David Tenner
2009-02-18 05:41:29 UTC
"Nixon's Winning Strategy: Forty Years After Sock It to Me?"
by Ron Simon
"Originally broadcast on September 16, 1968, Richard Nixon's infamous four
word question, Sock it to me?, still resonates forty years later,
especially during a election year. Last Sunday on the Emmy Awards, his
iconic cameo kicked off the tribute to Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Beyond
the sheer absurdity of a presidential candidate, particularly the dour
puritanical Nixon, doing a vaudevillian turn, the back story of this
blackout continues to raise questions about the intersection of politics
and entertainment.
"Both candidates for the 1968 presidency, Democratic Hubert Humphrey and
the Republican Nixon were invited to tape segments for the nation's number
one show, Laugh-In, a raucous freewheeling satire of contemporary mores.
Humphrey, dubbed the 'happy warrior' of his generation, never warmed up to
video and turned down the request; his métier was orating in a large hall.
From the Checkers speech to the 1960 presidential debate, Nixon used and
was abused by television. Before his first retirement in 1963, he upgraded
his lowbrow public image by playing piano on The Jack Paar Program. Five
years later, he went for the laughs.
"Nixon was chummy with former Paar producer and then head writer of Laugh-
In, Paul Keyes, whose conservative politics were certainly antithetical to
countercultural tone of his show. The former vice president was given
editorial control over his comic bits. He rejected several catchphrases,
including 'What's a bippy?' and 'Goodnight Dick.' It took six takes to
achieve his idiosyncratic line reading of the show's signature line, Sock
it to me? [Watch Video]
"The election was only less than two months away, and this Nixon proved he
could laugh at his you-won't-have-me-to-kick-around persona. He was
campaigning as the New Nixon, and this five-second spot helped to
substantiate this claim to many voters. He won the election by little more
than a half of million votes. Host Dick Martin later stated that Laugh-In
was accused of helping Nixon to achieve his narrow margin of victory, less
than one percentage point.
"The effect of this comic routine on the voting public can't be measured.
But we now know that Nixon's friendship with Paul Keyes had an effect on
the comedy of Laugh-In. A young writer on the staff, Lorne Michaels,
revealed that his anti-Nixon jokes were softened by veteran scribes.
Although not outlined in a memo, Laugh-In's creative team was certainly
cognizant of Keyes's coziness with power. In fact, we now have this
incredible tape of Nixon calling Keyes in 1971, documenting how the Oval
Office and downtown Burbank casually communicated...
"Be forewarned in this election year that a price might be paid when
politicians try to humanize themselves on comedy programs. When a Hillary
or Barack or John appear on Saturday Night Live (ironically produced by
that fledging writer on Laugh-In), relationships might be brewing to
neuter humor in the future."
http://www.paleycenter.org/nixon-s-winning-strategy-forty-years-after-sock-it-to-me/
IMO for Nixon to say "Sock it to me" as a question (with emphasis on the
*me*) was an inspired idea. Nixon was being hip by parodying his own lack
of hipness, acting befuddled. It's as though he were saying: "You expect
*me* of all people to deliver this ridiculous hip catch-phrase?""
Humphrey was given an opportunity to appear on the show, saying "I'll sock
it to you, Dick" but he declined to do so, and even if he did, I don't
think it would have been as funny. Given that one of Nixon's problems was
likeability, and that his appearance did make him more likeable, and given
the closeness of the 1968 election, I don't think it's frivolous to
suggest that Nixon's four words may have made a difference.
Nixon was apparently reluctant to appear on Laugh-In; it was only the
appeal of his friend Keyes that got him to do so. Suppose Keyes had been
a friend of Humphrey's instead?...
--
David Tenner
***@ameritech.net
by Ron Simon
"Originally broadcast on September 16, 1968, Richard Nixon's infamous four
word question, Sock it to me?, still resonates forty years later,
especially during a election year. Last Sunday on the Emmy Awards, his
iconic cameo kicked off the tribute to Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Beyond
the sheer absurdity of a presidential candidate, particularly the dour
puritanical Nixon, doing a vaudevillian turn, the back story of this
blackout continues to raise questions about the intersection of politics
and entertainment.
"Both candidates for the 1968 presidency, Democratic Hubert Humphrey and
the Republican Nixon were invited to tape segments for the nation's number
one show, Laugh-In, a raucous freewheeling satire of contemporary mores.
Humphrey, dubbed the 'happy warrior' of his generation, never warmed up to
video and turned down the request; his métier was orating in a large hall.
From the Checkers speech to the 1960 presidential debate, Nixon used and
was abused by television. Before his first retirement in 1963, he upgraded
his lowbrow public image by playing piano on The Jack Paar Program. Five
years later, he went for the laughs.
"Nixon was chummy with former Paar producer and then head writer of Laugh-
In, Paul Keyes, whose conservative politics were certainly antithetical to
countercultural tone of his show. The former vice president was given
editorial control over his comic bits. He rejected several catchphrases,
including 'What's a bippy?' and 'Goodnight Dick.' It took six takes to
achieve his idiosyncratic line reading of the show's signature line, Sock
it to me? [Watch Video]
"The election was only less than two months away, and this Nixon proved he
could laugh at his you-won't-have-me-to-kick-around persona. He was
campaigning as the New Nixon, and this five-second spot helped to
substantiate this claim to many voters. He won the election by little more
than a half of million votes. Host Dick Martin later stated that Laugh-In
was accused of helping Nixon to achieve his narrow margin of victory, less
than one percentage point.
"The effect of this comic routine on the voting public can't be measured.
But we now know that Nixon's friendship with Paul Keyes had an effect on
the comedy of Laugh-In. A young writer on the staff, Lorne Michaels,
revealed that his anti-Nixon jokes were softened by veteran scribes.
Although not outlined in a memo, Laugh-In's creative team was certainly
cognizant of Keyes's coziness with power. In fact, we now have this
incredible tape of Nixon calling Keyes in 1971, documenting how the Oval
Office and downtown Burbank casually communicated...
"Be forewarned in this election year that a price might be paid when
politicians try to humanize themselves on comedy programs. When a Hillary
or Barack or John appear on Saturday Night Live (ironically produced by
that fledging writer on Laugh-In), relationships might be brewing to
neuter humor in the future."
http://www.paleycenter.org/nixon-s-winning-strategy-forty-years-after-sock-it-to-me/
IMO for Nixon to say "Sock it to me" as a question (with emphasis on the
*me*) was an inspired idea. Nixon was being hip by parodying his own lack
of hipness, acting befuddled. It's as though he were saying: "You expect
*me* of all people to deliver this ridiculous hip catch-phrase?""
Humphrey was given an opportunity to appear on the show, saying "I'll sock
it to you, Dick" but he declined to do so, and even if he did, I don't
think it would have been as funny. Given that one of Nixon's problems was
likeability, and that his appearance did make him more likeable, and given
the closeness of the 1968 election, I don't think it's frivolous to
suggest that Nixon's four words may have made a difference.
Nixon was apparently reluctant to appear on Laugh-In; it was only the
appeal of his friend Keyes that got him to do so. Suppose Keyes had been
a friend of Humphrey's instead?...
--
David Tenner
***@ameritech.net