Fernwood Tonight - "Lattimore Diet Program" - WFLD-TV (Complete Broadcast, 9/21/1977) 📺

[@halwarner3326]

One of the best shows ever. Way ahead of its time

[@francescaa8331]

Way

[@walterhoenig6569]

So far ahead of its time we still are not there yet.

[@garykobley289]

Fred was 43 here and he lived another 43 years, R.I.P. Fred Willard.

[@Fordham1969]

Just curious though, Fred has mentioned his own birth year in interviews as being 1939, yet many sources continue to list it as 1933. Can anyone out there explain the discrepancy? What's the evidence that he was born in 33?

[@525Lines]

@@Fordham1969 He probably was just lying about his age.

[@makucevich]

Funny how The Honeymooners seemed like a program from a long time ago back then when it was 20 years old and now Fernwood 2 Night is over 40.

[@truthalways8071]

phenomenal that you left the commercials in at first I was thinking I hope he fast-forward through the commercials but The Honeymooners commercials put a smile on my face thumbs up

[@buddy-yn9bd]

Oh my Goodness, Shelly Long before cheers!

[@blue04mx53]

yeah, that was a surprise. 5 years before Season 1 of Cheers I think !

[@marclandes9779]

I thought so. Good spot

[@tahoepoet]

at 7:44

[@gregb8565]

Yeah I noticed and wasn’t sure - funny how Fred Willard and Shelley both ended up on modern family years later

[@gregb8565]

And Connie smith ‘ Mrs Marty Stuart’ to boot

[@2574mcu]

I remember some of the commercials like the Wendy's and the Country Christmas albums. It's nice how you kept the vintage commercials in. I really enjoyed this video. Thank you for the great memories.

[@kevinohare9216]

There's another video that had a Tab (soda) commercial. I'd long forgotten how catchy that jingle was.

[@bobnodzo2818]

This show was so great the chemistry between Barth, Jerry, and Happy was incredibly funny.

[@DukeOfData]

Mull and Willard are a great combination - understated comedy at its finest!

[@TexasWildheartsFan]

R.I.P. Jerry Hubbard

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

The commercials are a great touch.

[@lorenmorgan1931]

Wow whatever rhw source material was, it was captured and preserved well. This has to be the best quality episode I have seen of this yet. 😊

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Betamax. Accept no substitute. 😎

[@lorenmorgan1931]

@@FuzzyMemoriesTV Yea I coulnt sleep and watched a lot more of your stuff. This is an amazing archive! I will be sure to donate in a few today!

[@jeffberger6162]

I love a tv food tray table for his desk!

[@kentclark6420]

I used to get a real kick out of this show, and Mary Hartman. There were times watching this show when I kept laughing uncontrollably.

[@charleswinokoor6023]

The whole thing, in retrospect - format, set, tone - reminds me of the first couple years of Letterman show in early 80s.

[@JeffTrexler]

The influence was particularly clear in Letterman's daytime summer show on NBC before he moved to late night. On that show he had scripted character guests, a la Fernwood and American 2-Night.

[@andybroberg7084]

What a great show. Very groundbreaking for the time it seems like

[@matthewgray469]

When I first saw it it was like seeing Monty Python for the first time I thought here's a great ,new form of comedy. I knew Martin Mull from his records and I knew he was funny.

[@francescaa8331]

@@matthewgray469 that's how I felt. It was very hip, and on the edge for it's time. And like Monty Python very big with the herbal crowd.

[@SuzPratt11]

Weird Enough......I always loved Fernwood Tonight, TY 4 sharing 😄📺

[@rf8479]

Actually this is better than Fallon, Kimmel, and Colbert all put together.

[@georgemoore8832]

you got that right.

[@teresa67factoid95]

The current late night Trump bashing morons are unwatchable.

[@francescaa8331]

This really is better than most late night shows.

[@blue04mx53]

Lillian Lattimore was in Blazing Saddles. Picture her in a blue bonnet.

[@donmoore7785]

The actor who played Happy Kyne is actually quite famous for other work associated with movies and tv - Frank DeVol. Shelly Long doing local tv commercials very shortly before she was discovered.

[@6828Lu]

DeVol scored dozens of films and TV shows; he was more famous as a composer and arranger than he was an actor.

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

Zero👎! A true testament to the brilliantiness of this magical N. L. production...long live the timeless and ageless King Norm! he is the man

[@2574mcu]

I remember when I was a kid watching this and Mary Hartman. If I remember correctly this was on after Mary Hartman.

[@donmoore7785]

I believe your memory is correct. I believe quite late - like perhaps 12 midnight for the first, and 12:30 for the latter.

[@lloydweber2451]

I remember it as a summer replacement for Mary Hartman.

[@JakeMabe1]

It was a summer replacement series for "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman."

[@chrishaines1677]

The Honeymooners was on after Mary Hartman in Fla.

[@davidhitchen5369]

Shelley Long stars in the Homemaker commercial.

