applauded or hissed you off the stage or put a hook on you, and being used to audiences of that kind, I was not scared.

(bright jazz music) (narrator) Berle's over-the-top antics were perfect for the small screen.

At times, his audience reached a 95 share, a number unequaled even by modern-day Super Bowls.

His nickname, Mr. Television, was well deserved.

I remember watching Milton Berle on the outside of a hardware store in winter.

The guy who sold televisions left it on so people from the village could come down, and you'd stand out there and watch it.

♪ (narrator) For a time, Milton Berle was the most popular performer in the country.

Then, almost overnight, America grew tired of him.

Berle's rapid decline was striking, especially when contrasted with another old-school comedian who managed to stay in prime time for decades, Red Skelton.

(dreary brass music) As I walked in, there were a lot of people outside, and, uh, and someone yelled, "Red Skelton's in the crowd!"

And they all turned around and looked at me.

Gee, I was so embarrassed.

I was sorry I yelled.

(laughter) (upbeat jazz music) ♪ (narrator) Red Skelton understood the unique demands of television comedy, perhaps better than any of his contemporaries.

He realized the need for a large stable of characters to ensure his show stayed fresh, different, every week.

Ten million, twenty million, forty million, a hundred million people see you a night.

That act, you can't do it again.

So, no, no one prepared for it.

I did, I prepared for television.

(narrator) Skelton's collection of visual characters included Clem Kadiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, and Freddie the Freeloader.

Huge hits on radio, they were even funnier on television.

(Red) San Fernando Red, I loved him in political times, you know.

Time to vote.

He says, "This is gonna be a clean campaign.

I'm not gonna throw mud at my opponent because he's a fine man, and his wife is a mighty fine woman.

Mighty fine.

What he sees in that dame he's running around with, I'll never know."

You know, not gonna throw mud.

Well, here's lookin' at you.

I told those boys we needed lines here, but they said this would take care of it.

(narrator) Skelton was also among the first performers to understand another fundamental rule of television success.

If the audience likes you, they'll keep watching, even if the material is mediocre.

Now I ain't seen you for about six months, Deadeye.

What have ya been doin'?

(laughing) I'm pretty hokey, but even I ain't gonna tell that joke.

(bartender) Oh, come on, now, Deadeye.

I ain't seen you for six months.

What have ya been doin'?

Here it comes, folks.

-Ask me again.

-All right.

I ain't seen you for six months, Deadeye.

What have ya been doin'?

Six months.

(laughter) (narrator) Skelton's likeability was the key to more than 20 years of variety show success.

Built and backed by General Motors... (narrator) It was a lesson keenly understood by another variety host who would become the most popular man in America, an entertainer with little obvious talent.

You know, I had a joke last night I was gonna do, and I forgot to do it.

(narrator) Arthur Godfrey was a regular guy.

At least that's the image he nurtured for decades to build a massive audience on radio.

You could walk down a street in a Midwestern town that I lived in in summer when the doors were open and no one had air conditioning, and you wouldn't miss a word of the Arthur Godfrey Show just as you went from one house's radio to the next.

Staggering audience.

It's a lovely dress you have, and it matches my coat.

(narrator) Arthur Godfrey's laidback approach to radio seemed destined to fail when he moved to the small screen.

He didn't even take off his radio headphones at first.

But Godfrey's warm, folksy style struck a chord with TV audiences just as it had in radio.

And he arrives two minutes before the red light comes on and comes in and sits down and... (vocalizing) ...you know, they start his theme song, and he has made no preparation at all and he wings it.

We'll meet the first one who is named Sanford Bomstein, is that right?

Sanford Bomstein?

(applause) You cook it yourself.

It's homemade, and therefore it has... (narrator) As a commercial pitchman, Godfrey's influence was profound.

He refused to read the hard-sell copy of the era and instead ad-libbed commercials in his neighborly style.

Sure, I know, when you go in the grocery store, there are all those cans that are so easy to pick up, and you have to go way on down till you find the Lipton envelopes.

(narrator) He even poked fun at his sponsors, but that made him all the more believable.

I'll therefore take a taste.

Oh, look, look, see all the noodles in there?

Chicken, chicken.

(laughter) (narrator) Soon, he was the nation's most effective salesman, a skill that made Arthur Godfrey very rich.

