Die Laughing — Steve Allen

Getting The Last Laugh
Benny Hartman, 85-year old cigar-chomping veteran of vaudeville, radio, stage and screen, is still drawing crowds even though he's stone-cold dead. Every comedy superstar in Hollywood is present at his funeral. But the guest of honor at this black-tie, A-list, Forest Lawn affair is soon to be upstaged by Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows who discover slapstick king Terry Parker stabbed in front of a mausoleum. Before Parker dies, he whispers one final, mysterious word--"Ham."

Considering the victim's dying word, any one of Steve's old cronies could be capable of the murder: from the neurotic New York stand-up whose California shrink is playing with his mind, to the widow Hartman, a starstruck floozie soliciting for a permanent position on the walk of fame, to the granddaddy of the golden age of television comedy whose grudges are as old as his jokes. And with an all-important comedy award ceremony fast approaching, the competition in Tinsel Town is getting pretty stiff. Just ask the latest funnyman whose bloated corpse is found floating in his pool. Now, everyone is wondering who's next on the bill to suffer the fatal barbs of the comedy world's most murderous critic, as Steve discovers that every joke has its price--especially when the punchline is a real killer...