CHEEKO AND THE HAM

CHICO AND THE MAN
NBC 1974-1978

At one time, there was one path to being a successful stand-up comedian that no longer exists. The Tonight Show was the only late-night talk show like it before there were several shows with the same format (and Zoom may have changed that too). You only had to do four or five minutes of your routine there and automatically you were an overnight sensation recognized everywhere. The most famous of those comedians had their own sitcoms. One such person was Freddy Prinze, who had his own show at twenty. Cheech & Chong claimed the show was stolen from them though they were notorious joke thieves in their own right.

CHEEKO AND THE HAM
MAD #177, September 1975
w: Stan Hart
a: Angelo Torres

The premise of the show was that Ed Brown (Jack Albertson) was a white man who had an auto repair shop in a Latino neighborhood in Los Angeles and Chico (Freddy Prinze) came looking for a job.

Sanford and Son was a lead-in on the same night, also a showcase for a comedian, though Redd Foxx had a long career before his show.

PABLO AND THE MAN
Crazy #10, April 1975
w: Stu Schwartzberg
a: Marie Severin

I should warn you this parody has blackface.

The punchline is that he would be more successful Black than Chicano.

CHICORN AND THE MAN
Sick #104, June 1975
w: Len Herman
a: Jerry Grandenetti

Ed's bigotry is played up more here. Maybe it also reflects the sentiment of the Sick staff. I don't know.

They keep going back and forth between Puerto Rican and Mexican.

Fair enough, since Ed is American and references are made to Great Britain.

Sick usually had a “Comedian of the Month” feature, and an issue later had him.

MAD artist Jack Davis did a button (or a beer coaster?) to promote the show, with their catchphrase.

CHICO AND THE VAN
Car Toons #84, August 1975
a: Bob James

Freddy Prinze committed suicide at 22, but the show continued without him. An attempt was made to have him replaced with a 12-year-old orphan and then an 18-year-old white girl.