Fernwood 2 Night

Fernwood 2 Night

1977
Fernwood 2 Night
Fernwood 2 Night

Fernwood 2 Night

8.6 | en |

Fernwood 2 Night was a comedic television program that ran from July 1977 – September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It was a parody talk show, hosted by Barth Gimble and sidekick/announcer Jerry Hubbard, complete with a stage band, Happy Kyne and His Mirthmakers. Barth was the twin brother of Garth Gimble from Mary Hartman. Like Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2 Night was set in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. The show satirized real talk shows as well as the sort of fare one might expect from locally-produced, small-town, midwestern American television programming. Well-known actors usually appeared playing characters or a contrivance had to be written for the celebrity to appear as themselves. After one season of Fernwood, the producers revamped the show the following year as America 2-Night. In this second version, Barth and Jerry's show moved to California and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS network, whose slogan was "We put U before the BS". This change allowed the show to now have well-known actors on the show as themselves.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP65  Save "Fernwood 2Night" Telethon
Sep. 30,1977
Save

Barth and Jerry stage a telethon to save the show. Final episode of the series. Continues the next summer as ""America 2Night"".

EP64  The Ransom
Sep. 29,1977
The Ransom

Happy Kyne talks about where songwriters get their inspiration. Happy and the Mirth-Makers sing ""Ice Cream Baby"". Barth interviews three heavily-disguised criminals. Barth explains to Jerry how cartoons work. Bud Prize talks about the ransom note. Somebody has his chow-chow! Barth gets a singing telegram -- actually a summons from Miami.

EP63  Fan Club President
Sep. 28,1977
Fan Club President

Barth Gimble fan club president Mercedes Blyweiss presents an award to Barth.

EP62  Indian Princess
Sep. 27,1977
Indian Princess

On the show tonight: Indian princess Shosen Rising Star and psychologist Stanley Turnbull.

EP61  Amusement and Healing Parks
Sep. 26,1977
Amusement and Healing Parks

Bob and Joanne Herlick recite Shakespeare. Nelson Phipps of the Amusement and Healing Parks.

EP60  Harry Shearer
Sep. 23,1977
Harry Shearer

Harry Shearer discusses his work in TV news.

EP59  Battery Powered Car
Sep. 22,1977
Battery Powered Car

Virgil Simms introduces his battery powered car. Emanual Kasinski on Gay Liberation.

EP58  Lattimore Diet Program
Sep. 21,1977
Lattimore Diet Program

Six-year-old trombonist Kevin McCormick. Mrs. Lillian Lattimore describes her diet program.

EP57  Singles Mingles Club
Sep. 20,1977
Singles Mingles Club

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP56  Theological Correspondence Course
Sep. 19,1977
Theological Correspondence Course

Father George Reese plugs his theological correspondence course, and accordianist Frankie ""Kid"" Carbone.

EP55  no info
Sep. 16,1977
no info

The show begins with Barth and Jerry reacting to some comments made by Tom Snyder. With the band's strike over, things return to normal. Tonight's guests include Edward Bailey, a hamburger bun juggler from the Bun-N-Run, Dr. Harlen Washburn, who describes his vision of integrated education and returning guest Baby Irene performing Animal Crackers.

EP54  no info
Sep. 15,1977
no info

Barth says a prayer on the show before introducing former daredevil now auto mechanics instructor Virgil Simms. He talks about being an auto-mechanics instructor at the Fernwood Community College. Also appearing is Elliot J Tubbs, the newly appointed National Liquor Lobby representative furthering the alcohol industry's cause. Barth ends the show with a song about truckers and fruit.

EP53  Aunt Edity
Sep. 14,1977
Aunt Edity

The show starts off on a somber note when Barth announces that the recently hired sportscaster, Jane Tiffany, was injured and is now in a coma, her prognosis uncertain. They proceed to hold an impromptu tribute to her which was quickly thrown together without hardly any thought or preparation and it shows. The first guest claimed to be Barth's Aunt Edith but is in fact Barth's former "patron" from Miami. This much older woman has tracked him down for the promised "services to be rendered" once she "put mirrors on every ceiling." The next guest claimed to be an accomplished dancer who defected from the Soviet Union but it becomes obvious that Serge Nabokov was kicked out because, as his mother put it, "you stink.

