# Turn On (1969 comedy series that totally flopped) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** talk-variety-show\ **Created:** [June 26, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377 "2024-06-26T22:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/1 "2024-06-26T22:30:26Z")
I had long heard of this competitor to “Laugh-In” that only lasted one episode (for the stations whose directors didn’t stage-hook it before it ended) and that TPTB would always ensure that none of the episodes would ever see the light of day. Several days ago, I found out that this pilot episode, and the others that were made, were posted on YouTube by the series’ creator, and took one for the team a few days ago and watched that pilot episode. On top of not really being all that funny, I could have pictured this, or something like it, being right at home on Night Flight (1980s on the USA Network), Liquid TV (1990s on MTV) or Adult Swim in the present day. That’s on top of wondering what drugs might have been involved in its creation process. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sDpum0Jp7Gw/maxresdefault.jpg "Turn-On | Episode 1 | Official George Schlatter Release") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDpum0Jp7Gw&t=2s/) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/2 "2024-06-26T23:12:12Z")
I’ve never seen it but Tim Conway was pretty upset about the whole thing, mostly in a joking way but also kind of genuinely. 1. He guest-hosted the only episode and because of that, people associated the show with him and thought he was on it. 2. He did it as a favor to the creator/producer and when it flopped, it was pretty embarrassing for everyone. The producer/creator won an award years later and Tim Conway reminded him, “Yoo hoo! Remember Turn-on? Yeah, I do!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/3 "2024-06-26T23:14:14Z")
Has anyone watched Jackie Gleason’s diaster You’re In the Picture? The apology, which was pretty bold and hilarious for the time, is famous. I’ve seen the unedited version of it a few times, where he references drinking, etc. Wonderful and the best way to handle it. Was the show really that dull? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/4 "2024-06-27T01:43:06Z")
I watched _Turn On_ when it was broadcast. I was a fan of _Laugh-In_ and wanted to see what George Schlatter was going to do next. I remember it wasn’t all that funny. I was too young to understand the sexual innuendo, but the jokes never seemed to land. It was fast-paced, like _Laugh-In_, but I think they were trying to do something that wasn’t just a clone and the result was that it wasn’t funny. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/5 "2024-06-27T02:15:09Z")
I made it 13 minutes. While I didn’t find it _as bad_ as the legend says, (I mean, just because I quit, I still wouldn’t have cancelled it halfway through, because someone may like it) it was bad. And Hamilton Camp? Speed kills, Del! Albert Brooks wrote for the show? I guess he got better. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/6 "2024-06-27T02:23:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Has anyone watched Jackie Gleason’s diaster You’re In the Picture? > > The apology, which was pretty bold and hilarious for the time, is famous. I’ve seen the unedited version of it a few times, where he references drinking, etc. Wonderful and the best way to handle it. > > Was the show really that dull? Check out the second link-it shows both the first show and the following apology: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=you're+in+the+picture](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=you%27re+in+the+picture) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/7 "2024-06-27T02:38:50Z")
I’ve never been a fan of shows that try too hard to be wacky or overly hip. Even as a kid, I found _Laugh-In_ to be cringe-worthy, and _Turn-On_ was even worse. And shows that lean too much into being hip and topical just don’t age well. They end up feeling like a relic from another era, and not in a charming, vintage way—more like a bad fashion trend you hope never comes back. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/8 "2024-06-27T02:49:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And Hamilton Camp? Speed kills, Del! I got that reference. Nicely done! I made it about 7 or 8 minutes. It was bad. It went too fast. The credits popping up here and there were distracting. The sign carriers who went across the bottom of the screen typically had nothing to do with the sketch being shown. And what was with the guy with the plastic hair? In short, it wasn’t anything that I’d want to watch, even as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/9 "2024-06-27T03:01:59Z")
I was a fan of _Laugh-In_ when it was on (I was a teenage boy, so the bikinis no doubt helped) and saw _Turn-On_ when it aired. I was not impressed. I think the success of _Laugh-In_ freaked the producers, so they threw anything hip on the air without understanding it. There was another show called [No Soap, Radio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Soap,_Radio_(TV_series)) which was not really a sketch show but even weirder. If it were on today it would be analyzed and explained on line. Back then you watched it, said “huh?” and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/10 "2024-06-27T03:16:48Z")
I somehow got through the whole thing, wondering if it would get better. It didn’t. I thought it was interesting as a snapshot of late ‘60s culture but very dated and not very funny. The gags became repetitive once you figured out their schtick. One gag that sticks in my head is a wife purportedly thanking a cop for bringing her drunk husband home, then it turns out the cop is actually the drunk husband. This _might_ be funny in a world where cops brought drunks home. Oh, and pretty much every sketch with a woman in it was misogynistic, almost casually so. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/11 "2024-06-27T03:51:51Z")
I remembered watching “Laugh-In” as a young tyke, and saw that one of the nostalgia cable stations was airing it. I made it a few minutes into an episode, and maybe that one was a dud, but I’m not the kind of person who thinks that falling down, or bonking oneself on the head with a mallet, is, in itself, funny. BTW, a 4th possible outlet for a show like this, in the modern day, would be TCM on weekend nights. They’ll show just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/12 "2024-06-27T10:18:23Z")
I get the Jackie Kennedy/Aristotle Onassis reference (their marriage was a big deal at the time), but who the hell is the old guy in glasses at 24:47? Dr Benjamin Spock? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/13 "2024-06-27T18:07:01Z")
I seem to recall watching a rerun. I thought it was pretty funny, but probably mostly because of the memes (and probably nostalgia). ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/14 "2024-06-27T18:10:03Z")
I also watched it, 'cause I enjoyed _Laugh-In_. I agree that it didn’t deserve to live. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/15 "2024-06-27T18:52:06Z")
It’s good enough for me to wish it was better. I managed around 10 minutes but the freneticness was a bit too much for me. Some of the mini-skits were perfectly cut at just the right place. I guess there were just _so many_ of them and they came _so fast_. Also they had absolutely nothing to do with each other. Maybe if they were 10-25% slower and they tried to link them together like Monty Python, with a better mix of comprehensibility versus randomness, it would have crossed the line from not-completely-horrible into somewhat-good. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/16 "2024-06-27T21:49:04Z")
My first thought was that it was Barry Goldwater, but the babies suggest Dr. Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/17 "2024-06-27T22:21:47Z")
This is one property where actually seeing it really did live down to its reputation. As many others have reported, the format itself is so abrasive as to be difficult to sit through. Amazing that this saw air in the era of three networks! Then there’s the uncomfortable sex humor and the bare bones sets. Really kind of an incredible thing to have existed. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/18 "2024-06-27T23:23:20Z")
Oh my LORD, that sucked! I made it 10:13. Yuck - not even a smile. Yowzer. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/19 "2024-06-28T07:04:16Z")
I watched the whole thing and it stunk on ice. That soundtrack music would’ve driven me bugshit if I had to listen to it for much longer. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377/20 "2024-06-30T15:22:38Z")
I suspect if any of us stumbled upon _Laugh-In_ for the first time in 2024 it would seem just as bad or worse than this. At least _Turn On_ is trying to push the socially acceptable boundaries of TV for the time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-on-1969-comedy-series-that-totally-flopped/1003377.md?page=2)