Great to see Magnus Magnusson (the actual presenter of Mastermind) taking part in this sketch too

Comedic geniuses. When Eric Morecambe died suddenly in 1984, way before his time, it caused a shockwave amongst the public. We lost a great duo, Ernie lost his career partner and the laughing stopped. It ended the era of super-smart, cleverly thought out comedy sketches (The Two Ronnies is another example) and comedy just mainly turned into one-liner gags & innuendo. It's great to watch them back and I often wonder if Eric had lived another 20 years what would have been :)

*cough* “Arsenal!” was a running gag on the show. :-)

Eric Morecambe was so quick with responding with a funny quip. Nobody could ever equal

Imagine how it was in 1970's for us Brits having The Morecambe and Wise Show and also The Two Ronnies programmes on in the same week. 1hr each and they had Christmas specials too which always got the highest viewing figures then.

Magnus Magnusson was the actual presenter of Mastermind, celebrities knew they had made it when they were asked to appear on Morecombe and Wise

I had the great pleasure in meeting Ernie Wise when I was a serving Police Officer, Ernie lived on my patch, on Christmas Day he would purposely set off his burglar alarm, we were obliged to attend his premises whereupon he would wish us Merry Christmas and offer us a small “alcohol free tipple”😀😀

Their breakfast sketch is hilarious and their ending song is pure gold Every word of it.

The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise made two very different takes on mastermind and it shows the differences between them. The Two Ronnies were comic actors and Morecambe and Wise were two comedians. Each pair was at the top of their game.

Eric Morecombe. Absolute legend!

I love your laugh, your laugh is life sir😭😭🤣🤣🤣🙌

I love these two I can remember watching this with my mum and dad When I Was Little fantastic👌😂😂❤

Another institution! Brilliantly written and performed and still funny after all these years

I remember seeing Eric and Ernie on a talk show. The interviewer was talking to Ernie. There was Eric, pipe in mouth, cheeky smile on his face, staring at the floor; and the quips he was coming out with! One after another, like a mind in overdrive. He had everyone in stitches. Brilliant man. Always troubled by the thought that he wasn't good enough or he could do better. His wife said each year the days before the Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show was aired where a nightmare at home. Eric couldn't relax, worrying that the show wouldn't be good enough. They'd sit down to watch it and Eric would be like a cat on a hot tin roof. He'd keep asking 'Is that funny?' 'Will people laugh?' He only relaxed when he heard or read the reviews. He lived on his nerves and that's what killed him. Ernie was the opposite. He'd record the sketches and then go to the golf course or do something else. His attitude was 'What's done is done. We've given it our best. Can't change it. No point worrying about it.'

02:26 Hence the recurring concept of "Plays What I Wrote". 03:55 That gag came from a stand-up routine they did where Eric was meant to be Mr Memory.

Superb again. Magnus Magnusson was a very renown guy, a brilliant academic, journalist, presenter etc. He was great to take part in this. Very funny.

They were great especially with the scripts of Edie Braeburn who was considered the third member of the team, as he created their sketches at this time😁🤣 and took their comedy into a new direction.... Glad you enjoy these .. We enjoy watching them with you.. Keep trucking bro....😁😂🙂

Eric can't help but be funny, a true natural 👍❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I remember watching this, i was 11 years old and it just took me back to a time when on a Saturday night, me and my brothers and sisters would roll around the floor laughing at Morecambe and Wise. Now we all have grandchildren in a very different world. As i sip a glass of Brandy this night, it made me smile..

Ahhh, Morcambe and Wise😄🥰 …Kept us in stitches for many blessed years and STILL entertaining folks 🤗 glad you are enjoying them too 👍✨

It cuts off a really underrated often missed gag. Ernie had been calling Magnus Magnusson "Mr McManus" all through it. At the end, he says he'll never watch his wrestling again. Mick McManus was a wrestler on TV during the 70s.

