Well, the gravelly-voiced lady is Totie Fields, one of the sets of 60s and 70s comedien(ne)s who never appeared to be in anything but always showed up on Carson and game shows. I can't speak to the guys, as they never say anything and the tape is wonky. Maybe the longhair at the end is Bobby Sherman.

He lives in all of us . . .

OK, enough of the cornball stuff, but he does indeed live in me. The Mike Douglas Show educated me on American culture more than anything before or since. Catching it after school in the '70s because, well, our choices were limited back then, I remember:

A tiny Tiger Woods putting with Bob Hope, and Alice Cooper putting with Spiro Agnew;

Ruth Gordon complimenting Patti Smith on her originality;

Hearing ABBA and the Pointer Sisters for the first time;

Bizarre comments from Anita Bryant, who was just beginning her crusade against gays;

and assorted other memories that surface from time to time.

You just don't get that on Letterman.

God bless Mike Douglas. He explained it all for you, and helped you remember that it didn't matter who was right or wrong, cool or straight, or from whatever generation -- only that civility ruled. I feel truly sorry for the kids and younger adults of today, who have never experienced that.

I agree, the woman is Totie Fields.

It looked to me like the other two guest were

Harvey Korman and Robert Klein.

occurred 30 years ago when I channel-surfed (among the 4 available channels at the time) right into the middle of Mike's interview with Waits. I had no idea who -- or what -- he was, and I didn't catch his name. Even so, it made a huge impression on me -- becasue years later, when I saw and heard my first Tom Waits album, I immediately shouted out, "That's the mumbly, hunched-over guy with the goatee and the cigarette that I saw way back when on the Mike Douglas Show!"

And am I mistaken, or was the guy playing sax in Waits' band none other than the immortal Tom 'triple scale' Scott?

This song is Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson) from the album Nighthawks at the Diner, which came out in 1975.

More Than Rain came out in 1985, on the album Frank's Wild Years.

Frank's Wild Years came out in 1987.

Damn the typos! Full speed ahead!

Totie totally calls out Chaim Witz!

Totie Fields and Robert Klein. I can't identify the shorter man in between them.

The question was, who were the other guests with Gene Simmons. The woman was Totie Fields. A fairly popular comedian in the sixties. She died in the early or late seventies. I don''t know who was sitting immediately next to her, but I'm fairly certain the young guy who leaned in as if to kiss Simmons was Robert Klein.

Mike Douglas may have been a square, but he was a kind and decent man. He had the grace to welcome many diverse people on his show. This does not show a generation gap. It shows what it means to be an responsible adult. I was a young man when the show was most popular. It certainly didn't appeal only to 'retirees'. How arrogant and foolish on your part. Mike Douglas was a huge TV star. Please try to get your head around the idea that if it didn't happen five minutes ago or less, then it never really happened. Gene Simmons was a joke then and still is. Sensationalism does not connote talent.

...I'm pretty sure, is Totie Fields. She was a comedian and a regular on Douglas' show. But what about the "you can't hide the hook" line in reference to Simmons' Semitism?

I still can't view the video on this site, but had a look on YouTube. The guest host is Tody Fields, and it looks to me like the man on the end is Neil Diamond. The smaller man in the middle could be Danny Kaye, but it's hard to see.

I think they were:

Totie Fields

Dan Rowan (of Rowan & Martin's "Laugh In")

Robert Klein (70's comedian)

Dear Editor:

The song Tom Waits is performing in the Mike Douglas clip is not "More Than Rain." It is titled "Eggs & Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michelson)."

There is a clip of Waits performing "More Than Rain" on "Late Night with David Letterman" at this address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0p0NjsciOY

I remember the Letterman performance from its original (1985?) airing. I had seen a couple of Waits' videos, but this was the first time I saw Waits perform "live." I was only about 16 at the time, but I was hooked.

Best regards,

Michael Carmody

Wichita, Kansas USA

Air Capital of the World

Mike Douglas was not about square, he was about class. He was not about gaps, he was about bridges. If you could cram the terribly funny quips about 60s jargon like "groovy" and Tom Waits' "bleeps" -- are you fourteen? -- and really watch those clips, you might see that Douglas was respected and loved by the great and the not-so-great for his kindness and genuine interest in his guests. Here's the part perhaps most difficult for you to understand: Mike Douglas was about humility -- which is the diametric opposite of being out of touch. The latter derives from arrogance. That's YOUR thing.

Kerry Lauerman,

Your comment that Mike Douglas was “out of touch” was condescending and rude. He was one of the most in touch people ever to grace the airwaves.

As a kid I and my sisters watched Douglas religiously during summer vacations. I’m sure none of us could have explained this habit, other than the fact that there was “nothing else on” besides a soap opera and a lame game show.

I believe we watched because Douglas was a very civilized grown up who simply talked to people. All sorts of people. Actors, politicians, political activists, novelty acts, comedians... everybody. And he was always nice. He never had that tongue-in-cheek hip attitude of Carson or Griffin or Cavett (not that I didn’t also revel in their exhibitions of the mysteries of adulthood). It was easy to imagine myself being a guest on Douglas’s show, explaining how to spread Elmer’s glue on your arm to make “skin.”

Your clips remind me that Douglas sort of had the persona of a good school teacher. He listened to everyone equitably, he never found a clever way to talk down to someone, and he tried to connect with what a person had to say. He was a great role model, and I didn’t even know it. Despite your rudeness, K.L., thanks for reminding me.