This was an ongoing thing, they pretended to not like Des, and he pretended to go along with it. 3 of the best right there.

They were Great friends, when Eric died, des was doing a show and did a tribute, he completely broke down doing it, I saw him talking about it 20 years later and he still teared up. Morcambe and wise are my favourite duo ever.

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch the Morecambe and Wise with Andre Previn. One of their best... :).

That was my childhood, right there.

The thing was that Eric and Earnie were fanatical about rehearsing their shows, down to the slightest details. When they were working at the BBC, their rehearsal room was a part of a block of flats in London, where they were well known for exceeding the time they were given to use the rooms, so much that some of the artists who were supposed to use the same rooms later in the day would have to be moved to other locations, sometimes for days. The only time that they agreed to do without their usual rehearsals was when they had the world famous conductor Andre Previn as their guest and he was stuck in the USA and wasn’t able to attend any rehearsals at all. Eric was seriously afraid that the whole show would be a farce, even to the point of doing the show, he only settled down when Previn managed to rescue a part of the sketch by making an add lib comment and Eric realised that Previn understood the sketch.

I mentioned it on your previous reaction to them, but "Boom Oo Yata-Ta-Ta" is worth a butchers (look).

Morecambe and Wise, the Two Ronnies and Tommy Cooper are British comedy royalty.

After Eric had one of his heart attacks - Des asked the audience where he performing to pray for Eric. Eric upon hearing about this said ... 'Those 2 or 3 people are what probably made all the difference :-)' ... even when seriously ill Eric could not help being funny.

Welcome to the world we grew up in. Eric & Ernie and the two Ronnies were my heroes. A once in a lifetime, never to be repeated comedy genius that makes me so honoured to have been around at the same time, all of them sorely missed.

Think it was Eric Morecambe's daughter that said "We went on a family holiday to Paris and went to see the Mona Lisa and we were looking at the painting and the rest of the crowd was looking at my father. That's when I knew how famous he was."

One of my favourites is the play what Ernie wrote for Glenda Jackson: Cleopatra.

Being me sunshine 🌞 makes me cry today.

These two were an absolute masterclass in the meaning of "comic timing" Every single line, every little movement, it was all perfect. Never missed a beat, unless it was funnier that way.

When this was made, they'd known each other for 20 years - from the very beginning of Des's career. They remained good friends throughout and Des even started suggesting the insults for Eric to throw at him

M &W were the top comedy duo for decades and their shows were usually top rated, especially the Christmas Shows which were an institution

The class of Des...he got pelters from M & W so often... its was very funny

I saw these two at the Derngate, Northampton in the '70's. At the end they said "You have just seen our entire lives. If you want more then you will to talk to us." They sat on the edge of the stage, legs dangling and talked back and forth to the audience for two hours more.

Out of all the fantastic British comedy there is, I love these guys the most. Such a wholesome duo.

I love the one with Tom Jones trying to sing whilst M&W were doing the sha la la's comedy royalty

'Death' O'Connor, they called him. RIP, Des :(

What I love about this, is how much they are enjoying themselves.

Des was the last of the three to die, and everyone in their tributes joked that Eric and Ernie would be joking as he arrived in Heaven. Very sweet.

They go back a long way when they first started out. Des used to write some of the put down's (of himself) for Eric and Ernie. They were a huge loss when they passed. Their show was on every christmas and it took a long time to get used to not seeing them.

Thank you for sharing this with us all. Eric Morecambe was one of the funniest comedians in the history of comedy in the U.K . Arguably “The Best Ever”. Our household loved watching him back in the 70’s. They don’t produce comedians like him anymore. Very much missed. 😞

Des O'Connor was a fantastic chat show host. You'd be hard-pressed to find another interviewer who was as warm, welcoming and put his guests at such ease. Classy guy!

They were the greatest of friends, and rumour has it that Des hit a very rough patch in his career so Morecambe and wise came up with the running gag and numerous guest appearances on the show to help tide Des over until he was back on his feet

If you can find a full version of the one with Andre Previn, you'll love it.

Andre Previn should be your next one. Hilarious 😂

This show was a huge part of my childhood, especially the Christmas specials, my dad had a close resemblance to Eric Morecombe and was just as funny...Des O'Connor was a great sport and full of life, his last child was born when he was 72...he only passed last year at the age of 88....he actually had a really good voice and a very successful singing career which makes these sketches even funnier.

You have the Yorkshire rose in the background. Nice!