Absolutely delicious, absolutely.

(laughter) (announcer) Arthur Godfrey and His Friends!

(applause) (narrator) By the early 1950s, Godfrey had two TV variety shows, both top ten hits.

Exposure on his show could make a career.

(Pat Boone) I went over and auditioned for the Arthur Godfrey Show, and just like American Idol today, you just sang a cappella.

So I sang something, I don't remember what it was, and they seemed to be favorably impressed.

They said, "Pretty nice.

Can you come back in about three weeks?"

I said, "No, I can't, I'm expecting a child and, no, I won't be back."

And I thought that was it.

They said, "No?

Okay, we'll put you on tonight."

And that went on that night and won.

(narrator) Godfrey's success seemed unstoppable until he made one of the biggest mistakes in television history.

(Arthur) Julius has a record out.

(narrator) As one of Arthur Godfrey's regular singers, Julius La Rosa had become a national sensation.

His fan mail outnumbered even Godfrey's.

When the two had a disagreement, Godfrey fired La Rosa... on the air.

And you could see by the look on La Rosa's face, it was a total surprise to him, and I think the facade broke and people got a glimpse of another Arthur Godfrey.

(solemn music) (narrator) Press coverage of the incident painted Godfrey as callous and egotistical.

♪ Almost overnight, public opinion turned against him.

Godfrey became the butt of jokes, the poster boy for phony celebrities.

His career never recovered.

♪ Even without the controversy, the era of the traditional variety MC was coming to a close.

A different type of host was gaining popularity: the singer.

(applause) Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you, Joel.

(narrator) Perhaps the most remarkable example was Perry Como, who took on two of the biggest superstars in TV history and won both times.

Our show tonight has sort of a Latin flavor.

(narrator) Singer Perry Como performed on television as far back as 1948.

His relaxed style and friendly personality made him difficult to dislike.

In 1955, NBC slated Como opposite superstar Jackie Gleason on CBS.

In one of the more amazing upsets in TV history, Como trounced Gleason's new show, The Honeymooners.

After one season, Gleason cancelled the series.

(bass riff) (all grunt) (applause, cheering) Six years later, Perry Como would again be scheduled against a formidable opponent, the Dick Van Dyke Show.

Como did so well, Van Dyke was nearly cancelled.

(applause) Perry Como wasn't alone.

There were dozens of singer hosts, including Frank Sinatra... Matter of fact, tonight was the first time I got a police escort.

Gave me two motorcycles and I had to run in between 'em.

Wow!

(narrator) ...Dinah Shore, and one of TV's longest-running variety hosts ever, Andy Williams.

♪ Silent night ♪ ♪ Holy night ♪ ♪ All is calm ♪ ♪ All is bright ♪ (narrator) On the surface, Andy Williams seemed like the most laidback person on television, but his relaxed look came only after practice, hours and hours to perfect every line, every move.

(Andy) My thing was to rehearse like crazy.

You know, five days a week, six days a week, but it wasn't-- we didn't just rehearse for, you know, a few hours and go up and sing a bunch of songs.

We really knew these things, and some of them were very complicated.

(cheery music) (narrator) Williams' work ethic ensured fifteen years of variety show success, but he was willing to skip rehearsals... whenever Jonathan Winters guested on the show.

Then, it was all ad lib.

(Andy) ♪ I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string ♪ (light piano music) (laughter) ♪ I'd say that I had spring fever ♪ ♪ But I know it isn't spring ♪ ♪ ♪ I'm starry-eyed and vaguely discontented ♪ ♪ Like a nightingale without a song to sing ♪♪ (whistling, squawks) With Jonathan, we got to the point where we never rehearsed with him.

I mean, there was an outline of what was gonna happen, but, uh, you know, we'd have a table of hats, and he would just go along and pick up a hat, and he'd become a different character with each hat.

(laughter) (Jonathan) Let's--let's play swords.

(laughter, applause) Well, Andy, it's, uh, awful nice to be on your show here.

I just, uh, drove one of the longer balls down the course.

Had a little (unintelligible) there.

♪ Moon river ♪ ♪ Flashing down the stream ♪ (Andy laughs) Well, I guess we won't print that one.

(laughing) The reason a lot of these guys-- Andy and Dean and Steve and Jack-- had chosen me was a very dangerous thing, but thank God.

