Sock it to me?
“Sock it to me?”
lengthy article
September 19, 2010
The Comedy Writer That Helped Elect Richard M. Nixon by Kliph Nesteroff
blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2010/09/richard-nixons-laugh-in.html
“Nixon said ... that appearing on Laugh-In is what got him elected - and I believe that. And I’ve had to live with that.” - George Schlatter, Creator of Laugh-In
...The “sock it to me” bit in question was conceived for Laugh-In’s 1968-69 season premiere, less than two months before election day. “He would do anything to get elected,” says George Schlatter. “Paul Keyes convinced him that it was good for his image to appear in the midst of this kind of avalanche, this tsunami of youth and vitality.” Erickson explained that Nixon “showed up surrounded by his staff, whom he consulted about everything. Asked to say [Laugh-In catchphrase] ‘What’s a bippy?’ Nixon huddled with his entourage and decided against it - he didn’t know what ‘bippy’ meant, and really didn’t want to find out. Likewise vetoed was ‘Good Night, Dick.’ After much deliberation, ‘Sock it to me?’ was the one Dick Nixon finally approved.”...
... “Lena Horne once kicked me in the shin,” remembered Dick Martin. “[She] said, ‘You son of a b!tch, you elected that bastard!’ But we also offered the same thing to Hubert Humphrey a week later ... his adviser said no. He said to Humphrey - and I heard him say this, ‘They’ll end up throwing water on you.’ Like we’re gonna throw water on a f!!!ing presidential candidate. Absurd. That dumb son of a b!tch!”