The funniest Morecombe and Wise I remember watching when I was a teenager were with Andre Previn, the famous conductor, and Shirley Bassey, singer. Both of these sketches were priceless. I'm sure they will be on KZfaq

Some of the biggest names at the time went on their show and humbled themselves... Real humour from real personalities...

Morecambe and Wise honed their act on the variety theatre circuit, something that's no longer there as a training ground. I'm sure someone else will have mentioned it, but look at their sketch with André Previn. Pure gold. The only guest that managed to keep a straight face on their show. He was a premiere symphony orchestra conductor, and I recall that he learned his part for the sketch on an overnight flight from the USA to the UK, and pretty much went straight from the airport to the TV studio to record it.

I love Morcombe & Wise, they were hilarious, always made me laugh every time. 😂👌

I love that your laughing gets me laughing even more than the show. It's like a tonic!

You've just discovered Morecambe & Wise? You're in for a real treat. So many examples of pure British TV comedy gold.

I loved these two growing up. Could just see Eric morecambe and start laughing before he even opened his mouth.

My aunt was on a Morcambe and Wise Christmas Special once. It's fantastic. They are amazing.

Morecambe and Wise were genius. Eric Morecambe (the one in glasses) was generally considered the funniest, but Ernie Wise played the straight man to perfection (and was frequently just as funny as Eric). They worked together perfectly, and are still fondly remembered in the UK today. I personally think that their Shirley Bassey sketch is a perfect one to watch next.

Des told the story about when he did a Royal variety show; at the end Prince Phillip and the Queen met the stars and Phillip said "Oh! You're the one Morcambe and Wise cant stand" and Des said, no it was all a joke and Phillip said "Tell me, Are you really that bad ?"

they started on stage in their teens and kept the duo going till eric died...they honed thier act to comic perfection

Just to let you know that Eric Morecambe was on the board of Luton Town F.C. which was often referred to especially in Ernie Wise's plays what he wrote.

Watching this again makes me feel sad for people who didn't grow up with Eric & Ernie

Yep - your reaction at 'unscrupulous' is what we all were doing back in the 70s!! And I love that they went off script too - you can tell ^*^ And Des followed them - he did have quite a good voice but he was also, in his latter years, not a bad talk show host too - RIP Mr O'Connor (I imagine Eric & Ernie are still giving you stick ;) )

Even after all these years, I've never tried of this sketch! I watch it often!

love the fellas , ernie was born up the road from me and eric was born in morcame and a great guy . proper old school comedy seen the breakfast sketch with the grapefruit rouitne ?

One of their old sketches but one of the best Morecambe and Wise Boom Oo yata ta ta.

Christmas wasn’t Christmas without the M&W Christmas show.

All three Des, Eric and Ernie were great friends for decades and this was a running joke(many of which Des wrote himself) for most of that time, in the UK everyone knew this which was part of the fun. Masterpiece of masterpieces, Morecombe and Wise and their sketch with Andre Preview.

You need to review the one with Andre previn.

Morecambe and wise , you watched them with your family, they were so funny and brillant. When each of them died it was like losing a relative. So so loved, they never swore, but so funny. My brother used to do that on my face you are an idiot , I, d and slap my face and used to laugh. They were both brilliant!!

Des passed away last November. I don't think any of the great entertainers and comedians from my childhood are still around. :( These were the people we'd watch as a family before the scourge of multiple TV channels. At the time this show was aired, we only had three TV channels in the UK. And there were no video games. So, the only entertainment we really had at the evenings was entertainers like these.

Ernie was so underrated. Without him there would have been no legendary double act. A great all around performer & no ego. I recommend both of their double autobiographies. Reading those will make u understand how vital Ernie was in the mix.

When comedians were comic. Simple, professional and just funny.

Omg three legends missed so much that was just so funny loved it

Genius. Everything was perfectly rehearsed like a well oiled machine, but come showtime you could not stop Eric Morcambe from his little improvs and ad libs, which would set Ernie off. Performed in front of live studio audiences, they just played up to the crowd. Totally British humour, they could be suggestive, even a little naughty, but without being rude, crude or hurtful. We also had Russ Abbot for more slapstick style, Benny Hill for tongue in cheek, risque humour, Carry On films for slightly naughty humour, Kenny Everet for grown up outrageous humour, and of course Dame Edna Everidge for ... Dame Edna humour. And loads more.

Morecambe and Wise, Excellent Medieval comedy with a 'not any more', Modern twist, Innocent Saturday night Fun for the 70's and early 80's .

I love it when Americans connect so instinctively with our humour. Makes us feel closer. So glad you laughed so much. These two/three were masters, and Des did have a wonderful singing voice. My mother met him on Southport pier when he was due to go on stage in the early 1960s. He was very nervous, and my little Mum made him feel so much better by just talking to him. He thanked her.