EP52  Etiquette Guidelines
Sep. 13,1977
Etiquette Guidelines

Barth starts the show with a slide show of his travels around Hollywood. Guests for this episode are etiquette authority Meg Endicott and her new book, Etiquette Guidelines for the Future and U.S. Defense Department representative, Col. Morris Chandler, announcing the newly formed War Deprogramming Center, a facility that helps war veterans ease back into the civilian life by first returning them to the war.

EP51  Behind Hollywood
Sep. 12,1977
Behind Hollywood

Author Duane Goff plugs his book, ""Behind Hollywood"". The Mirth-makers perform ""Fifteen and Free"".

EP50  Harrison Edwards' Moon
Sep. 09,1977
Harrison Edwards' Moon

Historian Harrison Edwards. Also: Tony Rolletti and Jane Tiffany.

EP49  Pet Mating Service
Sep. 08,1977
Pet Mating Service

Connie Bushman on her computer pet mating service; Sherry McCormick performs "" I Like Dreamin'""; The Birchfield, Ohio mayor tells how he spent 90 days in jail.

EP48  Pot Sniffing
Sep. 07,1977
Pot Sniffing

Impressionist Reggie Morrison; Principal Marshall Petty; Susan Cloud.

EP47  Rev. Chung Hee
Sep. 06,1977
Rev. Chung Hee

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP46  Mobile Home Daredevil
Sep. 05,1977
Mobile Home Daredevil

Las Vegas entertainer Debbie Dunbar; Mobile home daredevil Virgil Simms.

EP45  Skateboard Angel
Sep. 02,1977
Skateboard Angel

Larry Guy takes questions from the audience; The Mirth-Makers play ""Skateboard Angel"".

EP44  Real Estate Tips
Aug. 30,1977
Real Estate Tips

Comic Buddy Brown; Author Dottie Ann Lee; Eddie Thomerson's real estate tips.

EP43  Sex Therapy
Aug. 29,1977
Sex Therapy

Vern Taylor; Sex therapy clinic founder Matthew Johnson; Happy sings about tooth decay.

EP42  Solving Water Shortages
Aug. 28,1977
Solving Water Shortages

Representative Chambers on solving water shortages with icebergs. Lucy and Ed Campbell show how they display affection.

EP41  Tony and Chance Rolletti
Aug. 27,1977
Tony and Chance Rolletti

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP40  Wrestling
Aug. 26,1977
Wrestling

Jane Tiffany; Sylvia Miller; Wrestler Rock Mondo and his assisstant.

EP39  Nudists
Aug. 25,1977
Nudists

Linda Barry, owner of the Fernwood Nudist Colony. Toy maker George Ellsworth.

EP38  Getting the most from your warranty
Aug. 24,1977
Getting the most from your warranty

Virgil Simms tells how to get the most out of your new-car waranty. Basically, you make sure that it goes into the shop just before that waranty expires.

EP37  Tony Rolletti's autobiography
Aug. 23,1977
Tony Rolletti's autobiography

Tony Rolletti plugs his autobiography. The Mirth-Makers perform ""Rock Around the Clock"".

EP36  X-Rated Shopping Mall
Aug. 22,1977
X-Rated Shopping Mall

Sportscaster Jane Tiffany and W. D. ""Bud"" Prize.

EP35  The Barber
Aug. 19,1977
The Barber

Hair stylist Sal Magglione and Presidential namesake James Earl Carter.

EP34  You Are You
Aug. 18,1977
You Are You

Alberta Cornwall on how colored clothing affects moods; poet Vernon Taylor.

EP33  The Fitness Twins
Aug. 17,1977
The Fitness Twins

Fernwood mayor Merle Jeeter honors champion Girl scout cookie seller Wendy Price. Also: contortionist Mike Timmins and Mary Lou Bridgewater.

EP32  Roger Bellman
Aug. 16,1977
Roger Bellman

Marin Worth reads one of his poems. Also: Susan Cloud and chauffeur Earl Simmons.

EP31  Church of the Devine Lemonade
Aug. 15,1977
Church of the Devine Lemonade

The founder of the Church of the Devine Lemonade, Billy Jenkins. George and Sally Krepps discuss the La Fromage method of childbirth.

EP30  Two Ladies Against Pornography
Aug. 12,1977
Two Ladies Against Pornography

Nettie and Barbara Forman on the elderly.

