Best Famous TV Quotes of the 50s and 60s

Famous TV quotes from best-loved televisions shows are always entering everyday conversation, particularly the funny TV quotes. Some of the more famous quotes go all the way back to the fifties and sixties.


Comedies from the Fifties Immortalized Many Famous Funny Quotes

I Love Lucy. Who can forget Ricky Ricardo's (Desi Arnaz') perilous command of the English language? Despite Lucy's (Lucille Ball's) constant showbiz schemes (remember the hilarious Vitameatavegamin commercial?), Ricky would always assure Lucy he loved her just the way she was. It was the road to getting there that exhausted Ricky's patience.

-"Lucy, I'm HO-ome!"
-"Lucy ... you got some 'splaining to do!"
-Waaaahhhh!!!

How about Jackie Gleason and The Honeymooners?

Many shows in the fifties were televised live but there were often running gags from one show to another that kept viewers tuned in. Jackie Gleason was one of the funny one-liner masters in his own show as well as The Honeymooners, providing many that are still used to this day. When on The Honeymooners, Art Carney was his ideal sidekick and Audrey Meadows their perfect 'straight man'.

-"How sweet it is!"
-"One of these days, Alice ... POW! to the moon!"
-"Baby, you're the greatest."
-"And awaaaay we go!"

The Fifties and The Sixties Were as Different as Day and Night

Consider the dresses Lucy wore to welcome Ricky home, then think of the mini skirts on the TV show Laugh-In! Dan Rowan and Dick Martin led Laugh-In's cast of crazies, producing some of the funniest and most unexpectedly famous, memorable lines ever on television.

Best Funny Lines from Laugh-In

-"Sock it to me!"
-"Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!"
-"Say goodnight, Dick." "Goodnight, Dick."
-"You bet your sweet bippy!"
-"Verrry interrresting ..."
-"One ringy dingy ... two ringy dingys ..."

Lucy was still having her day, though. As the head of Desilu Studios, she could single-handedly make or break a new television show. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Phelps (Peter Graves) have much to be grateful to the famous redhead for. Their shows would never have aired without Lucille Ball's business savvy and ability to spot a good thing when she saw it.

Star Trek Created a Different Genre for Television Shows with Gadgetry and Innovation

Star Trek broke ground with futuristic concepts. Consider communicators (oddly similar to cell phones), food simulators (think microwaved popcorn or five second bacon strips) and non-invasive surgery (akin to how gall or kidney stones can now be shattered with sound waves).

Star Trek's producers and writers also tried to put women in positions of authority. They mildly succeeded with Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) being the Communications Officer on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Unfortunately, when they attempted to present Majel Barrett as Number One in the original pilot episode, it wasn't well received.

In the end, Mrs. Gene Roddenberry had to settle for being the softer, very blonde nurse. However, Majel Barret knew that innovation takes time and new ideas can evolve and come around. Nurse Christine Chapel had become Dr. Christine Chapel by the time the first Star Trek movie was released in 1979.

Most Memorable TV Quotes from the Original Star Trek

-"Fascinating."
-"To boldly go where no man has gone before."
-"Scotty, ready to beam up." ("Beam me up, Scotty" was never a line in any Star Trek episode)
-"Live long and prosper."
-"Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a (insert vocation here)!"

Mission Impossible Was a Bold New Way of Looking at Cloak and Dagger Activities
Intelligent scripts, skilled spies and technical advantages put the team of Mission Impossible in the winner's circle at the end of every episode. The 'bad guy' was identified to Mr. Phelps through a convoluted exchange so he could receive the case information on tape. The IM Force always chose to accept its mission with the token lady spy always an integral part of the capture.

Best Famous Lines from Mission Impossible

-"Good morning, Mr. Phelps."
-"Your mission, if you choose to accept it ..."
-"This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

Get Smart with Agent 99 and The Chief

Just as Mission Impossible made the spy game sophisticated, Get Smart lampooned it for all it was worth. Remember CONTROL's Cone of Silence, the shoe phone or the fact Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) was easily the most inept spy to ever play the game? Without Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), who knows where KAOS would be today!

Best Well-Known Lines from Get Smart

-"Would you believe ..."
-"Missed it by that much!"
-"Sorry about that, Chief."
-"That's the second biggest (insert object here) I've ever seen!"
-"Oh, Max!"

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Many More Single One-Liners Occurred in 60s Television Shows

Without leaving any of the important single lines out, here are a few famous lines that can't be forgotten:

-"Oh, Rob!" - The Dick Van Dyke Show
-"I know nothing!" - Hogan's Heroes
-"Yes, master." - I Dream of Jeannie

Looking ahead to the 70s and 80s will show the evolving face of television and its impact on society with memorable TV quotes that are still remembered and used everyday.


Author Twinkle Brar

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