They would say, if they were here today to say it, I would bet on this, "One thing about Winters, you never knew what he was gonna say or do."

Did you ever undress in front of a dog?

(laughter) I don't know, people, you know, it's funny, a bird--a bird somehow doesn't count, right?

(laughter) (chuckles) Or a cat.

But a dog, they really stare.

(laughter) (light piano music) (narrator) Jonathan Winters became Andy Williams' secret weapon, boosting ratings with every appearance.

Variety show host Pat Boone had a similar ace in the hole, Dick Van Dyke.

(Pat) ...as I said, admired Dick for quite a while because, to my way of thinking, he has a fresh new approach to comedy.

(Dick) Oh, well, thanks, Pat.

I think about all I really do, though, is just kind of avoid -slapstick.

-Oh, is that it?

(Dyke) Yeah, I think people today like more subtle humor.

They're tired of people throwing pies and making foolish mistakes of some kind.

(Pat) Oh, I see.

(Dick) You remember, for instance, Dorothy Parker or Oscar Wilde, people like that?

And George Bernard Shaw?

Pat, you'd be surprised how many people admire that kind of humor.

(laughter) Really.

People laugh just at the anticipation of that kind of humor.

Don't you--don't you think that people enjoy that sort of thing, Pat?

(Pat) Sure, sure.

(laughter) (Dyke) Well, that's the way I feel, and I rest my case on that.

Oh!

(laughter) (mellow music) (narrator) Variety hosts like Pat Boone were always looking for the best possible guest stars, many of whom were African American.

And when Boone booked Harry Belafonte, his sponsor said no.

I said, "What are you talking about?

He's the biggest entertainer in the world."

"Yeah, but he's, uh... you know, he's, uh... he's sort of politically active, and a lot of the folks down South..." And I said, "You're telling me I've got to go back to Harry Belafonte and say no thanks?"

"Yeah."

I said, "Well, then, I'm sorry, guys, it's not the Pat Boone Show, and you'll have to get someone else to take my place."

(jazz music) (narrator) It's a story that was repeated over and over.

The sponsors and ad agencies worried that white viewers in the South wouldn't watch African American artists.

♪ Maybe I dreams, but he seems sweet golden as a crown ♪ (narrator) Powerful variety hosts like Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen championed African American entertainers.

They got their way because they had clout.

(gentle music) But when it came to hosting a variety show, corporate America couldn't be persuaded.

(applause) (vocalizing) (conga music) (narrator) Nat King Cole did get his own variety show on NBC, but no sponsor could be found.

In an unusual move, NBC then paid all production costs itself to give Cole a positive start.

He did find an audience, but no sponsor had the courage to step forward, and the Nat King Cole Show was cancelled.

(Nat) ♪ Fine calypso woman ♪ ♪ She cook me shrimp and rice ♪ (spirited music) ♪ (narrator) Nearly all the earliest variety shows had followed a familiar form.

Tell a few jokes, add a dance number or two, sing a few songs... ♪ Broke my heart in two ♪ ♪ You held my dreams like worthless grains of sand ♪ (narrator) But in 1950, a new approach to variety took center stage unlike anything that had come before.

(laughter) -He's trying to say something.

-All right.

What is it, Louis?

(Sid Caesar) One last request, please.

A kiss.

-All right.

-Not from you!

(laughter) He's--he's in his toreador outfit and he's dying, and he's been gored, and it's only a matter of time.

So, Carl says, "Do you-- do you want anything before..." (Sid) And now I would like an American cheese sandwich.

(sobbing) -An American cheese sandwich.

-An American cheese sandwich.

All right, I'll get it.

(Sid) No, I had cheese for lunch.

-Make it roast beef, on rye.

-I'll cancel the American.

-I'll get roast beef.

-No, no, I'll have the American cheese, I didn't eat before... (laughter) (Imogene Coca) Make it two American cheese sandwiches, and don't put mustard on mine because I'm allergic to it.

-One without mustard, one-- -I'll have... (overlapping chatter) (laughter) (Sid) Wait a minute, wait a minute!

Wait.

Let's have an assortment of cold cuts, that's all.

And bring some sodas.

And finally, Sid dies, and they're still ordering.

(laughing) (spirited music) (narrator) It was called Your Show of Shows and it emphasized sketch comedy, 90 minutes every week.