We were truly blessed to have both the Two Ronnie's & Morecombe & Wise to entertain us. Such clever wordplay and witicisms from them both.

two Ronnies & morcombe & wise wordplay is always good (what happened to rising damp)

The arsenal answer is down to a regular joke on their show where a sneeze sound is disguised by the word arsenal being shouted

I now realise how I was so blessed growing up with Morecambe and Wise and the Two Ronnies as the staples of the UK comedy. Christmas Day TV was armed marked by these four guys,that the whole family would watch together in our house.

Proper comedy from actual legends of the game. So clever and the only duo to be mentioned with the two Ronnie's!

as with your other reaction videos, it's an absolute joy to see your delight at these classic comedy sketches

Well, I did tell you about this quite a while ago now, Alan - so at least you've finally got to it and seen why it was such a classic sketch back in the day (As with Greig's Piano Concerto & Singing In The Rain) - and just as funny even now! It's as funny as most of their guest singing ones, their Christmas special Musical ones, along with the many plays what Ernie "wrote" with high profile actors and actresses taking part . . .

It was a running joke in the series, someone would cough and Eric would shout out Arsenal! (the football team)

I’m so glad Morecombe & Wise were in my life throughout their lives! I loved seeing your reaction to my comedic heroes! Thank you so much for posting!

Love Eric and Ernie - you must watch their take offs of musicals like South Pacific and singin in the rain

This is the funniest thing I've see in a long time, thanks for sharing, such a shame they are no longer with us - Eric Morcambe was just the best; Morcambe and Wise, brilliant. Why don't we have 'innocent' humour and comedy like this any more?

EB✌️thank you so much for reacting to these legends it was brilliant laughing along with you Sir and we all could do with a good chuckle. Take care buddy 👍🍻

ALLO ALLO, British comedy is unbeatable EB. Always clever.

I would just like to say EB that your content is inherently enjoyable. Your laugh that's infectious and heart-warming. And the original take you have for the content you create, which I often agree with more often than not. However, I think it's because you have an amazing sense of decency and ethics that makes you come across as honest and those three words that mean so much to us Brits "down to Earth". Anyway, forgive my deviation from the standard comment. I just wanted to say what a stand-up and thoroughly decent fell I think you are. Peace!

Nearly 50 years on and I've never forgotten that Question 😁

Dear old Magnus, original presenter of master mind, an them pair, just genius 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Clarke and Dawe - The Front Fell Off You will love it.

They were a regular feature on British television in the 70s and 80s, even appearing in a great episode of the Sweeney.

I love it when you love it and enjoy yourself so much. Your laughter sets everyone off.

That 🤝 at the end of you know you know 👍🏻

The two Ronnies had brilliant play on words in their sketches, but to me they sometimes seemed a little stiff. Morecambe and Wise were two comedians who could make you laugh by only staring at the camera or saying "Uuu-hu" or "Ready when you are, Polly!". It's the wonderful chemistry, the warmth, the lovingly - nasty treatment of each other and of the guest stars that made them so unique.

I was distracted by Erik’s crazy socks the whole clip 🤣

Ernie Wise is sadly overlooked in his role in this partnership - he was the perfect foil to Eric Morcambe's delivery. They worked so well as a team that neither would have succeded without the other.

My comedy hero's, Eric died when I was 10 and I still mourn him i watch them all the time.

You could check out the Mitchell & Webb SS Officer sketch.

'he won't sell much ice cream going at that speed' Eric hearing siren. More years ago than I care to remember.

I was fortunate enough to meet Eric many years ago, and he was delightful - warm, naturally funny and everything you could hope for.

We knew that was coming! - Pass!

This is absolutely brilliant. The first time iv seen this absolutely genius

This sketch is timeless 😂😂😂😂

Just realized I started singing 'Bring Me Sunshine' after watching this. It's raining outside this Sunday morning

Few 'things' surpass British humor (would be the Swedish, same, mentality then). But I am equally amused by your infectious laugh. That, your laugh, disperses the clouds every rainy day.