You should check out: “Morecambe and Wise, with André Previn”. André Previn was - at the time - conductor to the London Symphony Orchestra (or was it the BBC orchestra 🤔). Very funny.

My favourite sketch by these two is the "Morny Stannit" love it. Hard to track down though. Also the way they join in with Tom Jones

Morecambe and Wise came out of the Music Hall (Vaudeville to Americans) and their style was very much in that tradition. In the 60s and 70s many of the older comics had been on stage first, same in the states e.g. George Burns, Jack Benny, so they knew how to work an audience and had perfect timing, you wouldn't have survived a live audience in Music Hall if you hadn't. The physical stuff was perfect too, derived from slapstick, indeed M and W often said that Laurel and Hardy were an inspiration to them.

Their comedy timing was always practised perfectly and came across as natural and effortless. They were so big, their Christmas special was the highlight of the day and we used to plan our Christmas dinner and festivities around it. Classic actors were desperate to appear with them and be humiliated. Check out Andre Previn, the then conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and what Eric did to him. Every time he tried to perform the Grieg piano concerto afterwards for years, the audience would burst out laughing.

Eric Morecambe called Des, "Desdemona", and it stuck!...You should watch some of Ernie's plays what he wrote..with guest stars lining up to be in them....lol

Morecambe and Wise the most popular thing on TV in the 70s. They are absolute comic genus and no swearing etc just good old fashioned very funny humour.

I'm so glad you enjoy their humour. At their peak, Morcambe and Wise shows were watched by over half the population of the UK. Watch out for 'Boots' jokes. Boots is the name of a very large chain of dispensing chemists and shops. Nearly every town has at least one branch of Boots. 😊

The Morecombe and Wise Christmas Specials became the highlight of Christmas Day television often being watched by over half the British population.

This still makes me howl with laughter and I'm 51 now. I grew up watching Morecambe and Wise, and the stuff they did with Des O'Connor was just so pure and sweet. The time they decided to let him sing and then cut to the ad break is my favourite, second to the sketch with them all walking down the stairs, where Eric and Ernie keep walking and Des disappears. Sweet.

You’ve taken me back to my childhood when I used to look forward to watching M&W each week. The running gag in each show was the skit in which Ernie was a wannabe playwright but was useless in his grammar and spelling. They’d get a celebrity guest on each week to ‘star’/participate in Ernie’s latest play. They modelled themselves a lot on their heroes - Laurel & Hardy... even to the extent of (like L&H) they’d (in the show’s skits) live together and even sleep in/share the same bed. This was nothing to do with being gay or anything like that, it was (again like L&H) they portrayed themselves with the innocence of two little boys. Of course, these days the (let’s say) new generations would undoubtedly read into it what’s not actually there, and spoil the whole illusion.

When they was at the hight off thier career there was a 2 year waiting list just to be on thier show for celebrities

100% true story. My Mum managed a residential home in Cheshire when was a kid. Thieves stole the TV, Hi Fi and all the records. A couple of weeks later they posted the Des O'Connor vinyl LPs back. It even made the local news.

Eric and Ernie - real legends of comedy,, and TV 'Variety' shows. Always had legendary guest stars, especially for the Christmas Day evening specials... often for the the plays "what Ernie wrote" There was a running gag for years, where Peter Cushing would regularly wander on trying to get them to pay a long overdue appearance fee and they'd give him the runaround

Yey! more morcambe and wise.

In my childhood so 60s/70s, everyone watched them at Christmas especially. My father lived them. They made a point of being particularly rude to celebrities. Watch the one with Andre Previn. They don't even get his name right.

If I recall correctly celebrities were lining up to take part in their shows and, unlike nowadays, it was not because they had some new thing out they wanted to push.

Their Christmas specials were the highlight of Christmas tv in the 70’s! Wonderful 😊

They had known Des O'Connor for years and came up through the variety circuit with him so they were friends way before Eric and Ernie had the shows. But as for the 'insults' Des often said that he couldn't pay for that publicity and everyone knew it was all in good humour. In fact they would regularly 'insult' their guests but they always did it in a way where they weren't vulgar or belittleing them. In fact there was a top actress at the time who they wanted on the show and if I remember right she kept refusing as she thought she would be put in a negative light or whatever. They or her manager eventually persuaded her to go on and she ended up loving the experience and as far as I know ended up great friends with Eric and Ernie. It was a sign that you had made it if you were invited onto their show.

