Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

  |  

Monday, January 16, 2012

History / TV I Have a Joke

Posted by on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 10:46 AM

Here's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a 1968 broadcast of either Mike Douglas' show or The Tonight Show (there's some disagreement). Either way, delightful and fascinating to see.

 

Comments (6) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
His laugh at the end is the best part. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him laugh.
Posted by Jude Fawley on January 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM
2
Wow, MLK even sounds like MLK (you know what I mean) when he's telling a joke. He beats James Earl Jones and Patrick Stewart easily.
Posted by seatackled on January 16, 2012 at 11:10 AM
Banna 3
"And then I fucked the stewardess."
Posted by Banna http://www.ucp.org on January 16, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Teslick 4
That looks like "The Tonight Show", based on the background from other clips from the same time frame. seatackled @ 2 is exactly right...did he ever not "sound like MLK"?
Posted by Teslick on January 16, 2012 at 11:27 AM
gttim 5
Tonight Show. Mike Douglas always had a very modern set, and the guest would sit in a semi circle, or facing each other.
Posted by gttim on January 16, 2012 at 11:39 AM
gloomy gus 6
Aw, that's great. Definitely the Tonight Show - aficionados of the form will recognize the classic Carson desk-with-lighter-next-to-guest-chair setup, as well as seeing Johnny's ghost image in the cut away from the Nixon segment. Harry Belafonte was guest hosting that week - that night he had on Paul Newman and NIpsey Russell too - an all-civil-rights-activist night. This is the SCLC press release announcing it:
http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/doc…

Mind you, Mike Douglas had Dr. King on a year earlier. Aficionados will recognize the iconic and unmistakeable color-asterisk set backdrop of that daytime show. Dr. King is wonderful here.
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfH2uMay…
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FQIlE-Wl…
part 3, on nonviolence v. violence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvB5a9_XJ…
Posted by gloomy gus on January 16, 2012 at 11:40 AM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy