This one:
Besides the Museum of TV & Radio? Is it online anywhere? I have heard so much about it I would love to see it. My search of youtube results in many turn-on’s but after several pages I gave up the search. But you tube does have the almsot equally weird and obscure 1960’s JIm Henson vehicle, “The Cube” which is interesting.
Interesting question, but remember, Turn-On predated home video, so you’d need to find a copy from a station’s own archives. I’m guessing those who had tapes probably saw no need to keep them and sent it all through the bulk eraser.
I saw the original broadcast. I recall bits, but primarily sitting around wondering when it was going to start being funny.
Turn-on was (according to IMDB’s Trivia):[ul][li]Cancelled ten minutes into the first show, 5 February 1969, and became the shortest running US TV series ever.[/li][li]Quickly lost its sponsor, Bristol-Meyers.[]During or after the first (and only) episode, 75 ABC affiliates refused to air any more episodes ever.[]Rejected by CBS after executives claimed it left test audiences physically “disturbed”. Also flat-out rejected by NBC.[/ul][/li]Now that’s one show I’d like to see! Hamilton Camp, Tim Conway, Teresa Graves. I understand it had a birth-control vending machine and a computer for the host. Probably 40 years ahead of its time.
No, it wasn’t. It was spectacularly unfunny. Here are some of the joke:
Beautiful young woman in front of a firing squad: “Do I get a last request.”
Head of firing squad: “In this case, the firing squad has a last request.”
The word “sex” was flashed across the screen many times, the letters changing colors each time, and with variations like “Sex!” “Sex?” etc.
One-line gags were shown on the screen. Some of them were: “God Save the Queens.” “Free Oscar Wilde” “Make Love Not Wine.” “The Amsterdam Levee is a Dike.”
The credits didn’t appear at the beginning or end, but popped up randomly during the show.
The show was cut at a frenetic pace. It would probably be a bit more acceptable today, but the quick cuts gave pretty much a random, disorienting effect.
As I said, my main impression as I watched its premiere was “When is this going to start being funny?” I was a big fan of Laugh-In at the time and was thinking it might be worth watching. It wasn’t.
Yeah, I know I started a thread about this, but I’m gonna bump this zombie anyway. It’s actually on YouTube.