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
Letters to Laugh-In Match Game", which had been canceled after a seven-year run in that slot. Like "Match Game", "Letters to Laugh-In" faced the popular "Dark Shadows" on ABC and reruns of "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." on CBS. "Letters to Laugh-In" was soundly beaten in the ratings. As such, unlike the nighttime "Laugh-In" (which enjoyed a five-year run on NBC), "Letters to Laugh-In" lasted only three months before being canceled on December 26. Its replacement was "Loman & Barkley's Name Droppers", an equally short-lived game that was replaced on March 30, 1970, by the soap opera "Somerset". One episode of "Letters to Laugh-In" was