Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (often simply referred to as Laugh-In) is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. The title of the show was a play on the “love-ins” or “be-ins” of the 1960’s hippie culture, terms that were, in turn, derived from “sit-ins”, common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time. In 2002, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In was ranked #42 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. (More from Wikipedia)
Tiny Tim (real name: Herbert Khaury) was introduced to the world on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, an immensely popular comedic variety show in the 1960’s that (among other things) also introduced Goldie Hawn as a bikini-clad dancer decorated with painted graffiti. Tim was hardly tiny (he was both large and tall); and though he had long stringy hair, he really didn’t look like a hippie either.
As described in Wikipedia: “Co-host Dan Rowan announced that Laugh-In believed in showcasing new talent, and introduced Tiny Tim. The singer entered carrying a shopping bag, pulled his soprano ukulele from it, and sang a medley of ‘A Tisket A Tasket’ and ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’ as an apparently dumbfounded co-host Dick Martin watched.” One of the show’s running gags from then on was Martin asking Rowan in consternation whenever he was about to introduce something new: “You’re not gonna bring back Tiny Tim, are you?”