EP29  Barbershop Trio
Aug. 11,1977
Barbershop Trio

Doctor Alexander Beach discusses his findings on marijuana. How the Humdinger Barbershop Quartet became a trio.

EP28  Ratings Week
Aug. 10,1977
Ratings Week

Singer Laurie Gallagher performs, accompanied by her mother on drums. Also: Bud Prize and Sylvia Miller.

EP27  Fernwood Blood Drive
Aug. 09,1977
Fernwood Blood Drive

Singing duo Doug and Diana Mitchell; Fernwood blood drive chairman Larry Guy.

EP26  Still a Dream
Aug. 08,1977
Still a Dream

Local opera singer Donny Lee Savage; Dr. Hugh Slocum on his latest scientific discovery; Amateur photographer Marianne Cox.

EP25  Criminal Justice
Aug. 05,1977
Criminal Justice

Gilbert Ulysses Nelson discusses the treatment of criminals.

EP24  Singers and salesmen
Aug. 04,1977
Singers and salesmen

Mario Dorsett on his success as a singer; Tony Rolletti; Mrs. Walter Donker, whose husband sells cars.

EP23  no info
Aug. 03,1977
no info

Happy Kyne shares the latest gizmo developed by the Olfactory Center of Toledo; the nose aid.

EP22  Dumbness measuring machine
Aug. 02,1977
Dumbness measuring machine

A dumbness measuring machine is demonstrated. Actually, more like a dumbness alarm. Say a dumb thing, and the alarm goes off. Like every time that Jerry opens his mouth.

EP21  Tom Waits
Aug. 01,1977
Tom Waits

Tom Waits. ""Bud"" Prize on using CB radio to bring in tourists.

EP20  Comedy Sales Techniques
Jul. 29,1977
Comedy Sales Techniques

Insurance salesman Elliott J. Tubbs demonstrates his comedy sales techniques. Happy Kyne on shut-ins.

EP19  Uncle Sam Jr. II
Jul. 28,1977
Uncle Sam Jr. II

Vernon Taylor, better known as Uncle Sam, Jr. is back and as passionate as ever.

EP18  Lou Moffatt on Land Deals
Jul. 27,1977
Lou Moffatt on Land Deals

Lou Moffatt on land deals; Bassist Eddie Thomerson. Sylvia Miller also appears and discusses how a martian violated her with a beam of blue light.

EP17  Dating Service for Dogs
Jul. 26,1977
Dating Service for Dogs

Connie Bushman talks about her dating service for dogs. Radio personality Terry Guy plugs his disc jockey correspondence course.

EP16  Garth Gimble Memorial Tennis Classic
Jul. 25,1977
Garth Gimble Memorial Tennis Classic

This episode is tentatively scheduled for air on TV LAND July 20th at midnight. Original production number: 127 Barth promotes the planned Garth Gimbel Memorial Tennis Classic. W.D. ""Bud"" Prize (Kenneth Mars) returns, and bows to public demands that he reveal the secret of his chinadonture treatment. In a rebuttal to Dr. Van Moot (aka Dr. Osgood), Phil Maltby (Morgan Upton) of Phil's Fashion Funwear and Medical Research Lab explains that leisure suits, far from causing cancer, actually can help cure disease. ""Bud"" Prize is so stimulated by this revelation that he falls asleep.

EP15  Animal Sexuality
Jul. 22,1977
Animal Sexuality

Professional football consultant Emanual Kasinski on the breeding of large men.

EP14  Breeding Athletes
Jul. 21,1977
Breeding Athletes

Barth challenges Jimmy Carter to come on the show and compete with him to prove just who is a star. Lou Moffet offers tips on home music ripoffs and the presents the American Guitar Studios home study course offered by Gimblco Enterprises. Happy & band member Tommy Maranucci sit and chat.

EP13  Tony Rolletti and Susan Cloud
Jul. 20,1977
Tony Rolletti and Susan Cloud

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP12  Uncle Sam, Jr (I)
Jul. 19,1977
Uncle Sam, Jr (I)

Candy discusses gynacology and the need for female gynacologists. Bart plays the guitar while Happy and Vernon accompany him.

EP11  Lillian Dunbar
Jul. 18,1977
Lillian Dunbar

Grandmother Lillian Dunbar and presidential namesake James Earl Carter.

EP10  Ethnic Myths
Jul. 15,1977
Ethnic Myths

Daredevil Virgil Simms; Emanuel Kasinski on his latest findings on ethnic myths and prejudice.