I've never seen this i'm highly surprised at that as I thought I had seen all there stuff, I was laughing as much as you brilliant.

The 'cough' ARSENAL line was an ongoing joke with M&W. I can't remember how it started, but there you go.

The two ronnies mastermind is funny too

If you have time, check out the sketch with Morecambe & Wise and Andre Previn. Pure genius and you'll love it. Cheers.

I have never seen this, Morecambe and wise were brilliant and so very funny

Russ Abbot's Masterbrain sketch is also quite funny

"Stupid game!" became a catchphrase in our house.

Ahh what legends. I was born In the 90s and my parents and grandparents introduced me to these two. Very funny comedy, coming from a music hall tradtion for the whole family and every demographic as well that didn't rely on cheap gags, sexualised humour, rude words or poking fun at the establishment or working class or laughing about socio economic issues. Somehow they made the show for everyone and still managed to make great lasting comedy that left people feeling good after they watched it. Shame we don't really have anything like it now.

Thanks. I needed a good laugh

Magnus Magnusson. Icelander working in the UK. Famous for this game as host.

The Morecambe and Wise Christmas shows used to have the biggest viewer ratings on TV - back in the day when there were only three channels. So this meant that approaching half of the entire population of the UK was watching!!

Good to see you on Rob's channel last night for the AFL.

I love watching your videos! This was a masterpiece of comedy writing and all three of them pulled it off perfectly!!!

THE YOUNG ONES and bottom or Kevin Turvey,in fact anything with Rick and Ade,the dangerous brothers is a good example.

Every time I see a Morecambe & Wise clip I find myself wondering if Peter Cushing ever did get paid for his appearance on their show. 😁

Good one,EB,nice to see this sketch again and you even juxtaposed it again alongside the equally classic Two Ronnies sketch!🤣👌

Your laugh always gets me! Brilliant! Glad you enjoyed :D

Two in the morning and I am laughing along with you.

Loved growing up in the 70s The 2 ronnies M&W and a host of other absolute comic genius back then and still to this day apart from only foods and horses 80s we’ve never bettered it

Great job Alan. Another superb sketch from M&W 👏👏👏

The way the American laughs and enjoys the comedy is great.

Brilliant work !

In this world where we live there should be more happiness, so much joy we could give to each brand new bright tomorrow 😁

Eclectic your laugh is contagious as you have me laughing with your laughter.

Good to see you drop in to the Dockers' AFL game or Rob's channel!!

We had back then the Two Ronnie's & Morecambe & Wise. Two funny double acts. My preference has always been for the Ronnie's, however that's not saying Morecambe & Wise were not very funny guys. They were as part of Britain's comedy circuit as the Ronnie's & just as big. 👍🇬🇧🇺🇸

Magnus Magnusson there was the real presenter of Mastermind from its start and about 30 years.

IMO this is their best ever sketch.

Alan great to see you the other day, hope you had a great blakemas.... Have a great day buddy and most of all..... PEACE!!!!

I met Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise they came to where i live Morecambe in the UK we have his statue on the beach front here, I was born in the 60,s so i grew up watching these 2 and the 2 Ronnies

Such a talented duo, Christmas wasn't Christmas without an Eric and Ern show. Never a crude word or swearing used, something today's so called comedians should take lessons from. KZfaq is great for watching stuff you grew up watching

Love it thanks good stuff

My friend came from the same town as Eric Morecambe. He met them both on a train journey home on leave. He said they are exactly the same in real life as you see them on television.

Legends of UK Comedy Morecambe and Wise great Mastermind sketch

the cough and answer of arsenal is referencing a previous sketch where eric plays a useless memory man and ernie keeps trying to give him the answer of Arsenal by disguising it as a cough.

Oh please react to more Morecambe and Wise! As other people have said, the breakfast sketch is just wonderful.