The series starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, with sidekicks Howard Morris and Carl Reiner.

Writers included Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, and Mel Brooks.

Wow, it was just, uh... this guy did it all, you know?

He played those things with Imogene and Carl and Howie, and nobody could touch him.

It was just brilliant in everything he did.

(narrator) Caesar and Coca did up to ten sketches per episode, all live.

Incredibly, the duo didn't use cue cards.

Instead, they memorized everything, so when the show went on the air, they could fully inhabit the characters.

(Imogene) Sick of you and your swelled head.

I'm through.

You can take this back.

I'm gonna--I'm gonna-- I'm gonna--I'm-- I'm gonna give you one more chance.

(laughter) You see, every comedic situation, I don't care what it is, has to have some element of truth that you can believe.

If you don't believe it, you're not gonna go with it.

It changed television comedy forever.

Still the greatest one ever, as far as I'm concerned.

But that was live, and I just don't know how they did it.

It--that would drive me crazy, an hour and a half, and it was always perfect.

(Sid) See, there's a little nerve on the back of your neck here.

-Yes?

-If I touch that nerve, you'll be partially paralyzed on this side temporarily.

-Is that true, Doctor?

-Sure.

-See, right over here.

-Right there?

(laughter) What happened, Doctor?

-Doctor?

-Yeah, you see?

That's the way it is.

(laughter) (narrator) Your Show of Shows had a secret observer, a young woman who would sneak in each week to watch rehearsals from the shadows.

Her name was Carol Burnett.

(light music) ♪ Young Carol Burnett loved to perform, but she was desperately poor.

Her prospects seemed dim until the day, in 1954, when an anonymous benefactor handed her $1,000, and Carol Burnett was on her way.

By 1959, she was starring on Broadway in Once Upon a Mattress.

Soon, Burnett was a regular on Garry Moore's variety show.

Carol Burnett.

I think she is the funniest comic and the greatest physical comic.

She had a natural, great contralto voice, and the face and the body and the everything for comedy.

I mean, we all knew something was gonna happen with Carol.

And of course, she has this great singing voice.

She has a great voice, and she's a fabulous musician.

She even dances.

(Carol) ♪ She's a girl who loves to see men suffer ♪ (laughter) (narrator) In the mid 1960s, Carol guested on Lucille Ball's show.

Lucy was so impressed, she offered Carol her own sitcom.

(Carol) ♪ ...with a great big pan ♪ ♪ There was Hannah pouring water on a drowning man ♪ (narrator) Burnett turned down the sitcom offer because she wanted to do a variety show.

In 1967, she got her chance.

(Jim Nabors) I was always her first guest every year for her whole run.

She was, um, always said I was her lucky charm.

She hardly needed a lucky charm.

She was wonderful.

(cheerful music) (narrator) Carol surrounded herself with a talented ensemble.

Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, and a high school girl named Vicki Lawrence.

But everybody said that I looked like Carol Burnett.

So I wrote her a fan letter, told her I would love to meet her someday, and I enclosed my little article with a picture and mailed it off to her, and somehow it made its way to her husband, who was the executive producer of the show, and the head writer of the show called me and said, "Would you come down to CBS?"

And they wanted to talk to me about this little project they were putting together called the Carol Burnett Show, and would I be interested in auditioning?

♪ (narrator) The Carol Burnett Show was shot live, without stopping, to ensure a spontaneous feel.

Tim Conway saw this as a chance to crack up his castmates at every opportunity.

I knew what I was gonna say, but they didn't know what I was gonna say.

I would write a script, and I would put in my lines as one thing.

When we did the show, I did something totally different, which, kind of I imagine, threw them from time to time.

Not so much Carol, very tough to break her up, but Harvey, being a poor performer, was very easy to destroy.

(laughing) Tim would do terrible things.

He would come, we'd rehearse, and he'd always save something, either a piece of wardrobe or a line or a take that he wouldn't show you in rehearsal, and then he would throw it in when they were actually-- the cameras were rolling, and it would put Harvey away.

A lot of people thought those were staged break-ups.

They weren't.

Harvey just had such a weak spot for Tim's humor that it was a basket case.

He just couldn't straighten up.

(Tim) I saw these Siamese elephants.

(laughter) (laughter continues) They was adjoined at the end of their trunks like that.