[@jimfitts1]

David Hitchen m

[@benvye4279]

@@CoopyKat Supposedly it was. I remember in an interview with her while Cheers was on she mentioned she worked in Chicago.

[@VIRGONOMICS]

The Best Days Ever !

[@Longshot_NYC]

I met Norman Lear at a Broadway show and thanked him for all the great shows, that was just a few years ago. Few people recognized him. He appreciated the recognition.

[@subanakatz4943]

I did not realize this was a Norman Lear production until I started watching this show on youtube. I remember when this show was on TV, it was one of my favorites.

[@xnonsuchx]

R.I.P., Fred Willard :-(

[@jamesflynn4741]

Channel 32! An old Naperville expat here. I miss ye WFLD, WGN, and even channel 11

[@tapeduk]

I always liked Martin Mull's hair...... his hair from the 70's

[@jocelynhansen37]

And his little 'stash. I thought he was pretty cute.

[@42awww]

I definitely detect a show that had some influence on the one and only SCTV. (Which Fred Willard did one of the funniest episodes)

[@jamesjahoda1613]

The camera work was spot on.

[@newstarcadefan]

I remember they used to show this on Nick at Nite in the very early 90s, along with America 2 Night it's spinoff.

[@wmbrown6]

From what I remember growing up in New York where I remain to this day, WFLD's future sister station, WNEW Channel 5, had aired "Fernwood 2 Night" first-run, at 11 P.M. EDT. The only question is what day this episode would have been shown in my neck o' the woods. In the days before satellite transmission, there was a discrepancy of when syndicated episodes aired "first" in a given market. (Since it debuted there July 4th, I'd presume the same date for this episode as here - except when you consider the big blackout of July 13-14.)

[@ericjonmagnuson2728]

For a show like Fernwood, though, I wouldn't be surprised if it ran more consistently among the various markets. After all, it was specifically a summer replacement for Mary Hartman--which, since it was serialized, had to be run in order. In the case of Fernwood, any locally preempted episodes might've been burned off on a weekend or simply not shown.

[@MR_MRM_]

That's where I discovered it. Great stuff. Normal Lear, if I recall. Wasn't "America 2 Night" when the show "went national" in the series plotline -- just like "Donahue" went from Ohio to Chicago when it got picked up in the early 70s?

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

+Michael McConnell Norman is anything but Normal...thank Maude!

[@kevinpogue7294]

@@MR_MRM_ They changed things because many hollywood celebrities wanted to be on the show. But the makers knew that a local Fernwood show wouldn't really get celebs, so they changed the premise, by saying that they moved and went national.

[@larryloveshisshinolarug8286]

Shelley Long in local commercial pre-cheers. 7:40

[@daveyvane]

The first commercial is Diane from Cheers!

[@katherenewedic8076]

Fred's hair and sideburns are rock'n

[@troylowe814]

We had a local tv show very much like fernwood tonight, the Bob Braun show filmed in Ohio, when I first watched fernwood I assumed it was a legit local talk show like the Bob Braun show. The parody of regional talk shows was dead on, doing for talk shows what this is spinal tap did for rockumentaries. So close to the real thing it could easily fool you.

[@chriscaspers2373]

I think we had the Christmas 8-track tapes back in the day. I recognize some of those versions.

[@danjohnson2104]

I got a kick out of that misnamed “Rock Revival” album commercial - the one that contained 25 of the latest SOUL hits. 😂🤣🤣

[@ddburrows988]

Dom DeLuise’s wife, Carol, from “The Last Resort” is very funny.

[@ggaudin100]

RIP Fred, thanks for all the great memories

[@LTJR.]

20:19 when ''weight loss guest '' Lillian Lattimore is introduced the band plays 'Candy' ...those Mirth makers, tch tch! This is first I'm learning of Fred Willard, Aaahhh man, sad news.

[@truthalways8071]

And God only knows how five people could have given you a thumbs down for this what were they expecting

[@brianbecker759]

Is that Shelly Long in the furniture commercial?

[@OofusTwillip]

07:43 - Shelley Long in the Homemakers commercial.

[@MisterUptempo]

If the spot was recorded in '77, the year this show aired, then Long would have just finished her stint on WMAQ-TV's "Sorting It Out", which ended in 1976. It was also about this time that she decided to leave broadcasting, in order to join Second City. The experience and exposure she received at Second City likely played a large role in later success in "Cheers".

[@bobnodzo2818]

Now we know where we got : hands across America 😎

[@PetProjects2011]

Pre-Whose line Archie Hahn

[@MATTFROMMI]

0:31 That was a way early cut-off...we didn't even get to see whatever logo would've been seen on The People's Choice at the time.

[@sexymama1966]

i had to look up on another episode: McCadden Productions, the one that was used at the end of George and Gracie Show's closing credits.

[@claudecat]

One of the great forgotten veins of comedy, an offshoot of the delightfully weird, sometimes hilarious Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. These writers and performers were doing things decades before Letterman, etc. turned it into something advertisers liked better. The link between the Smothers Brothers 60's and the late night shows we know today, albeit with much lesser hosts nowadays.

