by Victoria Lucas

Those of you who have followed the" adventures of Mel and Vicki" may remember that my man Mel and I–in a brief time–moved from San Francisco to New York, spending 3 months there, then moved back to the Bay Area, to Berkeley. We enrolled our relative in Berkeley High School, from which he is graduating. In my last missive, I recounted a short tale of why we were about to leave Berkeley following the terrible assassination of Dr. King, hoping to leave behind the physical violence and violent rhetoric that seemed to be taking over the community we had known as peaceful.

Fortuna, California

I am writing to you from a small town north of San Francisco called Fortuna ("fortune" or "good luck" in Spanish), where Mel and I are working as "temps" (temporary workers) for the County of Humboldt while we look for a home to buy with the proceeds of the house belonging to my mother, who died in late 1966. Our relative did not yield to persuasion but is insisting on staying in Berkeley following graduation, living with friends.

All that is background for my reviews today of 2 television shows that I probably would not have seen in either Berkeley or New York because I wouldn't have known about them. I recommend to you "Misterogers' Neighborhood" and "Laugh-In," the first a public-television offering, and the other a crass, commercial (and extremely funny) show.

Fred Rogers

"Misterogers Neighborhood" is a children's show. Although Mel and I have no children (together), we have friends here who do. We have no television either, but I happened to be at one place with kids one day when they were plopped on the floor in front of the TV watching a man whose real name is Fred Rogers, talking slowly and introducing them to what I learned are stable personalities on his show, including puppets he voices and actors who speak for themselves.

Trolley to Make Believe

Some actors and puppets portray personalities in a carefully separated make-believe area accessible via a trolley car. Once the trolley has reached the make-believe kingdom, Rogers disappears except for his voices for the puppets, and the puppets and an actor take over. I say "carefully separated," because this is deliberate: Rogers wants the children who watch his show to clearly see and understand the difference between make-believe and real. In the "real" part of the show, for instance, an actor portrays a postman who not only delivers "mail" but interacts with Rogers about real things.

The show I happened to catch was pretty mundane, but our friends told us about the first show on February 19, the very first by Rogers to be broadcast nationally on NET (National Education Television). It involved a protest against war, unlike the ones in which Mel and I and our friends had been involved in both Berkeley and New York, and held in the land of make-believe, but an antiwar protest, nevertheless.

King Friday XIII

In the land of make-believe reigns a puppet king, King Friday XIII. This king becomes a despot and tries to suppress all differences of opinion while he makes war on progress. The inhabitants of the "land" object and send balloons to the castle tied to messages of love and peace. King Friday immediately capitulates and declares the war over.

May I remind you that this is a children's show?

Live, from beautiful downtown Burbank…

Dan Rowan

The war also is definitely more than mentioned in another show I found out about in a whole different way. With no TV to watch in the evening, my FM radio found a place of honor in our tiny living room. Spinning the dial one night I found laughter. Needing some of that, I listened while relaxing in what has become my bed for probably the duration of our stay in Fortuna–an easy chair in which I have to sleep sitting up due to my asthma (an allergy to redwood sawdust).

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that what I was listening to is a television show called "Laugh-In" starring comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, who mock the president, the generals, politicians, and others who support the war in Vietnam. They are assisted in their madness by Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson, Judy Carne, Gary Owens, Ruth Buzzi, Joanne Worley, Goldie Hawn, and many more. My husband Mel is an engineer and wasn't surprised at all, knowing as he does the electromagnetic spectrum in which "radio waves" lie. FM radio signals overlap with the part of the spectrum in which television operates. Local channel 6 is FM 87.9!

Dick Martin and friend…

Imagine also that I have to imagine all the sight gags. If you've seen the show you know there are a lot of them, but I know about them only from the silences followed by laughter. I only hope that someday I can actually see the show and enjoy the physical humor as well as the spoken jibes.

I'm sure it'd be "Very Interesting"

"Laugh-In" is funny, irreverent, and up-to-the-minute. I hope it survives many seasons and maybe even has some real-world effects. If I were handing out stars, I would give both these shows 5 out of 5. They are the most progressive shows I have (not seen, um . . . ) experienced on television!

Bye for now, and happy watching!

This article was pre-recorded so the writer could tune in to Laugh-In…

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