And this trainer would make 'em stand up on their back feet like that, and they had their trunks stretched like that.

Then this little monkey would come out... (laughter) ...and walk out there and dance a merengue right out in the middle.

(laughter) I kinda felt sorry for 'em.

They couldn't go like the other elephants, when they go... (trumpeting) (laughter) All they could do is just blow and go... (mimics strange noise) (laughter, applause) (narrator) One key to Burnett's long success was her willingness to share the laughs with her co-stars.

We were all participants.

We were contributors.

She accepted every contribution of a line or a thought or a thing or a-- from everybody.

And I remember Harvey saying, "You have no idea, because most stars are very selfish.

They'll have things rewritten to where they get the joke lines, and they will not be supportive of you."

And I think one of the most important things that I learned from Carol is that you are as good as the people that surround you.

I was sitting with Lucy one night, and we were watching Carol do a sketch, and Lucy was one of the guests, and Lucy was watching her, and Lucy was very much an analyst, and she said, "The kid's the best there is."

And I just said--well, I said, "You did pretty good yourself."

She says, "No, I'm different, I'm different."

And, you know, she was talking about her comedy to me, but she did say that she thought Carol was the best sketch actress that had ever come down the pike, or ever would.

(narrator) The Carol Burnett Show wasn't the only landmark variety series to premiere in 1967.

(funky music) ♪ It was also the year the Smothers Brothers would debut.

-Mom liked you best!

-You lower your voice!

(Tom with deep voice) Mom liked you best.

♪ The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour would soon become the most controversial program on television.

♪ Tom and Dick Smothers were no strangers to TV.

They'd been appearing on shows like Jack Paar since 1961 with a popular fusion of folk music and jokes about sibling rivalry.

(Tom) They never let me play in any games.

-We did too.

-Never!

-We did too.

-You never let me play in any games.

(laughter) -Never?

-Never.

-Not even once?

-Never.

-Not even once?

-Not once.

-Once.

-Are you sure?

(Tom) You're right, maybe once.

(Dick) Yeah, and what did you play?

You played hide-and-go-seek, right?

-But I was It.

-Yeah, but to be It-- to be It in hide-and-go-seek is a position of honor -and trust.

-Yeah, that's right.

I looked for you guys for four months.

(laughter) There's no doubt who these personalities are on stage, and we don't have to fake 'em.

We just kind of exaggerate 'em a little bit.

(mellow music) (narrator) Expecting an innocuous variety hour, CBS gave the Smothers a slot opposite powerhouse Bonanza.

The network's hope was that the boys would capture some of the youth audience, but CBS got much more than it bargained for.

When we started that show, we had no point of view except we'd like to be relevant, and that was it, and have control.

(upbeat music) (narrator) Tommy Smothers played dumb in the act, but off stage, he oversaw everything.

While he wanted the show to be entertaining, he felt compelled to comment on the times.

(Tom) Well, it's just that you can tell who's running the country by how much clothes people wear.

-Who's running the country.

-Yeah, but you can tell by how much clothes the people wear-- (Dick) What do you mean, like some people can afford more clothes on and other people less clothes on?

(Tom) That's right, exactly.

See, some people, the ordinary people are the less-ons, see?

(Dick) Uh-huh, they're the less-ons.

Well, who's running the country?

(Tom) The more-ons.

Vietnam and Kent State and the Chicago riots and Democratic Convention and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, all this happened while we had a television show.

♪ (narrator) Soon, the brothers began ratcheting up the political commentary with the help of a staff that included Steve Martin, Mason Williams, Rob Reiner, and Pat Paulsen.

We now present another in our continuing series of editorials.

The subject: Are Our Draft Laws Unfair?

(applause) What are the arguments against the draft?

We hear it is unfair, immoral, discourages young men from studying, ruins their careers and their lives.

Picky, picky, picky.

(laughter) There was alternative choices in thinking, so that reflected in our show, and we just started going, and when they say, "Don't do it," you press, you push back and press.

(narrator) By the end of 1967, the brothers had knocked Bonanza out of its top spot, but their network wasn't happy and neither was President Johnson, a personal friend of CBS president Bill Paley.

In 1969, despite good ratings, the Smothers were summarily cancelled.

It was very-- it was very emotional to be fired when you knew you hadn't done anything wrong except exercise this freedom of expression.

