Well . . . It’s Never Too Late to Laugh

The scene: A launch party (three days after the fact) for the rebroadcast of 100 episodes of the “The Steve Allen Show” (1956-60) on the HA! comedy channel, airing daily Monday through Friday (as of last Monday) at 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. After cocktails at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Allen screened some of the show’s highlights, which, indeed, elicited a steady and vocal stream of ha’s.

Who was there: A virtual who’s who of pre-”Saturday Night Live” era television comedy stars, including Bill Dana, Don Knotts, Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Alan Young, Martha Raye, Shelley Berman, Tom Poston, Don Adams, Pat Harrington, Bea Arthur and Audrey Meadows, plus Jayne Meadows, Jackie Cooper, Esther Williams, Charlton Heston, Gene Autry, Dick Clark, Steve’s son and MTM Enterprises executive Bill Allen and Zsa Zsa Gabor with her prince, Frederick von Anhalt, and daughter, Francesca Hilton.

The buzz: Aching joints; the demise of good taste in contemporary comedy; a nostalgic return to kinder, gentler laughs. Bob Hope also mentioned that he is in serious discussions with the USO about a trip to Saudi Arabia at Christmas.

Noted: By Bill Dana, a former “Steve Allen Show” writer and star, “When we were working, this country was so up-tight, you couldn’t show a close-up of a stork on ‘Zoo Parade.’ ”

Quoted: “I remember you and my horse remembers you,” said Alan (“Mr Ed”) Young, after Zsa Zsa Gabor asked him if he knew who she was.

Dress Code: Not a single person-in-black, no leather, no Spandex, no minis, no Italian suits.

Modesty aside: “This show is a museum of great comedy,” said Steve Allen.