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After starting his stint as a TV kid’s show host in New York, Morty Gunty got his big break. The one that every entertainer once dreamed of getting. The Ed Sullivan Show!
Morty seemed a little nervous at the start, and he probably should have cut his notorious mother-in-law chair joke to have extra time to slow down his delivery, but nothing Morty Gunty did or didn’t do that night mattered, because in the entire history of show business the circumstances couldn’t possibly have been worse. As you will see, Morty was the lead-in to an act that nobody would ever want to appear before, or after.
And then I went and got Morty fired from his day job.
NOTE: A little bit of research reveals that Morty Gunty did not, in fact, appear live with the Beatles that evening. In fact, nobody did! The Beatles had taped that appearance, which was inserted into the show.
According to the IMDB, in 1965 Morty Gunty made a second appearance on the Sullivan show.
Yes, the interior decorator bit was funny. But can you imagine having to appear immediately before The Beatles? Talk about a good news/bad news joke!
And of course, George is gone, too. Remember how everybody liked Ringo best when the boyz first came over? I’ll shut up now.
Yeah, the Beatles just made you feel good all over. Sadly, we can now say “NO!” to Paul’s question back in 1967: “Will you still need me, will you stll feed me, when I’m 64?” He’s plugging that strange orchestral album about his life with Linda that isn’t selling too well. John is gone; hard to believe I am now ELEVEN years older than he was when he was shot! Yeesh! My husband was 14 when they first appeared on Ed’s show — eek!
Ya gotta admit, Morty’s description of the interior decorator, right down to the dyed PUNK HAIR, stills hold up, over 40 years later! Go figure!