The great Stan Laurel passed away on February 23, 1965. A friend of his named Gene Lester felt that there ought to be a big hour-long TV special saluting and remembering the great comedian — and by obvious extension, his late partner Oliver Hardy. As I always heard the story, Lester had something serious and historical in mind — lots of clips of Stan and Ollie along with interviews with surviving co-workers and current comics who discuss the impact of The Boys on modern comedy.
But then, others got involved and the network started demanding an all-star variety special and…well, Mr. Lester was said to have been very unhappy with what resulted as was the show's host, Dick Van Dyke. The show aired but once — on on November 23, 1965 — in Red Skelton's Tuesday night time slot. It also used Red's stage and a lot of his crew. I certainly recalled being disappointed in how so much of it had so little to do with Stan Laurel.
Clips of the show have circulated for years on YouTube but this is the first time I've been able to link you to the whole thing. There are some good moments but a lot of the bits (and the folks who did them) are just wrong for A Salute to Stan Laurel…