(mellow music) (narrator) In retrospect, Tommy Smothers admits he loved the gamesmanship with CBS executives.

Tweaking the people in power and kinda walking the edge, I loved it.

I just questioned power.

When you see it's out of whack, I question it.

I enjoyed that.

I enjoyed sending all these memos back and forth to the vice president and the president and Program Practices, and kind of crafting the words.

It was a little fun, of course it was fun.

It was fun, even though it was getting serious, it was fun there.

(narrator) The Smothers Brothers had challenged the establishment and redefined what you could do and say on television, but in the end, their show was taken away.

It was a lesson that was not lost on the producer of variety's next big hit, a show called Laugh-In.

(upbeat music) Our club tastefully agrees that 18-year-olds should be allowed to vote... just as soon as they become 21.

(laughter) Tommy had a platform and, uh, we did not.

You were never aware of our agenda because we did jokes on both sides.

(narrator) Everything about Laugh-In was new and different, starting with the psychedelic look.

(vibrant music) ♪ Teenagers looked and said, "Whoa, there's something going on here, girls in bikinis with words printed on them, and what do the words say and where are they printed?"

It was really right for the time, and now, of course, all of television is those bites.

Bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite.

They don't give you time to look at anything or understand anything, it makes me very nervous, but Laugh-In used it to advantage.

♪ Hope this statement ain't too bold ♪ ♪ But here comes the judge, here comes the judge ♪ ♪ Here comes the judge ♪ (bright music) (narrator) What really set the show apart was timing.

Quick jokes and quicker edits.

The show did have conflicts with the censors, but often, the racy material was on and off before anyone caught it.

-Now wait!

-That's long enough!

See, when you saw the show, you would--you would be into the next joke before you really got the last joke.

And they would say to me, "Slow it down."

I said, "No, people will understand it."

And they said, "But they'll miss the jokes."

I said, "Well, so what?

There's another one coming along in just a few moments."

But the speed of it took a lot of the, uh, curse off of some of the things we were saying, you know.

It just went by so fast.

(Goldie Hawn) Mr. Benny, wait for your laugh now.

(Jack Benny) But there is no laugh.

(Goldie laughs) (Goldie) Now there you go.

Keep up the good work and keep it moving, keep it moving.

(upbeat music) (narrator) The comedy team of Rowan and Martin had been bouncing around for years before they were tapped to host.

The cast also started out as unknowns, but within weeks, they were stars, including Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn.

Arte Johnson had been selling clothes at Carroll's in Beverly Hills, and Gary Owens was an announcer, and they were all just working people, professionals, but not known at all, and we just assembled 'em.

(narrator) Laugh-In was TV's highest rated show in 1968 and '69, but in 1970, it would be surpassed by another groundbreaking variety show... (applause) ...when the door finally opened for people of color.

(applause) ♪ Flip Wilson grew up in a series of difficult foster homes, but it never dampened his infectious sense of humor.

You could not dislike Flip Wilson.

There was a warmth about him, and I don't care who you were.

The guy you see on television was basically Flip.

I mean, he just-- he loved comedy, he loved to make people laugh.

Won't you welcome, please, Miss Geraldine Jones!

(applause) (narrator) Wilson's characters still resonate, including his signature Geraldine.

(applause, laughter) (bright music) ♪ (whistling) (applause) (Geraldine) Watch what you kiss, honey.

(David Frost) Well, welcome to the show.

Won't you make yourself comfortable, Geraldine?

(Geraldine) I'll do that.

(narrator) Geraldine was an instant sensation.

(David) Would you care for a cigarette?

(Geraldine) I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't do windows.

(laughter) (narrator) It seemed everyone in America was reciting her catchphrases.

(Geraldine) What you see is what you get.

(laughter, applause) (upbeat music) (narrator) Wilson's characters were funny, but they weren't one-dimensional.

Each had a backstory and a moral center that made them real to audiences.

Yeah, he was brilliant the way he created characters and the characters had lives.

We knew about Geraldine's boyfriend and how jealous he was, and... those things brought that character to life.

(Geraldine) You must not have heard about Killer.

Killer?

Who's Killer?

(Geraldine) "Who's Killer?"

Honey, he marched down the football field of my heart.

(laughing) And tore down the goalposts of my love.

