Series Description

The Flip Wilson Show was a 60 minute comedy series on NBC that featured comic Flip Wilson and his wonderful characters in comedy skits with well known guest stars.

Flip Wilson Show Cast

Flip Wilson .... Himself / Miscellaneous Characters
John Harlan .... Himself / Announcer

Flip Wilson Show Trivia:

Flip Wilson was the first black person to star in his own immensely popular comedy/variety show! It reached #2 in the ratings for its first two years on the air! That's even more impressive when you consider that during the first season the hit CBS series, "Family Affair" was in the same time slot and during the second season ABC put "Alias Smith and Jones" up against the Flip Wilson Show!

John Harlan is among the most renowned announcers in show business. Besides the Flip Wilson Show, he also announced on "Password", "The Merv Griffin Show", "Jeopard", "American Gladiators", "Name That Tune", and many others!

After years of no interest in rerunning episodes of the Flip Wilson Show, Flip himself decided to buy the rights to his series from NBC in the 1990s. He brilliantly decided to edit them down to 30 minutes, making them more attractive for reruns. After several years of working on them, they finally were broadcast on TV Land.

Flip Wilson's popularity was due to the characters he performed. The most popular by far was a sassy female named Geraldine Jones who was a loud-mouthed women's libber with a boyfriend who was so jealous of her that his name was "Killer"! That character was undoubtedly the most successful "cross-dressing" role since that of Milton Berle! Flip also played Gospel Reverend Leroy of the Church of What's Happening Now, Herbie the Good Time Ice Cream Man, and Danny Danger: Private Detective.

When Flip's character, Geraldine, would get caught doing something that wasn't so nice she would say, "The Devil Made Me Do It!" That phrase became commonly used for several years due to its popularity on the show.

The Flip Wilson Show was obviously a blast for the guest stars who were lucky enough to be invited on the show. A few of them were Lucille Ball, Ray Charles, Tim Conway, Bill Cosby, Bobby Darin, Red Foxx, The Osmonds, and Don Rickles.