Morecambe and Wise are brilliant, add Des and it’s comedy Gold! 🤣

Who can forget Angela Rippon or the "Nothing Like a Dame" routine?

I saw Morecambe and Wise live in my home town of Scarborough (UK), way back in the late 70s. I laughed so hard I was sliding off my seat, and my sides were still aching the next day. I feel very privileged to have seen them live. Their Christmas TV specials were "required viewing", too. As has been suggested previously, you MUST try to see the one with Andre Previn and the Orchestra. Look out for the musicians in the background laughing at it all. Very sadly missed.

Check out the “no I’m playing all the right notes, not necessarily in the right order” argument with Andre Previn. Comedy gold

I love Morcambe and Wise - try and watch the clip with Tom Jones 🤣🤣🤣🤣

There's a brilliant clip from I think when they moved to Thames TV, with the 3 of them, where they're supposed to finally let Des sing & just as he draws breath to start singing it cuts to a break! Hilarious.

Morcambe & Wise always rehersed with the stars they had on the shows and their timing was brilliant ! 😂👍🇬🇧

Des actually wrote some of the 'insults' they quoted about him.

They came from a pre war music hall tradition and somehow managed to transform, after a rocky start, into a mainstream double act. Their chemistry was real. And man it shows.

there is another sketch morecambe and wise did with des o connor i think from a morecambe and wise christmas special when david frost interviews morecambe and wise and they bring on des o connor as a guest. They really loved each other, when eric morecambe was in hospital after a heart attack des rang the hospital and spoke to him, des wanted to make eric feel better so he said "if theres anything can do you let me know" eric not missing a beat said "retire".

You getting Morecambe and Wise just delights me, this is the comedy we were brought up on in the UK in the early 70's and made us very happy

Sadly all 3 are now not with us. Thank you for posting this... Absolutely hilarious. 🤣👍

From the UK: The double act had started in Variety Theatre in the UK in the late 1940s and then, after a couple of lack lustre attempts to move into TV in the 1950s and early 1960s, they started to really hit the spot in the late 1960s. What you're viewing here is from the early to mid 1970s. Their peak on TV was 1969-1982. I think the script writer then was Eddie Braben. The whole basis of the sketch relates to the long run gag they had with Des O'Connor, a UK ballard singer and recording artist, much favoured by the ladies, who, like them, had come-up through Variety Theatre and who had broken through to TV in the early 1960s. Their career paths had crossed in Variety Theatre, most notably, its reported, at the Glasgow Empire theatre, which could, more often than not have a "Rough House" barracking audience - amongst performers it was known as the " Performers graveyard". On this one occasion, at the Glasgow Empire, a young Des O'Connor was so overwhelmed by the hostile reception he got from the audience, that he fainted and had, rather unceremoniously, to be dragged feet first off the stage by the stage hands. Clearly this event became widely known within the Variety professions and formed the basis of the long-running gagg that Eric and Ernie relied upon. Ok, this is the sort of interplay that Bob Hope and contemporaneous comedians had been practising since the 1940s, but, to the TV generation who had not seen the heyday of Variety Theatre in the UK (Which was by the 1960s on the way out), this was new. I've got a particular interest in this as, at their peak, Ernie Wise lived locally to me in Harrow, N.W, London, and used to regularly come into the retail tobacconist, confectioner and stationery shop run by my dad. He was a keen fan of musical greetings cards and used to pay in small change taken from a "Man-purse" ! - Again, his alleged stingyness was another long-run gagg which featured in the comedy routine, along with Eric saying "You can't see the join" referring to the reports that Ernie wore a hair-piece. Very coincidentally, My dad's name was Eric and his father was Ernie. For viewers outside the UK:- "Goner" is British Military slang for dead. "Boots" was and is a UK-wide Chemists chain (Pharmacy). "Prescription" refers to a script for medication written by a UK National Health Service General Practitioner (Family practitioner in the U.S ?) which would be fullfilled by a retail chemists like Boots. "Like Concorde coming out of the hangar for this first time" . Mr O'Connor had inherited some racial characteristics from his Jewish mother's side of the family . . and Concorde was a very pointy nosed aircraft (The PC brigade probably wouldn't allow this nowadays). "I still think he's loue -ly", verbal transformation of "Lousy" into "Lovely" as Des comes into Ernie's view. Arthur Neagus was a TV personality in the early 1970s who used to view and appraise antique furniture. "He's tumbled" means in this context "Found out" - I think it may be related to UK criminal fraternity slang describing the opening of a safe i.e. all is revealed/found out. "With a suit like that you need a sense of humour" . . .Eric pulling Des' leg about the design/cut/quality of the theatrical garb he was wearing. "Don't blow too hard" Eric making oblique reference to Ernie's alleged hair-piece, suggesting it could be displaced by a simple misplaced exhilation of breath. "You tell us who it is and we'll have him done-over" says Eric - "Done-over" means beaten-up. "Its there in my Brain, an indelible thought" I suspect that's Des drawing a parallel between long-lived memory and the endurance of marks left by an indelible laundry marker. Des slapping Eric's face, is Des hi-jacking Eric's trade-mark action with Ernie - I suspect that the origin of this face slapping was general late 19th and early 20th Century Uk Culture, supposedly to confer good-luck before undertaking an endeavour. I think it may have been taken-up by some Variety Theatre performers as similar good-luck jesture to fellow performers before they went on stage ? I have to take issue with your comment that SNL not being funny anymore . . . . kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hsyAl7yK2KvKcXk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o8ePf7ajnKnbnIU.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/epichJqEzNGwmYk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qMxyZsp318jYmIE.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jbZ-fbJ9mpbdpmw.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b9Ggp9NquNOxZY2b.htmlttps://kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rc1ln6yhttHTf5s.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fcmUbMKdz5qmdKc.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b890gqZ9tNeqqas.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/adN8prhlm86ceXU.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p9iFgqmkks6-XYE.html To a simple pair of UK eyes . . hilarious . ."More power to their elbow" (i.e keep-on trucking) as we say in the UK. I'm still a fan of Garrison Keillor. And your "Social Crime Radio" is pretty dark and gritty contemporary stuff. Similarly hard-nosed satire is in the UK TV series "In-the-loop" which parodies UK Political life in the noughties (2000-2010) and the relations with the US in connection with the "War-on-Terror" A milder version of that in the UK at present is Sara Millican and kinder, shaggy-doggy talesish humour . . Stewart Lee. And going back further, on TV Monty Python, the Goodies, Spike Milligan's Q series, Fawlty Towers, Yes minister, the Young Ones, Blackadder, Drop the dead donkey, and on radio Round-the Horne, The Burkis way, Old Harry's Game.

