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> Henry Gibson, 32, from Philadelphia, broke into TV in the early 1960s by masquerading on talk shows as a shy, effete poet from Alabama. His portrayal was so convincing that a Birmingham newspaper ran glowing stories about him. On Laugh-In, the short, wispy-voiced comic still recites his nonsense poems, but more often is seen as the stuffy parson: "I'm all for change, but a loose-leaf Bible is going too far."
> Jo Anne Worley, 30, a farmer's daughter from Lowell, Ind., is a former cover girl—on the back of Mad magazine. She served as a standby for Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly! in 1964, became a favorite on the talk-show circuit with her mugging antics and raucous, snorting laugh. A tall, buxom brunette, she will cry, "When you're down and out, lift up your head and shout: I'm down and out!' "
Off camera, Laugh-In is an extension of the purposeful chaos seen on screen. On any single day, ten or more shows are churning towards completion. The process begins with a "concept meeting," attended by Rowan and Martin, Schlatter, some of the show's 14 writers and key production personnel. The group may decide to do a satire on the machine age (aired last week) or the fourth estate (the concept this week). The writers are then led back to their cages. Later, the various elements—a silly dance, a special skit, cameo spots—are entered into the growing script. By this time, those elements are so confusing that Head Writer Keyes keeps track of them on 3-by-4-ft. cards, divided into several columns. As the writing team assigned to the specific show begins to deliver its drafts, the bits and pieces are switched around on the chart until a basic sequence is determined.
The group keeps meeting at regular intervals. Usually, it takes some time before they get down to work:
Schlatter (referring to notes): "We've got a thing that worked the other night, and I think we ought to run with it. That line from the alligator wrestling bit, 'Blow in his ear and he'll follow you anywhere.' It went through the studio like wildfire Let's keep it going. (He turns page.) The scripts are getting funnier and tighter all the time . . ."
First Writer (with mock modesty):
"Now that's not our fault, George. You can't blame that on us."
Schlatter (continuing): "We've got plenty of subject matter in every day's newspapers. We've done body freezing; that's old stuff. I think we ought to take another look at transplants."
Fourth Writer: "D'ja read in the papers where they took parts from one woman and transplanted them into four different people?"
Fifth Writer: "Yeah, poor girl should pull herself together."
Third Writer: "Hey, you could have a convention of people who got parts of her." (Delivery boy enters with beer and sandwiches. Schlatter pays the bill, pauses to compute tip.)
Sixth Writer: "Want change for a dime, George?"
Second Writer: "Don't be silly. His tip was, 'Be sure to look both ways before crossing.' "
Schlatter (continuing): "We can expect to see a resurgence of criticism on ethnic jokes"
Eighth Writer: "Yeah, let's lay off the Polish jokes a little. And listen,