[@joehudson6391]

Was that Shelley Longcock I saw in that commercial????

[@MrTruckerf]

Shelly Long........no 'cock'.

[@DougGrinbergs]

20:11 diet lady 22:51 fat quiz 27:43 PSA: California water relief drive

[@deanrane1961]

Those Rock Revival songs weren't that old in '77. Some maybe 10 yrs at the most.

[@markjeffries3684]

Looks like the recorder stopped the tape right at the beginning of "The Honeymooners," not recording the titles, then starting it right before the beginning of the episode.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

I don't think so. This was a timer recording all the way. Only question is what happened on WFLD's end?

[@markjeffries3684]

In that case, I'm guessing that the titles were on a video tape cartridge and master control forgot they were on and went ahead and rolled the film. WFLD did a lot of putting edited titles and credit sequences on the tape carts in the late 70s and early 80s, usually editing out the supporting cast. I'm sure if asked for a reason, they would claim that they weren't editing the actual program--or editing less of the actual program.

[@smokencoffee7680]

Homemakers Furniture... "Because you want to go where everyone knows your name."

[@misstee101]

Hahahaha

[@Incevay]

Shelly Long doing that commercial

[@DavidEFarner]

@7:43 a very young Shelly Long doing commercials in Ft. Wayne, Indiana before she want to Hollywood.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

Ft. Wayne?

[@kengeorgejones6855]

Between the announcer deciding to just SHOUT his lines randomly in the last album ad and Connie Smith hilariously transitioning to lip sync at the end of her album ad I'm sorry all over again that today's audiences don't get to see these ridiculous treasures.

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

treasures is right

[@monoped8437]

the dryness, is saharian! i like that i saw elvin and grace....

[@duenge]

This must be before Garth joined the Reno Sheriff's Department...

[@jaldav]

Was there a sequel called "Forever Fernwood"?

[@eblackadder3]

"Forever Fernwood" was a sequel to "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". "America 2 Night" was the sequel to "Fernwood 2 Night".

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

+eblackadder3 I'm Fernever contused...Fernwood Forever wasn't like A*F*T*E*R M*A*S*H was it?

[@kevinsweeney1381]

Were they making this up as they filmed ?

[@kevinsweeney1381]

@Roy G Biv Wish i was that funny

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

is this the guy who played Chuck Campbell on SOAP or is he Robert Morse Jr.? I surreally knead too no

[@dannywilde6988]

It's Archie Hahn.

[@artbagley1406]

Thought he looked like Larry Manetti, Rick in the original Magnum P.I., but looked him up on IMDB and it wasn't he.

[@MATTFROMMI]

As a reminder, the TAT in-credit mentions are all that appears, as this was two years before TAT debuted their infamous and partially-found end logo.

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

partially-found: semi-virginous somewhat-nymphette...if you lost one please don't give me no never-mind or nothing cuz she way cool

[@millicentsquirrelhole582]

Nice perm on lil Kev' there an' Shel' Long with tha' dish towel thing aroun' her neck, then Power Tennis for the Blind with guitar strings in their rackets, knock-knock jokes, weight loss prisons, pass water hand by hand (whoa!) for Cali' drought relief, and Happy Kyne and the Mirth Makers...fun viewing for the whole family...maybe.

[@francescaa8331]

Wow Shelly Long.

[@OofusTwillip]

"The People's Choice" uses the same theme tune as "The Abbott & Costello Show".

[@wmbrown6]

Funny, I thought it would've been the closing theme of "The Jack Benny Program" . . .

[@sexymama1966]

me too

[@MrYoumatic]

Or "Life of Riley"

[@garykobley289]

imagine if you will, AMAZON purchases, please send CHEQUE or MONEY ORDER with order.

[@Janster59]

the chick from Blazing Saddles

[@troylowe814]

Uh...an album called rock revival with the spinners, Stevie wonder, Gladys knight, Jackson 5? What? When were they rock? Talk about misnaming your compilation lp's.

[@eddiehascals1]

that kid was picking his noise when he got interrupted to shake Happy's hand. You can see the booger still on his finger when he shakes his hand!

[@BrianSmith-ix3ns]

considering that this lady was married to the late great Dom DeLouise I understand the whole fat-shaming dealyboplazapalooza

[@krisscanlon4051]

I think they are goofing on Brooke Shields mom on this one lol MM have a drink lol

[@VIRGONOMICS]

Shelly Long ? Homemakers Commercial.

[@hochiminhwasamass-murderer8922]

Willard struck me as if he was naturally lobotomised. Same with Mull.

[@coolcat1684]

Ho Chi Minh was a mass-murderer that’s called acting

[@hochiminhwasamass-murderer8922]

@@coolcat1684 Well no. Mull stated he ( Mull) never yelled in real life. Said that in a magazine interview. Mull may have been naturally lobotomized in real life.

[@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771]

Lobotomized Mull was a superstar?