''Turn-On'' is an American
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...
series that aired on
ABC in February 1969.
Only one episode was shown, leaving one episode unaired, and the show is considered one of the most infamous
flop
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
s in TV history.
''Turn-Ons sole broadcast episode was shown on Wednesday, February 5, 1969, at 8:30 pm ET, replacing the Wednesday episode of ''
Peyton Place''. Among the cast were
Teresa Graves (who would join the ''Laugh-In'' cast that fall),
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...
, and
Chuck McCann
Charles John Thomas McCann (September 2, 1934 – April 8, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, puppeteer, commercial presenter and television host. He was best known for his work in presenting children's television programming and animation, a ...
. The writing staff included
Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker.
He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...
. The guest host for the first episode was
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. From 1966 to 2012 he appeared in more than 100 TV shows, TV series and films. Among his more notable roles, he portrayed the ...
, who also participated in certain sketches.
Background
The show was created by
Ed Friendly and
George Schlatter
George Schlatter (born December 31, 1932) is an American television producer and director, best known for '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' and founder of the American Comedy Awards.
For his work on television, Schlatter has a star on the Hollywo ...
, the producers of ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...
''.
Bristol-Myers
The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the l ...
contracted with them to develop the show, and provided it to
ABC for a projected 13-week run after
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
rejected it.
One CBS official confessed, "It was so fast with the cuts and chops that some of our people actually got physically disturbed by it." Production executive
Digby Wolfe described it as a "visual, comedic, sensory assault involving
animation
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
,
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...
,
stop-action
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
film, electronic distortion,
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
—even people."
Premise
''Turn-Ons premise was that it was produced by a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
. Distinguishing characteristics of the show were its use of the
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
and lack of sets, except for a white backdrop. Unlike ''Laugh-In'', ''Turn-On'' "focused almost exclusively on sex as a comedic subject",
using various rapid-fire jokes and risqué
skits
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...
, but no
laugh track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
. The program was also filmed instead of presented live or on videotape. Several of the jokes were presented with the screen divided into four squares resembling
comic strip panels. The production credits of the episode appeared after each commercial break, instead of conventionally at the beginning or end.
Reaction
Tim Conway has stated that ''Turn-On'' was
canceled midway through its only episode, so that the party that the cast and crew held for its premiere as the show aired across the United States also marked its cancellation.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...
's
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by ...
did not return to the show after the first commercial break which Conway said was after "15 minutes" but the station claimed had happened after 10 minutes.
The rest of the time slot was the emergency procedure, a black screen with live organ music that had not been used in over 20 years. A WEWS spokesman claimed that the station's
switchboard was "lit up" with protest calls, and general manager Donald Perris derided ''Turn-On'' as being "in excessive poor taste."
Upon dropping the program, Perris sent to ABC president
Elton Rule
Elton H. Rule (June 13, 1917-May 5, 1990) was an American television executive and former president of the American Broadcasting Company. Assuming the presidency at a time when ABC was a distant third in the Nielsen ratings, Rule is credited with g ...
an angry
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
: "If your naughty little boys have to write dirty words on the walls, please don't use our walls. ''Turn-On'' is turned off, as far as WEWS is concerned."
George Schlatter would later claim that Perris actively lobbied other affiliates ''prior'' to the broadcast to force a network cancellation after objecting to it replacing
''Peyton Place'' on the Wednesday night schedule. At the same time,
WAKR-TV in
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
—the Cleveland market's other primary ABC affiliate—did not drop the program nor receive any negative phone calls but their general manager criticized the show's "questionable taste".
After seeing the episode, several stations in the later western time zones decided not to broadcast the show at all, including
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
's
KATU
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP (channel 16). Both stations share studios on N ...
,
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
's
KOMO-TV
KOMO-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Bellevue-licensed Univision affiliate KUNS-TV (channel 51). Both stations share studios wi ...
, and
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
's
KBTV, which stated: "We have decided, without hesitation, that it would be offensive to a major segment of the audience".
Viewers of
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
's
KATV
KATV (channel 7) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located at the former Worthen Bank Building on East 4th and Main Streets in ...
, which disliked the show but decided to air it, "jam
edthe station's switchboard" with complaints.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
ABC affiliate
WFAA
WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29), w ...
elected to air the show on the following Sunday night at 10:30 local time, to an overwhelmingly negative response.
