Now I want to know about the Milton Berle show and especially the Kris Kristofferson one 
Now I want to know about the Milton Berle show and especially the Kris Kristofferson one
Heh, fingers are worn out from typing the Lasser excerpt. I don’t remember the KK story, (maybe if a KK thread ever pops up I might read up and add it in) but Berle was mainly old-school and really egotistical about it.
He conducted himself like he was dealing with rubes, being really arrogant and condescending, while at the same time thinking that making silly faces at the script meetings was top-notch comedy. He was a control freak, and the cast didn’t like working with him. One sketch had him speaking a rambling monologue with a piano player, reflecting on life etc. He had a few plants in the audience give him a standing ovation when it was over so as to influence the rest of the audience into joining in on the applause. The entire show was mainly a product of Berle’s self-indulgence, so that’s why Lorne Michaels is content to let it rot in limbo.