TVSquad

Last night, Carl Reiner provided a bit of comedy relief on the season finale of House. He was only in a few scenes, but had some surefire material to work with (pooh is always funny). Reiner is one of the chief architects of funny, going back to his days with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and later on with Steve Martin in films like The Jerk and The Man With Two Brains.

The Three Haircuts:
This is the musical parody sketch that created the blueprint for all musical parody sketches to follow. Just pure, wonderful madness. And watch Reiner's face as he's leaping in the air during the dance solo in "Flippin' Over You." Pick up the Sid Caesar Collection DVD of this to see it on a regular screen with better resolution.



The Clock:
Another classic. This sketch is just over seven minutes long, performed live, and with absolute comic precision. And I would be remiss to not credit Caesar, Imogene Coca, and Howard Morris here, too.



The 2000 Year Old Man:
This was something Reiner and Mel Brooks did to amuse themselves at parties, which became an accidental hit on record and TV. It's Reiner as the ultimate straight man. The sound on this clip from The Ed Sullivan Show is low, so adjust accordingly.



The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour:
Reiner was the master of gibberish, the art of making it sound like you're speaking in a foreign language while making everything up on the spot. He and Caesar would do it often, but here's Reiner on his own doing a couple of commercials on the Smothers Brothers show. Reiner comes in at about 1:30.



Bonnie Hunt Show Interview:
And finally, an interview about the House appearance.