The show, which ran for 5 years on NBC, saw the beginning of the television careers of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, and Eileen Brennan.

The show had a number of trademark features including "The Cocktail Party" where guests danced and told jokes, other popular features were "Letters to Laugh-In", "Laugh-In Looks at the News", and the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award". It popularized various catch phrases including "You bet your bippy", "Sock it to me", "Ve-rrrrrry interesting", "Here come da judge" and "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls". The show finished with "The Joke Wall", in which cast members would tell jokes while poking their heads out of windows or to toss a bucket of water at someone while the credits rolled.

Each week special guest stars joined Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, including, on one show, president Richard Nixon.