At that time, a way to know if a celeb had made it was if they appeared on Morecambe and Wise. Celebrities knew they would get the mickey taken out of them or they'd end up having to do idiotic things, but they queued up. One of their most famous sketches was with a conductor called Andre Previn. Previn read the script, by torchlight, on the way to the recording. There were continuous references to Luton Football Club, of which Morecambe was a huge fan of. For example, a skit they did set in a POW camp had a German officer going (strangely enough) "Heil Hitler" to which one of the three English officers would respond "Luton for the cup!" Both the Previn and the POW camp sketches are worth a watch as you enjoyed this.

I loved Mastermind. It's always good to see Magnus Magnussen.

The story goes that Eric's greatest line ever happened on the spot and was never used on telly. It seems a new guest was rehearsing with them while disappearing continually due to to a dreadful dose of diarrhea. Eric said, "He needs some of that pink stuff". Ernie, "What? Calamine?" Eric, "No. Elastoplast."

I wish some of the skits they did with Glenda Jackson, Penelope Keith, Shirley Bassey and Peter Cushing are available for you to watch -- they're so funny. These serious artists allowed themselves to be **completely** humiliated by M&W in this outrageous and daft way and you could watch them a thousand times and they never lose their power. The one where we see Dame Flora Robson and she says "I worked with Morcambe and Wise -- and look what happened to me" and she's this tea-lady pushing a tea cart down the corridor. I grew up watching their shows on the TV and they're unforgettable.

I hadn't seen this,brilliant.

The fact that it was actually Magnus is difficult to comprehend these day. A bit like watching the world stare-out championships (big train?) with real footy commentators - cheers

Mastermind was an interesting programme, the first series was all teachers, university professors and academics, the next season was tube train drivers, bus drivers and taxi drivers.

My dad used to cry with laughter watching them

Have a look at some of the Christmas show plays wot Ernie wrote. Glenda Jackson is so funny. They always try to make the guests corpse. Tom Jones very nearly lost it.

A lot of people would compare the two double acts, but they were very different, Ronnie B would write some of the scripts under Gerald Wiley and send them in, and judged on their own merits, but he also appeared in other TV shows, likewise Ronnie C more clubs and theatres in the very early days with my late friend at Winstons and other clubs around London which is where he met his future wife Anne and Ronnie B and he also appeared in other TV shows, some of the drag these two did Ronnie C learned from Danny La Rue who knew me from 3 months old until he passed away in 09. Then with Morecambe and Wise they had script writers, the two acts would sometimes use the same ones at some point as again they all knew one another from The Frost Report which is where The Two Ronnies first appeared together but not as a double act, whereas Morecambe and Wise met during the war and Eric mum Sadie took over as a sort of manager /agent from the early days, I think Ernie had met Eric briefly around the circuit, but he didn't have a room to stay in one night and so the rest is history, they were teenage years by now, and the two of them plus Sadie in the room, she saw something in them together and formed the double act, but rarely did anything apart, until Eric passed away ironically after a theatre show with his friend Stan Stenett, he'd had another heart attack after the show in 1984, but went out leaving the audience happy, I think at the time Eric was supposed to be off after recovering from another heart attack, he had a few and heart operation, which bought him a few extra years, Ernie was lost without Eric, he carried on working, but never fully recovered, but within the TV series I think for both BBC and ITV you have " the plays what I wrote " much like the character Ernie plays in this Mastermind segment, Ernie was the one who thought he was a great writer and knew everything, pompous as we say in the UK, but had some great guests appearing in these plays, and guest artists poking fun at themselves via Eric, Des O'connor appeared a few times, Sir Cliff Richard, The Beatles did something with them when TV was still black and white, Sir Elton John, Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Dame Judi Dench and many many others, and Ernie was always known as a tightwad,the joke was a combination on his wallet, many of the great comics and actors would corpse and they'd keep it in the shows, even though they were sticklers for a couple of weeks rehearsals, the Xmas viewing was around 24 million likewise similar numbers for Two Ronnies

Great reaction 😂👍