Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In producer mollified him, but had announcer Gary Owens read Johnson's credit as a separate sentence: "Starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin! And Arte Johnson! With Ruth Buzzi ..." This maneuver gave Johnson star billing, but made it sound like he was still part of the ensemble cast. Johnson left the show after the 1970–71 season. Henry Gibson also departed after the 1970–71 season. Johnson and he were replaced by former "Hogan's Heroes" stars Richard Dawson and Larry Hovis, both of whom had appeared occasionally in the first season. However, the loss of Johnson's many popular characters caused ratings to drop
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In of DVDs subtitled "The Sock-It-To-Me Collection", with each DVD containing two episodes. On June 19, 2017, Time Life, another direct-response marketer, released "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Series" on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time, in a deal with current rightsholder Proven Entertainment. The 38-disc set contains all 140 episodes of the series, complete and uncut, restored and remastered as well as many bonus features and a special 32-page collector's book. On September 5, 2017, Time Life began releasing individual complete season sets on DVD, beginning with the first season. This was followed by the second