Ticket 2 Ride

I thought I’d come up with nine or ten pairings, instead, I had to put the brakes on as the list grew. There were a lot of comedy pairings in the 1970s, from nightclubs to recordings to television and films, it was a great decade. Several were teams, others just landed in a TV series or film together.

---

Harvey Korman and Tim Conway – Korman was a regular on The Carol Burnett Show and Conway appeared frequently each season before becoming a regular. Korman and Conway together were guaranteed to get big laughs and it was only a matter of time before Korman broke character from laughing.

Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman – Burnett reacted to Korman’s comedy sketches much the same as Korman did to Conway. Korman would really get into a character and had a way of stretching the bounds of his character. Korman was a regular on the show until leaving before the last season.

Tim Conway and Don Knotts – This might seem an odd couple because Knotts had to often be the straight man to Conway’s zany comedy and haven’t-got-a-clue characters. Knotts’ characters were usually the planner, whose plans were continually fouled up by the Conway character. The two made a number of films in the early 1970s, usually under the Disney brand.

Bob Newhart and Peter Bonerz – Newhart played off of each character with his dry and unflappable delivery. Bonerz had a way of being direct and offbeat, and testing Newhart’s unflappability.

Mary Tyler Moore and Betty White – The Mary Tyler Moore Show introduced numerous comedy characters who often paired up. When Betty White joined the show as Sue Ann Nivens, it presented a new dynamic. Mary and Sue Anne were opposites and Sue Anne had a way of poking Mary about her love life and her looks that would have been mean if not said with a smile and a think veil of helpfulness. Mary let it roll off, because she was just Mary Richards.

Redd Foxx and LaWanda Page – Sanford & Son. Fred Sanford was cantankerous and loud, and he frequently clashed with his dead wife’s sister, Aunt Esther, played by Page. Esther was very religious and had no time for the sinful Fred. The two tangled, with Fred calling her names and making fun of her looks. She defended herself well and could swing a big purse. Page and Foxx knew each other from working the nightclub circuit years before. Her standup comedy was much like Foxx’s, and quite different from the churchgoing Esther character.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor – After Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, Wilder was hot in Hollywood. Pryor co-wrote Blazing Saddles and was hot as a standup comedian, but hadn’t yet crossed over to film stardom. Pryor’s small role in Wilder’s Silver Streak was comic gold and led them starring in a group of successful films.

McLean Stevenson and Gary Burghoff – Col. Henry Blake (Stevenson) and his company clerk Radar O’Reilly (Burghoff) appeared together for three seasons, back when MASH was funny. Blake was a doctor in uniform, not a career Army officer and he tried (not very hard) to run the surgical hospital, and needs the efficiency of Radar to accomplish what he’s less cut out to do. The two of them have many funny scenes together, neither of them seem to ever be on the same page.

Martin Mull and Fred Willard – Fernwood 2 Night was a Norman Lear show about a talk show from the fictional town of Fernwood. Mull and Willard played Barth Gimble and Jerry Hubbard, respectively. Host Gimble was droll and Hubbard was clueless as his sidekick. Mull and Willard worked together at other times including characters on Roseanne.

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton – In the 1970s, Allen wrote (or co-wrote) and directed a number of comedies, each one more successful than the previous one. Keaton jumped aboard and co-starred in five of his films. The two were a romantic couple for several years and even after they split, they still worked together. With each role, Keaton grew onscreen, earning an Academy Award for her role in Annie Hall. Keaton would turn to dramatic roles, as Allen did too. Their onscreen chemistry was amazing, silly, frantic and poignant.

Cheech and Chong – First the comedy act live, then recordings, then a handful of films. It wasn’t all grass jokes, it was a cultural vibe where the humor came from. Each went off to a separate career, returned years later, and have their own canabis products, now that they are legal in many states.

Jack Soo and Max Gail – Barney Miller was a show filled with veteran character actors, all talented with unique acting techniques. Jack Soo was a Japanese-American actor with a long history of credits, playing a variety of Asian roles, he played Nick, a veteran cop who made bad coffee and made very dry comments. Max Gail was a rugged actor who played Wojo, a Polish-American detective. The two of them were opposites: Wojo was excitable and always needing to prove himself; while Nick was comfortable handling the less demanding duties and didn’t leave the squad room much. The two of them represented the ying and yang of life in the precinct. Nick usually had a droll remark to whatever made Wojo excitable. Jack Soo passed away during the fourth season.

Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall – Laverne & Shirley was a spinoff of Happy Days. Marshall was Laverne and Williams was Shirley, two working girls in 1950s Milwaukee. Episodes focused on the predicaments of Laverne and Shirley at work, at home, dating and with friends. Think Lucy and Ethel – a lot of strange situations, physical comedy and the help of several friends, but mostly it was the likable main characters who were tough, though kind.

Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi – These two guys had worked together at Second City and joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the first season. The two became friends and shared many skits together. They formed The Blues Brothers musical band, releasing a couple of albums and toured. Leaving SNL after the fifth season, both were already appearing in films. They worked together in the Blues Brothers film and Neighbors.

Jack Klugman and Tony Randall – The TV version of The Odd Couple. The early seasons were filmed with one camera, then it became three cameras and a studio audience. Klugman (Oscar) wasn’t known for comedy, Randall (Felix) was. Together they played off of each other wonderfully, and their timing was on the mark.

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – The comedy team of Ben Stiller’s real life parents started back in the early 1960s. They continued the act into the 1970s in nightclubs and TV variety shows. From their act, you might not think they belong together and they used that in their act. Later, they would each go on to successful acting careers.

Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber – Another comedy act that performed in clubs and TV variety shows. Burns had been a partner of George Carlin in the 1960s. They clearly looked like opposites, Burns looked like your average man but with a rapid delivery. Schreiber has curly hair and a bushy mustache, and sometimes played a foreigner that didn’t always understand Burns.

Carroll O’Connor and Sherman Hemsley – Archie Bunker and George Jefferson. These two did not appear together very often, but when they did, they were very different characters who were a lot alike. The Jeffersons lived next door to the Bunkers. The Jeffersons were black, the Bunkers white. The wives liked each other, Archie and George, not so much. The Jeffersons moved on up, to the West side, thanks to their dry cleaning business, got their own show, but Archie and George occasionally crossed paths. Watching them together was fun.

Flip Wilson and George Carlin – Wilson had a comedy-musical show in the early 1970s with some offbeat guests and very topical humor. Carlin guested on the show several times, doing standup and also in skits with Wilson. This was a very good format for their very hip material.

Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams – Two comedic geniuses, stand back and watch them create. A short tenure on Mork & Mindy.

Bud Spencer and Terence Hill – The stars of nearly 20 films together. Italian actors who made a number of spaghetti Westerns and modern action-comedy films. Spencer was the gruff, serious one, while Hill was the affable, ladies man.

Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan – Together on Maude in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s. Arthur was always the sarcastic and outspoken one and McClanahan the less serious and somewhat flighty friend.

Bert & Ernie – Viewers of Sesame Street know these guys for sure, but others of us know them as well.

Statler and Waldorf – Don’t recognize the names? These are the two old guys in the balcony making wisecracks.

Sonny & Cher – Together since the 1960s, Sonny & Cher scored big with their variety show. Even after divorcing, they were more popular on TV and concerts together, than apart.