Originally, the first three guests were civilians, while the fourth was a celebrity who played for a home viewer who was chosen by pulling a postcard from a revolving drum.

Van's version of Make Me Laugh was popular and initially drew good ratings, but they slowly dropped over the course of the run and production went on hiatus at the end of 1979.

Van's version of the program is especially noteworthy for the early appearances of several then-unknown comedians before going on to greater fame; among them were Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, Garry Shandling, Bob Saget, Howie Mandel, Richard Belzer, Gallagher, Gary Mule Deer, Yakov Smirnoff, Tom Dreesen, Kip Addotta, Vic Dunlop, Bill Kirchenbauer, Bruce 'Babyman' Baum and Mike Binder.

Celebrity contestants who appeared on the program included Frank Zappa, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Jaye P. Morgan, Tiny Tim, Phil Everly, Bert Convy, Ken Kercheval, Anne Lockhart, and Demond Wilson.

Like its syndicated predecessor, the Comedy Central version of Make Me Laugh also featured several fledgling comics who went on to successful careers, including Patton Oswalt, Frank Nicotero and Heath Hyche.

The contestant with the highest score at the end of this round won the game and kept his/her winnings, while the other two received joke consolation prizes.

In 1983, Tyne Tees produced a revival hosted by Bernie Winters for ITV; this version was notable for having an early appearance by Brian Conley.