Milton Berle: SNL’s Most Tragic Host

For those who complain that I am underselling what Milton Berel’s comedic talents, keep in mind that I love his comedy. He just sucked here. Also, if you doubt what I say in this video, look it up, and you’ll find tons of articles and cast member accounts (some of which are displayed here) that back this video up.

I agree about 99.5% with everything in this video. The only quibble I have is that I think the tragedy was not that people didn't care about HIM anymore - clearly they did, otherwise Lorne would never have had him on the show- but, rather, that he didn't care about THEM anymore. His act wasn't about making people laugh anymore, it was about feeding his ego and, from what I've read, had been for some time. He was convinced he was the funniest man alive and didn't need to change, and so was left behind. Meanwhile, with varying degrees of success, other vaudevillians, like George Burns and Bob Hope, managed to stay relevant by going with the flow (or, in the case of Hope, at least trying to). I do agree with others in this thread who thought he was good on The Muppet Show, though. The difference there is that he didn't NEED to change to succeed on it. It was, for all intents and purposes, a vaudeville show, a nostalgia act, and his genuine vaudeville cred gave the show the legitimacy it needed to also incorporate the artistic and counter cultural elements it was adding in for the less traditional bits.

Then you have Betty White who guest starred on SNL and it was a triumph winning her an Emmy.

Berle had his glory days in television from 1948 to 1953 as star of the Texaco Star Theatre. He didn't change with the times and quickly became redundant. That's show biz.

I’ve never heard about this episode, but I agree that it’s pretty personally tragic. At the very least, his episode probably wasn’t as bad as Steven Segal’s

His cameo in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" kinda makes more sense now. He's walking into the Warner Brothers lot surrounded by what look like "yes people". He says a joke and everyone laughs for a second and go back to their normal stares and Pee Wee just keeps laughing.

I have the episode on dvd, it's a real bad one. And I don't feel too sorry for him, he's always been a creep with a temper for whenever he's not the center of attention.

I’m pretty sure snl stole the blue bear idea from a YouTuber animator

The backstage story from writer Alan Zweibel about Berle actually whipping out his privates to show that the rumors about how well-endowed he was were true is one of my favorite SNL anecdotes of all time.

I can sympathize with Berle about everything else, but the dick flashing. I'm sure the people on his show in the 50s considered that highly inappropriate too and were just as uncomfortable with it, but they were just afraid to say it because he was the boss (well, technically, I guess the sponsor was the boss, but since his name was on the show and it was successful, he got his way). I remember he guest starred on the TV series, Fame after this SNL episode. Not a highlight for me; very forgettable. But I wonder if the Fame cast also had trouble working with him or if he had learned his lesson from the SNL debacle. I do remember another storyline from another episode from that show where one of the students has his comedy routine stolen by a pro comedian and I wonder if that was a thinly veiled reference to Berle.

It seems to me based on this analysis, that the most tragic part about this is the entire thing could have been avoided if he had listened, actually set his pride aside for a night and changed his act. Doesn't make the whole story any less tragic overall

That clip you showed was confusing because people did laugh at his joke, and to me he didn’t seem angry

The worst thing is that he was one of the few performers to break the color bar on TV.

I heard that the obnoxious titular character Mickey Rooney portrayed in The Comedian was based on Berle. I highly recommend it for those who haven't seen it.

It's interesting because Milton Berle was a host on The Muppet Show (which was a knockoff of SNL) two years prior, and it's one of the best episodes. I don't know the BTS of Berle at the Muppet Show, but he wasn't banned, because he later went on to have a role in The Muppet Movie years later playing the shady used car salesman. And he's one of the best parts of The Muppet movie.

Show more clips of the sketeches the next time you do this - without commentary - so we can kinda experience some of it first hand

That Charmin Bear bit you clipped for your video here was lifted right off of a Joel Haver animation. SNL "writers" aren't only completely unfunny, but they troll YouTube for joke ideas from actual talented people because they don't have a creative bone in their body.

My only real familiarity with this guy was his guest episode on "The Muppet Show". To be fair, the back and forth with him and Waldorf and Statler was pretty great.

Nope. Don't feel the slightest bit sorry for him, this is karma as far as I'm concerned.

HE SAID IT! He didn’t introduce John K as John “Should Be In Jail” Kricfaluci