Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In for "Laugh-In" was Ian Bernard. He wrote the opening theme music, "Inquisitive Tango", plus the infamous "What's the news across the nation" number. He wrote all the musical "play-ons" that introduced comedy sketches like Lily Tomlin's character, Edith Ann, the little girl who sat in a giant rocking chair, and Arte Johnson's old man character, Tyrone, who always got hit with a purse. He also appeared in many of the cocktail scenes where he directed the band as they stopped and started between jokes. Composer-lyricist Billy Barnes wrote all of the original musical production numbers in the show, and often
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In hippie culture, terms that were, in turn, derived from "sit-ins", common in protests associated with civil rights and antiwar demonstrations of the time. In 2002, "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" was ranked number 42 on "TV Guide's" 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. "Laugh-In" had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were Olsen and Johnson's comedy (such as the free-form Broadway revue "Hellzapoppin'"), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of "That Was The Week That Was". The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and