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 his life that appearing on "Laugh-In" is what got him elected. And I believe that. And I've had to live with that." In an episode of the ill-fated 1977 revival, a Nixon impersonator says, "I invited the American people to sock-it-to-me... you can stop now". On multiple occasions, producer George Schlatter attempted to get William F. Buckley Jr. to appear on the show, only to be refused each time until he suddenly agreed to an appearance. In the episode that aired December 28, 1970, Buckley appeared in an unusual sit-down segment (portions of which were scattered throughout the episode) flanked