Steve Allen was a multi-talented man, one of whose talents was that he could spot talent in OTHER people! On his fifties shows, he did a feature whereby he allegedly did unrehearsed "man on the street" interviews. The interviewees at various times included such funny folks as Pat Harrington, Dayton Allen and Gabriel Dell but most memorably were the men seen here, some of the funniest of them all.
Louis Nye: Pronounced "Looie," his famous catch-phrase was a fey, "Hi-ho, Steverino!" He specialized in over-privileged mama's boys with delusions of grandeur but he could also do a good serious role. In fact he made a good, long career as a character actor in films and on TV including a running role on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM in his 90s!
Don Knotts: He started in radio and while he didn't really seem to have the looks for TV, his uber-nervous character on the Allen Show more than made up for that. Andy Griffith recognized his talent and put him on his own show a few years later, effectively reducing himself to straight man and in the process creating TV history. In the sixties, he became an unlikely major movie star and, a decade later, returned to TV as a popular regular on THREE'S COMPANY!
Tom Poston: Perhaps the funniest of them all, Poston is best remembered today as a smart panelist with a dry wit on the TV quiz show TO TELL THE TRUTH but his career encompassed a number of stage triumphs as well. He was an amiable leading man in a couple of sixties features but ended up a most welcome character player in films (such as PRINCESS DIARIES 2) and on television in such shows as NEWHART. He even married Suzanne Pleshette, Newahrt's wife from his previous TV series where Poston also appeared in a few episodes!
All in all, three very, very funny guys!
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