EP9  No-frills Hospitals
Jul. 14,1977
No-frills Hospitals

Ambassador-at-large Harold Mislap talks about his efforts to bring tourism to Fernwood, Dr. Richard Osgood presents his no-frills hospital plan.

EP8  Congressman Chambers
Jul. 13,1977
Congressman Chambers

We don't have an overview of this episode, please check back later.

EP7  Hearing Ear Dogs for the Deaf
Jul. 12,1977
Hearing Ear Dogs for the Deaf

Pet control center director Connie Bushman on Hearing Ear Dogs for the Deaf. Also: dancer Lisa Martin; Garth Gimble, Sr. and his dog.

EP6  Fernwood Fascinating Females
Jul. 11,1977
Fernwood Fascinating Females

Vernon Taylor (AKA ""Uncle Sam, Jr"") reads one of his poems, Candy Lee Hargrove talks about the Fernwood Fascinating Females League.

EP5  Corporal Punishment II
Jul. 08,1977
Corporal Punishment II

Barth talks with Debbie Dunbar's mother. Since ""last weeks"" on-air spanking, Debbie has gotten several lucrative modeling jobs. Russ Tuttle, the Fernwood coroner talks about cut rate funeral alternatives; Mrs. Dunbar appears with both of her daughters, shamelessly plugging the phone number for her ""talent agency"". Jerry rambles on about families. Barth sings ""Feelings"" while Debbie does cheerleader stuff. Once again, Garth and Louie.

EP4  Corporal Punishment I
Jul. 07,1977
Corporal Punishment I

Hula hoopist Darius Washington. South Vietnamese gardener Mein Ko Thein (?) plugs his book: ""Yankee Doodle Gook"". The Other Side of the News:High School Principal Marshall O. Petty discusses corporal punishment by demonstrating it on Debbie Dunbar. Lastly, Garth Sr. and his dumb dog.

EP3  The Wonderblender
Jul. 06,1977
The Wonderblender

Barth introduces his dad. The body language of April McTear -- contortionist. Lou Moffatt plugs Blendermatic, the Wonderblender. The owner of the Butterfly Deli, Susan Cloud (""...the body _requires_ burgers""). Barth's father Garth Sr. and his idiot dog perform,

EP2  Leisure Suits Cause Cancer
Jul. 05,1977
Leisure Suits Cause Cancer

Barth thanks the viewers for their support that got him renewed for another episode. Rocket to Stardom: Baby Irene sings ""I Didn't Know the Gun Was Loaded"". Barth talks to her about gun control. Happy talks about his nostrils. From Fernwood Commmunity College: Doctor Richard Osgood has proof that leisure suits cause cancer. (You see, they dress up the mice in tiny leisure suits... No, really!) Bury the Hatchet: Iris and Joseph Case want their son, a Catholic priest, to come back to them. Howard Palmer plays, while Baby Irene dances.

EP1  Talk to a Jew
Jul. 04,1977
Talk to a Jew

Barth talks about his unusual day-to-day contract. Howard Palmer, a man in an iron lung, plays the piano. ""Talk to a Jew"" -- Morton Rose answers audience questions. (""When is Barbra Streisand's next movie coming out?"")

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8.6 | en | | More Info
Released: 1977-07-04 | Released Producted By: , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

Fernwood 2 Night was a comedic television program that ran from July 1977 – September 1977. It was created by Norman Lear and produced by Alan Thicke as a spin-off/summer replacement from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It was a parody talk show, hosted by Barth Gimble and sidekick/announcer Jerry Hubbard, complete with a stage band, Happy Kyne and His Mirthmakers. Barth was the twin brother of Garth Gimble from Mary Hartman. Like Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2 Night was set in the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio. The show satirized real talk shows as well as the sort of fare one might expect from locally-produced, small-town, midwestern American television programming. Well-known actors usually appeared playing characters or a contrivance had to be written for the celebrity to appear as themselves. After one season of Fernwood, the producers revamped the show the following year as America 2-Night. In this second version, Barth and Jerry's show moved to California and was broadcast nationally on the fictional UBS network, whose slogan was "We put U before the BS". This change allowed the show to now have well-known actors on the show as themselves.