Both ''The New York Times'' and the Associated Press gave the show poor reviews. An ABC executive stated that "creatively, ''Turn-On'' didn't work". He compared the show negatively to the comedy of
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
, ''Laugh-In'', and the
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...
, which the executive described as "absolutely beyond belief ... awfully
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
", but were popular and less controversial because unlike ''Turn-On'', "they're funny".
After ''Turn-On''s cancellation ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corporat ...
'' called the show "The biggest bomb of the season". It stated that both CBS and NBC had rejected the show due to its perceived lack of quality, and that its sexual content was an important reason why viewers rejected the show. The magazine quoted a source who lamented ''Turn-Ons lack of a regular host or interlocutor: "(T)here wasn't any sort of identification with the audience -- just a bunch of strangers up there insulting everything you believe in."
Conway said in 2008 that ''Turn-On'' was "way ahead of its time. I'm not sure even if you saw it today that maybe that time has also passed." Bart Andrews, in his 1980 book ''The Worst TV Shows Ever'', stated that ''Turn-On'' was actually quite close to the original concept for ''Laugh-In''. "It wasn't that it was a bad show, it was that it was an awkward show," concluded author
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
, a fan of
counter-cultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
comedy and a TV critic for the ''Los Angeles Free Press'' in 1969.
On February 7, ABC announced that ''Turn-On'' would go on hiatus. Instead of the scheduled February 12 episode, the ''ABC Wednesday Night Movie'' (''
The Oscar
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
'') would start 30 minutes early. This announcement came after the following week's ''TV Guide'' went to press; it published a listing for the scheduled February 12 episode, which would have starred
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy'' (1965–1968), the espionage television se ...
and then-wife
France Nuyen
France Nuyen (born France Nguyễn Vân Nga on 31 July 1939) is a French actress, model, and psychological counsellor.
Early life
Nguyen was born in Marseille. Her mother was French, and her father was widely reported to be Vietnamese, althou ...
as hosts.
[ Finally, on February 10, the show was formally canceled. By this time, WEWS, KBTV, and KATV all told ABC that they would not air the show again; with several other affiliates having already turned it down, it no longer made financial sense to air it. ABC received 369 calls of complaint during the show and 20 calls that supported it; by comparison, the network received 1,800 protest calls several weeks earlier after preempting the ''Wednesday Night Movie'' for an address by ]President Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
introducing his cabinet appointees. Network officials told sponsor Bristol-Myers
The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the l ...
that the show was unacceptable and Bristol-Myers ordered Schlatter and Friendly to end production. Many assumed the show's title was itself an implicit reference to Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from bold oracle to publicity hound. He was "a her ...
's pro-drug maxim, "Turn on, tune in, drop out
"Turn on, tune in, drop out" is a counterculture-era phrase popularized by Timothy Leary in 1966. In 1967, Leary spoke at the Human Be-In, a gathering of 30,000 hippies in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and phrased the famous words, "Turn on, ...
".
The network eventually replaced ''Turn On'' with a revival of ''The King Family Show
''The King Family Show'' is an American Variety show, musical variety series that featured The King Sisters and their extended musical family. The series first aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 1965 to January 1966. The se ...
''. The controversy led ABC to reject a pilot written by Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
, stating that the lead character
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
was "foul-mouthed, and bigoted", out of fear that it might anger its affiliates again. CBS liked the pilot, picked it up as ''All in the Family
''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...
'', and began airing it during the 1970-71 midseason.
In 2002, ''Turn-On'' was ranked number 27 on ''TV Guide's'' 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time. ''What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History'' ranked it at number 25.
See also
* List of television series canceled after one episode
Some television series are canceled after one episode, quickly removed from a broadcast schedule, or had production halted after their premieres. Such immediate cancellations are extremely rare cases and are usually attributed to a combination of ...
* List of television shows considered the worst
This list includes a number of television shows which have received negative reception from both critics and audiences alike, some of which are considered the worst of all time.
Criteria
Factors that can reflect poorly on a television series inc ...
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0063960
American Broadcasting Company original programming
American television sketch shows
Television series canceled after one episode
Television controversies in the United States