August 14, 2007
And the say TV wasn't edgy in the old days ...
Merv Griffin, the billionaire creator-producer of gameshows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, died this week. Griffin, who got his start as an overweight crooner during the bigband era, dropped the weight and got a movie contract, but I first saw him on his TV talkshow, a staple of my childhood during afternoons at my Grandmother's apartment.
One thing I most definitely don't remember seeing is this 1974 comedy routine by perrenial presidential candidate Pat Paulsen.
It is jaw-droppingly politically incorrect; Merv and his guest flee the stage a minute into it, and you'll not be surprised when you learn it never aired.
Paulsen -- the most droll of comics -- makes his point about ethnic stereotyping in a bit of absurdist theater that is either in unforgivably poor taste ... or a brilliant way of making racist humor look ridiculous.
Don't watch it if you're easily offended.
Posted by Mike Lief at August 14, 2007 11:07 PM
| TrackBack