Laugh-In Dropouts

Moving right along now into its third big season is NBC's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Simultaneously, the show is coming apart. Although its ratings are still tops in television, its very success is beginning to exert pressure that will change the show markedly by the second half of the 1969-70 season, and radically by 1970-71. The fact is, some of the most familiar Laugh-In regulars are dropping out.

Way Out. Perhaps most missed will be Goldie Hawn, that dizzy cream puff who is constantly blowing her lines. Because of her Laugh-In exposure, she landed a feature role in her first movie, Cactus Flower, in which she appears with Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau. Next come two more movies and two television specials that, swears Goldie, will be the last. She seems to mean it when she says, "A movie is serious business--it's more important than a television show."

Also on the way out is Arte Johnson, the show's man of miens since the first season. So far this year, Johnson has taped guest appearances on specials with Frank Sinatra Jr., Flip Wilson and Jimmy Durante. Coming up are four more guest shots, and an Arte Johnson special is on tape and ready to be run. NBC is also deep in discussion of an "Arte Johnson Show" for next season, which would not only pull Arte from the Laugh-In ranks but make him a guest star on any return visits.

Judy Carne has moved out fast. Her Laugh-In contract expires in February, and she has already been to New York as star of an in-the-round version of Cabaret. She plans to do Dames at Sea in Florida in January and February. What did she do on her summer vacation? She made a movie, guest-starred some shows on the Kraft Summer Music Hall series, and began reading four other movie scripts. As for Joanne Worley, that full-breasted bird is doing commercials and guest spots, and is part of an upcoming Robert Goulet special. Says she whimsically, "They're even discussing a series for me--a kind of reverse Julia with a black son."

Besides these definite dropouts, other Laugh-In regulars are being subjected to temptation. Henry Gibson, the poet and mild-mannered minister, has a new record out, a book of poetry due out in January and three offers to star in situation comedies. Alan Sues, who presides as Uncle Al ("the kiddies' pal") and the sports announcer who minces his words, has a book forthcoming and has written a movie ("A silent movie --it's great"). Ruth Buzzi, the hair-nettled nemesis of Arte Johnson's Dirty Old Man, went to Europe to tape a guest appearance on the John Davidson Show, ended up doing six, with Davidson trying to sign her on as a regular. Last month she did a pilot for NBC; next month she will do a special starring Comic Dom Deluise. Even Gary Owens, the Laugh-In announcer, has written a screenplay, has a book coming out, and hosts the daytime spin-off show, Letters to Laugh-In.

Fickle Sandwiches. What is the incentive to leave? The three who are definitely getting out are frank about it: their three-year contracts will soon be up, and they think their pay is lousy ($750 to $1,500 per week). As Judy Carne puts it, "They're very mean at Laugh-In with their money. You can't go into a toy store that doesn't have Laugh-In dolls--even Laugh-In bubble gum. Somebody is cleaning up on us. Now they have Laugh-In restaurants, Fickle-Finger-of-Fate sandwiches." The dropouts are no slouches in the cleaning-up department, of course. They draw anywhere from $3,000 to $7,500 for guest appearances, which, coupled with hefty incomes from television commercials, put some of their salaries into the six-figure bracket.

So far, the show itself does not show signs of all the strain. The humor is not only more risque than in years past, it also has raised the Smothers brothers' fallen torch by tackling such heavies as the U.S. military establishment, the ultraright wing, Viet Nam, marriage, homosexuality and organized religion. But what is to become of Laugh-In once the old gang is gone? Newcomers are already being broken in, including a dumb redhead named Pamela Rodgers and an energetic Negro named Teresa Graves. And there's always Rowan and Martin (remember them?). But the magic of their show has always been fragile at best. The old legerdemain may not be as compelling when it falls into new hands.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.