You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1959-60

When anything can be a euphemism, everything is a euphemism in the hands of Groucho Marx on the set of You Bet Your Life.

Laughing

(via reddit)

Colbert's Musical Sign Off

Last night was the final broadcast of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He ended it by living out a fantasy of performing with Paul McCartney at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney was introduced to the US more than 60 years ago, and where The Late Show was based. Other musicians included Elvis Costello, Louis Cato, Jon Batiste, and The Great Big Joy Machine.  

The show began with an intro by other legends of late night TV, followed by Colbert's last monologue,  a science ficton sequence, and you can see other clips from the show at YouTube. Will we see Colbert elsewhere? No doubt, and probably sooner than you think. But he's busy writing a script for a new Lord of the Rings movie, so we may have to be patient.  
    
    

School's Out

Alice Cooper performs his classic tune of the season on The Muppet Show in 1978, with choreography by the Monster Muppet Players.

Auctioneers

I missed this Saturday Night Live bit from a couple of weeks ago. Matt Damon and Sarah Sherman are married auctioneers having a fight. The idea is typical SNL, delivering an everyday occurrence in a ridiculously odd way, but this was impressive. No breaking, no stumbling. This took skills. (via Laughing Squid) 

Jeffrey Epstein's Ghost

Saturday Night Live wrapped up season 51 last night with Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney. The guest host never appears in the cold open, but Ferrell stepped in to portray Jeffrey Epstein, who haunts Trump's dreams. 

War is Hell

(via Universal Soldier)

You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1960-61

The most innocent chitchat took on a salacious tone when Groucho Marx was around. These two compilations are from only one season of the show You Bet Your Life. 

A Few Drinks After Work

Matt Damon hosted Saturday Night Live last night, and they couldn't resist bringing back his portrayal of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Having him meet SecDef Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and FBI Director Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) in a Washington bar was just too easy. 

The Edge of Destiny

Last week, Saturday Night Live had a skit that was supposedly a riff on 1980s nighttime soap operas. But it was really about the joy of seeing someone awkwardly being thrown down the stairs. It was just plain goofy. But even funnier is how they did it. 



I''m glad they decided to share that with us. 

Press Conference

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel answer questions from the press in the opening skit from last night's Saturday Night Live. Alcohol may have been involved. 

Robot Chicken's Aquaman

Aquaman never got any respect. His powers aren't all that useful on land, see, and they seem altogether weird since the rest of us live on land. Robot Chicken ran with that idea as far as they could. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee is an Australian (originally New Zealand) game show in the British tradition, where the contestants are comedians and the prize is only the ability (sometimes posed as a threat) to appear on the next show. The point is to make us laugh, and they do. Yes, it's a spelling bee, but Guy Montgomery makes it as nonsensically confusing as possible. You can read about the show and why it works at Kotaku. Americans will need a VPN to catch new episodes, but some from the first two seasons are available at YouTube. (via Metafilter) 

Scooby Doo!

I've not seen many episodes of Scooby-Doo, but I've seen enough to know they all end the same way. This comic is from Ellen Woodbury at Pizza Cake.  (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

Batman for U.S. Savings Bonds

This ad is from 1966, when the government reached out to schoolchildren to help fund the Vietnam War. It's the American way.  

You Bet Your Life Outtakes 1950-52

The humor of the 1950s was not all squeaky clean, that's just the parts that made it to broadcast. Behind the scenes, everyone had a dirty mind. And no one could channel that better than Groucho Marx. These outtakes are from this quiz show You Bet Your Life.

The President Makes Phone Calls

There was way too much news this week. Should SNL open the show with him threatening Iran, or Melania's unhinged press appearance, or the peace negotiations? They all make an appearance, as well as Tiger Woods, when Trump took some time to catch up on phone calls. 

The 1950s Sitcoms Never Showed Real American Family Life

This interview with Steve Allen was recorded in 1989, before the world wide web and long before smart phones, but it holds up. 

Salsa Dances

We've seen plenty of canine freestyle in videos posted here, but it's been a while. The judges and the audience at Britain's Got Talent weren't at all familiar with the art. And Salsa did a lovely job. 

The Lost Voice Guy

Lee Ridley is a standup comic who doesn't speak. He has cerebral palsy and performs under the name Lost Voice Guy, even though he apparently never had one. Ridley's disability-themed routine is delivered by a synthetic voice machine. The machine itself, called a Lightwriter, is the focus for some of his jokes as he performed on Britain's Got Talent. (via Boing Boing)