Say Good Night, Dick

I’ve been meaning to mention the passing of comedian and director Dick Martin, who died over the weekend. Most of you probably know him from the culturally significant “Laugh-In” show that he hosted with his comedy team partner Dan Rowan back in the late 60s. “Laugh-In” was a big influence on me, a trend-setting milestone in TV- it departed from the usual variety-comedy shows- with fast edits, jokes coming at you a mile a minute, and a hipper sensibility than most shows of that era. It made political statements, doing jokes other shows wouldn’t touch, and yet throwing in some old fashioned vaudeville –type stuff as well.
Dick Martin was teamed with straight man Dan Rowan, I’m pretty sure, from the late 50s on- he and Dan did night clubs, movies (try to find “Once Upon a Horse”- a western take-off) before hitting it big with “Laugh-In.” Dick worked as an actor by himself as well- he played a boyfriend to Lucille Ball for a while on “the Lucy Show”-before he and Dan had their program on directly opposite hers on Monday nights! That’s why Dick would often conclude the show saying goodnight to Lucy (plus, his and Dan’s usual shtick of where Dan would tell him “Say good night, Dick” to which he’d respond “Good Night, Dick!”)He and Dick also made a wacky movie during their “Laugh-In” fame- “the Maltese Bippy!” That played off Dick’s catch phrase- “You bet your sweet bippy!” (Yeah, I know- can you believe that was a popular phrase back then?!)
Even while they were doing the show, Dick would show people, on his home video unit (this was reels of tape, before vcrs) how the show had increased in tempo since it first came on, and some of the technical stuff they did- which was probably part of what lead him to becoming a director, for shows like “Newhart.” He also enjoyed doing guest gigs on game shows.
Dick was very proud of the “Laugh-In” show- he was quoted in one place as saying “Other shows might pay (popular singer) Robert Goulet a thousand dollars to come on and sing three songs- we pay him 250 bucks, and drop him down a trap door!” Celebrities loved coming on the trendy show, playing goofy parts, and even just saying a couple words, in close-up, that were edited on to the ends of bits.
Dan Rowan passed away in the mid-80s, and now his partner is joining him at the big cocktail party in the sky, where, just like on their old TV show, no doubt, the music will stop for a moment- Dan will give Dick a set-up line, and Dick will deliver the punch line. Thanks for the laughs- and –once more- say good night, Dick.