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Cast

Fred Willard , Martin Mull , Kenneth Mars

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Reviews

qormi Barth Gimble, Jerry Hubbard, Happy Kyne - this show left me crying with laughter every time I watched it. I remember switching this on late at night - it was the perfect sendup of talk shows. Barth Gimble as the cheesiest host imaginable - wearing long-sleeve Hawaiian shirts with his sportcoats. Jerry Hubbard in his asinine best, constantly displaying his lack of an IQ, was the perfect sidekick. Happy Kyne, the sad sack leader of the studio band , "The Mirthmakers" had about as much mirth in him as a funeral director.The guests were an assortment of people who were patently insane. The guy with the obvious toupee, which would fall off each time he was a guest; the slick infomercial sales guy; the constant flow of losers as guests made me go into convulsive laughter. Above all, the subtle sick looks Garth directed at Jerry or one of the delusional guests would again make me crack up. There are funny shows and there are shows that make you gasp for air as you double over in laughter spasms. Fernwood 2 Nite was the ultimate . Watch it on YouTube.
johnbaggett This was one of the funniest shows ever on TV in my opinion. I wish TV Land or Comedy Central would show reruns of this show. I found DVD sets on Ebay and Ioffer but they are copies made from taping them on a VCR when they were on in the 70's. I also hope that someone will make both Fernwood and America Tonight available in a DVD collection. This show was truly a classic. My son who was 2 years old when this series hit, watches it with me from DVD copies that I purchased and he thinks this is one on the funniest shows ever. PLEASE BRING THIS SERIES BACK! I wish someone would get Martin Mull and Fred Willard back for a reunion. While we'd all miss Happy Kline, it would be an awesome show.
animal_8_5 In the fall of 1977, this program became one of the brightest TV memories in my young life. Ranks right up there with Monty Python and SCTV. I too hope it emerges one day on DVD. It once made me laugh so hard, I rolled around on the floor and wet my pants. Not the coolest thing to do in front of your college roommates.The show wasn't so much a jab at small-town life, as a satire of cheesy small-town TV stations. Channel 6 - WZAZ, could as easily have been Channel 8 - CKNX, Wingham, Canada (the local station I grew up watching). I am sure Kirkland Lake's own Alan Thicke used one of his local stations as F2N's model (Probably CFCL-Timmins, CKSO-Sudbury, or both). One episode, interrupted for a news bulletin about a three-alarm blaze, promised "film at 11 pm tomorrow night". Anyone in North America who had access to these small-but-mighty TV stations could easily relate.I can still remember the first episode I watched, wondering what the heck I had stumbled onto. To my knowledge, nothing like this had ever been attempted on TV before. What an incredibly well-crafted concept Fernwood 2-Nite was! A testament to Lear, the writers, performers and crew alike. The only projects since that have come close are the Chris Guest/Eugene Levy "mockumentaries" (starring F2N's own Fred Willard). I remark at how some recent Canadian comedy TV series scripted their shows the way Fernwood 2-Nite did: Train 48, Trailer Park Boys, Puppets Who Kill and Liocracy. Some of these shows are quite hilarious, so the formula is clearly versatile.The brilliant characters on F2N took on lives of their own. To mention only a couple seems unfair to the other talented legions. Therefore, let's take Happy Kyne and the Mirthmakers (...please)! Bandleader/Bun-N-Run proprietor Kyne (Frank De Vol....remember "Music by De Vol?"), and his band of mediocre minstrels. They were so bad, they were great! Remember their renditions of popular disco hits? 'Disco Duck', backed up by the manic drummer was classic. As qualified by host Barth Gimble(Martin Mull), "They give new meaning to the word adequate."Once the show started having 'real' celebrities as guests, the show began to change direction. Fernwood 2-Nite gave way to America 2-Nite, which remained funny, but had lost all that small-town charm. With the explosion of cable and specialty TV in the 80s and 90s, the era of those wonderful small-town TV stations was also over. Like all good things, we probably didn't really realize how special they were until they were no longer.
Doug-135 Other than Monty Python, I can't think of too many shows where I would actually hurt from laughing so hard, but this was one of those shows.I think there were a lot of elements that made this show so great: all the characters were wonderful, and I like how they were so earnest in the way they went about doing their show in the small town of Fernwood Ohio, the guests who happened along and got their 15 minutes of fame momentarily, the non-PC way Barth and Jerry conversed about pretty much any topic or person, and of course, Happy Kyne and the Merthmakers.I'd like to see the shows again to see if they were all as good as I remember.