Woo, touchdown!

(laughter) (narrator) The Flip Wilson Show skyrocketed to number two in the ratings, prompting Time Magazine to crown Wilson as TV's first Black superstar.

It was almost like he was changing the mood of the country, ethnicity-wise.

He had such a, uh, spirit of lovingness to his work that--and the guests that he had on were always in the same world that he was in.

We were one people, one family.

(narrator) As the first African American to host a successful variety show, Flip Wilson's popularity opened doors for others, including this trio.

(Tony) ♪ A hundred yellow ribbons around the old oak tree ♪ Yes, indeed, you've been beautiful!

(bright music) (applause) (cheery music) (narrator) Tony Orlando, Telma Hopkins, and Joyce Vincent Wilson recorded a string of number one hits as Tony Orlando and Dawn.

♪ But their biggest break came when Sonny and Cher abandoned their top-rated variety show and CBS installed the trio in their place.

It was the first ethnic group to ever be on primetime television, so with all those components and dynamics working together, we were very lucky 'cause our time had come.

(applause) (narrator) From the start, Orlando took on the role of the bumbling setup man while Telma and Joyce delivered the punchlines.

(Tony) You kidding?

I've got his mannerisms down cold.

Elvis's famous sneer, the sneer that's driven women crazy for years.

You watch this sneer.

You watch what happens to ladies in this audience with this sneer.

(laughter) Huh?

Huh?

(Joyce) On Elvis, it's a sneer.

On you, it looks like the novocaine didn't wear off.

(laughter) (applause) (narrator) Orlando seemed perfect for television.

He was a quick study and naturally funny, but he soon learned the most basic truth about TV variety: It's a lot of work.

It was a very tiring, very, very hard experience to do, especially for one who never did a high school play... never went to an acting class, did not know zilch about comedy, and here I am, asked to do all these things.

So, I was in the learning process as well while I was on a national television show that 30 million people would tune in on every week and say we either like you or we don't.

(narrator) Orlando sought advice from the most beloved variety host of all time, who happened to work across the hall.

(Tony) I would meet Carol in the hallway, and I'm like dragging, and she's fresh as a daisy.

I go, "Carol, how do you do it?"

She said, "Tony, rely on the other people on the show.

That's why I have a Harvey Korman in there.

Rely on those other people, and you'll find that the less you do and the more you involve them, the healthier you'll be."

(tender music) (narrator) Despite the good advice, Orlando's show wrapped after just four seasons.

Tony, Telma, and Joyce hadn't lost a step, but the variety show format was reaching the end of the line.

A year later, Carol Burnett left the air.

A few new shows tried to buck the trend, but none had staying power.

You see, what happened, the invention of the remote control that changed the timing of the world, because people have no patience anymore.

None whatsoever.

Immediate gratification.

I don't know if that genre will ever come back because--well, I know a few people that could write and do it, but not too many.

(narrator) The traditional variety show may be gone, but we still have the memories of the stars that brought us together from the very beginning of the television age.

I just loved the whole atmosphere of the variety shows.

(Jack Benny) Which of us do you think is the older?

(Tom Smothers) You mean, which of you two are the older?

(George Burns) Yeah, yeah, which is the oldest?

(laughter) We had our--we had our day in the sun, and it was perfect.

We were...just barely sophisticated enough to pull it off.

(Sid Caesar) ♪ Raindrops are falling ♪ (sobbing) (back-up singers vocalizing) ♪ They make me cry ♪ ♪ If you don't want me, please tell me why ♪ (sobbing) The family sat around the television, and a lot of people tell me, that's the only time the family talked.

Why do you think people gravitate to that?

Because they want to hear some music, you know?

They want to hear and see a musical performer.

I was very, very lucky to have had that experience.

♪ We're after that same rainbow's end ♪ ♪ Waitin' 'round the bend ♪ ♪ My huckleberry friend ♪ ♪ Moon river ♪ ♪ And me ♪♪ (applause) (narrator) The Pioneers of Television.

(applause) (Red Skelton) Don't be silly, I'm the fastest man on the draw.

(gunshot) (laughter) Now even John Wayne can't do that.

(gunshot) (laughter) I figure any time a prop gets a bigger laugh than me, it's gotta go.

(laughter) (spirited jazz music) (bright music)