Producer, director, and writer George Schlatter created such breakthrough series as Laugh-In and Real People. In the first half, he discussed some of the backstories from Laugh-In, television in the 1960s, the nature of comedy, and his early nightclub days in Vegas. He recounted how NBC did not have high hopes for Laugh-In, but then changed their minds when it became a ratings bonanza. The program was a great vehicle for young upstart comic performers like Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Jo Anne Worley, Arte Johnson, Alan Sues, and Judy Carne, he noted, and "we got lucky partially because we took chances and partially because [of] the desperate situation politically, somewhat like we are now, and humor got us through that."
Rather than taped live, Laugh-In's many bits and pieces were recorded separately and then edited together. "And then we went through the whole censorship process...because the network kept saying we couldn't do this. We couldn't do that. But we did it...and it was an adventure and a delightful time in my life," Schlatter commented. In comedy, he believes the biggest success comes to people willing to take chances. One of his subsequent shows, called Turn-On, "was so fast, so bright, and so outrageous, but it was canceled after 15 minutes," he reminisced. He also recalled his friendships with stars like Frank Sinatra, who had "aura of electricity, and energy, and outrage," and was great fun to be with.
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Civilian intelligence analyst and psychotherapist in New York City, Robert D. Morningstar, has studied the paranormal and UFOs for over 40 years and has published many articles on the Internet. In the latter half, he delved into his research on the history of UFOs and related conspiracies. He recounted his brother's disturbing alien abduction on a farm in upstate New York in 1962, in which he saw three small beings with big black eyes that spoke in high-pitched "munchkin" voices and may have used mind control on him.
"What I discovered in 1998 was basically the heraldry of a solar system religion that migrates to Earth and was revealed through Ezekiel," he said, referring to Ezekiel's UFO-like story in the Bible of a wheel within a wheel. Morningstar also touched on the death of former Sec. of Defense James Forrestal, whom he believes was murdered because he had a telepathic encounter with an alien and became distraught that the Truman administration was keeping the ET presence from the American people. Morningstar has several e-books, as well as an upcoming "The MJ-13 Global UFO Webinar" available for purchase by writing to robert.morningstar@gmail.com .
During the last half-hour, George featured an interview with spiritual warrior Bill Bean from the 2/22/19 show.
News segment guests: Jeff Nelken, Rich Berra, Kevin Randle