Turn-On

Turn-On was a 1969 TV series notable for having been cancelled by its network before the first episode finished airing. The show was created by Ed Friendly and George Schlatter, producers of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and picked up by ABC after it was rejected by NBC and CBS. Production executive Digby Wolfe described it as a "visual, comedic, sensory assault involving... animation, videotape, stop-action film, electronic distortion, computer graphics — even people."

Related Topics:
1969 - TV series - Ed Friendly - George Schlatter - Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In - ABC - NBC - CBS - Digby Wolfe - Animation - Videotape - Stop-action - Computer graphics

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The show's main gimmick was that it was produced by a computer (although in reality this wasn't true). The show itself featured synthesized music and was filmed on a white backdrop without any sets. The show consisted of various rapid fire jokes and risque skits, for which there also was no laugh track.

Related Topics:
Computer - Skits - Laugh track

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Turn-Ons sole episode aired on Wednesday, February 5, 1969. In some markets, including Denver, the show went to a commercial break and simply never came back. Many other stations made the decision to never air it again immediately after the first episode finished. ABC pulled the plug completely within a week, and as part of its cancellation agreement they agreed to store the tapes in their vault and never air it again.

Related Topics:
February 5 - 1969 - Denver

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Some claim that the show was cancelled because it was too extreme for America's tastes at the time — the only episode aired featured rapid fire gags with sexual innuendos that turned people off instead of turning them on. However television critic Harlan Ellison, who has long held a taste for the extreme and pushing the envelope, maintained that it was simply a very bad derivative of Laugh-In.

Related Topics:
Critic - Harlan Ellison

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Turn-On has been consistently called one of the most notorious flops in television.

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