I was genuinely upset when Eric died. 1984 I think it was. The whole nation mourned. He had an incredible aura. He didn't need to tell a gag. He'd just look at the camera. Huge stars of the day were desperate to get on the show. Especially the Xmas special. One such show had Elton John wandering around the studio knocking on doors looking for Eric and Ernie. The last door was a 100ft drop into the river.

Classic 70's Morecambe and Wise with Des O'Connor love this one still creases me up R.I.P all 3 of them

Happy Memories! Morecambe and Wise were big stars, and many famous people appeared as their guests to be made a fool of. Never missed their shows.

There are so many classic comedy scenes that they created - the one with Shirley Bassey is one of my favourites.

There's a hamlet cigar advert with russ abbot.. He puts a des O'connor vinyl into the water and the fish jump out 😂😂

I was a television repair engineer in the 1960's and 70's each Christmas it was a battle to repair everyones TV in time for the Morecambe and Wise Show.

Still bringing sunshine half a century later! The tragedy is that the BBC, at that time, wasn't preserving those recordings for posterity. It eventually released a boxset of as many episodes as it had.

Morecambe and wise on Mastermind, comedy gold

Making fun of Des was a long running joke. Celebrities loved appearing on their show and being insulted.

Eric and Ernie wise were best friends from childhood right to the end of their lives. They were truly talented wonderful men. Incidentally they were, despite always ribbing Des O'connor's (singer and tv host) to pieces close friends with him too. I agree with others PLEASE check out the Andre Previn scetch... also the one where they sing backing vocals on a young Tom Jones singing "yeah yeah yeah" its hysterical!!!!

What is great about them is they are about fun and appeal to every age group. It is funny when you know they break from the script and are ad libbing. Earliest sketch I can remember them doing was with Dick and Sid and the "Boom Oo Yata-Ta-Ta" (Will You Miss Me Tonight)' song which became a record in 1963. Another thing they'd do then is start a joke about Two old men sat in Deck chairs and one said to the other.... joke every time interupted at that point with an advert break. Then advert break over back again with the audience laughing. They kept this going for ages where the TV viewers never heard the end of the joke. Then some time later they revealed the end of the joke which is.Two old men sat in Deck chairs and one said to the other it's nice out isn't it? The other man replied well put it away you dirty devil. So pleased recently found a silent Super 8 film I took of them when they opened a store back in 1972. I agree with others the André Previn one is a classic.