It was Producer George Schlatter's wife Jolene Brand who, after listening to Aretha Franklin's "Respect", thought that "Sock It To Me" would be a good bit for the show.
George Schlatter did not produce the final season, but he won the rights to those episodes in a subsequent court battle. For many years, he neither allowed those episodes to be re-aired, nor any clips to be included in retrospectives. On March 13, 2017, Decades TV was allowed to begin airing the final season.
One of the show's unusual features was the use of outtakes. If a sketch was flubbed due to a blown line (especially if the cast laughed), it would be included in the show before the perfected take was shown.
The turnover rate of the cast was high, so much so that only four regulars remained on the show throughout its entire run: the two titular hosts, Gary Owens and Ruth Buzzi.
Several reports from Dan Rowan's "News of the Future" segments came to fruition years later. Notable among them was Ronald Reagan's presidency (He was the governor of California during the original airing of the show) and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
