Diana Millay/Tab Hunter

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I was just watching an old ep of The Price Is Right from September of 1960 and Tab Hunter turned up as a bonus for one of the contestants because she was going to be going out to dinner with him that night. But why I suspect he was really there was to promote the premiere of his own TV sitcom on NBC on that upcoming Sunday. Considering I was 4 in 1960, I have absolutely no knowledge of the show, so I just looked it up on IMDb and was surprised to see Diana Millay guest starred in two eps. And if that wasn't interesting enough, she played two different characters in the same one season that the show lasted. She appeared in the Dec 11, 1960 ep Devil to Pay as Cynthia Whitney, and the Feb 5, 1961 ep The Golden Arrow as Lady Diana Masters. Apparently the show must have really liked her to have her appear twice in the same season. And apparently when it came to her second appearance the audience wasn't supposed to remember she'd played someone else only 8 eps earlier...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Several actors, such as Robert Duvall and Telly Savalas, were on two episodes of the great ABC series, “Combat.” In addition, “Dark Shadows’”own Michael Stroka appeared as a German soldier twice on that same series.

Michael Stroka also appeared as a German soldier in the World War II thriller, “36 Hours,” starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and arid Taylor.

[Uncle Roger]

I actually remember watching The Tab Hunter Show. I didn't get to see it very often, as it aired opposite The Ed Sullivan Show, which was almost required viewing all over America at the time. I got to meet Tab at a book signing in NYC some years ago. He was quite a gentleman and seemed genuinely surprised that I had seen the show.
Diana Millay was all over television back then. She made several appearances on the Sullivan show herself as a straight woman in comedy sketches featuring the Canadian comedy duo of Wayne and Shuster. I don't remember too much about them but I'd love to see those again 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I remember Wayne and Shuster from their many appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” They reminded me of another comedy team, Skiles and Henderson.

Of course, neither of those comedy teams were ever in the class of the unfailingly funny Cheech and Chong and, I venture to say, THE comedy team of the new millennium:

Lang and Clark! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If the team of Lang and Clark had actually appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, THAT would have been a nightmare!! 

I remember Wayne and Shuster as well - though I don't recall Diana's appearances with them. But even if any of those appearances were made during/after the '66-'67 Laura storyline, it wouldn't had made an impression on me from a DS standpoint because I didn't see that storyline until '95 on the Sci-Fi Channel...

I wonder if any of Diana's bits have ever run on any of the retro networks that show Ed Sullivan?

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I wonder if any performers were ever booed by the studio audience at “The Ed Sullivan Show”?

Yes, I can just imagine what a disaster it would have been to see Lang & Clark appear on the Sullivan show. Dr. Lang, clearly no graduate of former NBA star Jerry Lucas’ memory retention program, would likely refer to Ed Sullivan as “Mr. Salmon” or “Mr. Solomon” or some such misnomer.

Then, as part of their act, Dr. Lang would attempt to use a tape recorder with Jeff Clark in a new version of Abbott & Costello’s classic “Who’s on First” routine, but they would continue their comedic schtick even after Dr. Lang inadvertently shut the tape recorder off. Jeff Clark’s sole “contribution” to the act, would be to grab his own hair and attempt unsuccessfully to embrace and grope little Topot Gigio, standing just off-stage.

To say that Mr. Sullivan was upset with Lang & Clark’s rotten performance would be an understatement. Mr.
Sullivan hadn’t been so disgusted and upset, since comedian Jackie Mason allegedly flashed the venerable Mr.
Sullivan, the “half-a-peace-sign” during the Borscht Belt comedian’s notorious appearance on that Sunday night
American tv institution.

After thar Titanic-like bomb of an appearance with Ed Sullivan, Lang & Clark would be relegated to “headline”
with appearances at such “in-demand” comedy clubs as Pauly Shore’s House of Comedy in Newark, NJ and also
at the Kit Kat Lounge in Portland, Maine.

Yes, Lang & Clark will be ranked in American comedy history with such comedic “giants” as London Lee, Moms
Mabley and comedian/ventriloquist Barney Dunn from “Broadway Danny Rose.”   

[dom]

Though not a post performance boo, I do remember a disparaging grunt of sorts for a Russian performer after their introduction that had Mr. Sullivan giving the audience member the glare of death.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Dom,

This discussion of “The Ed Sullivan Show” reminds me of an incident Bob Newhart related in his very funny autobiography, “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things that Strike Me as Funny.” In the book, Mr. Newhart wrote that after his stint in the Army, he was working as an accountant for the unemployment office and enrolled as a law student at night.

Bob Newhart found accounting work to be exceedingly boring and he did not care for the “Socratic method,” employed in law schools. So, he endeavored to start a career in comedy and he contacted a young comedian, who was starting to receive recognition. Mr. Newhart sent some of his own original material for this other comic to critique. One of the bits was about a WW II German U-boat Captain, having difficulty seeing through the sub’s periscope. As with Mr. Newhart’s famous but about the harried driving school instructor and the new night watchman on his first day on the job at the Empire State Building, when King Kong happens to start scaling the building with Fay Wray in one of his hands, the submarine bit was also very funny.

Bob Newhart did not hear back from this other comedian for several weeks, but on one Sunday night, Mr.
Newhart tuned into “The Ed Sullivan Show” to see this same comedian on the show and doing Bob Newhart’s German U-boat routine! Mr. Newhart was very understandably NOT happy with this other guy’s thievery.

Mr. Newhart, although very upset, vowed to not reveal that unethical comedian’s name until he died. So, after
this guy departed this mortal coil, Bob Newhart finally revealed that it was a very young Don Adams, best
known as agent Maxwell Smart of tv’s “Get Smart” who was the guilty party.

I guess a lot of comedians “borrow” other comics’ material, just like Dan Curtis and the DS writers “borrowed” material from many of the great horror writers. The only difference being that Bram Stoker, Mary Shelly and H.P. Lovecraft were all long dead and could not possibly object to DC’s “borrowing.”

[patrickm]

Adding my tidbit to this topic, I saw Rich Little perform a few years ago in Vegas. He did a bit imitating Ed on his first appearance where he was introduced as Little Richard. Never saw the clip but he seemed serious that it happened. I know other comedians of the time like Alan King also had a low regard for Sullivan.

[Uncle Roger]

Wayne and Shuster were favorites of Ed Sullivan and appeared on his show at least 50 times over the years. Sullivan agreed never to cut any of their material, which was a huge deal. Their skits were sometimes elaborate and often ran over twelve minutes. After Sullivan cut one of her songs from the live show but allowed Wayne and Shuster to take up almost a quarter of the show, Eartha Kitt pointedly asked What have you guys got on Ed Sullivan?