Showtime unpacks old trunk of jokes

The Showtime pay channel kicks off its comedy month from 6 to 11tonight with "TV the Way It Was," a fond look back at some of theclassics from the 1950s and 1960s.

A vintage "Jackie Gleason Show" includes a "lost" "Honeymooners"sketch, plus Reginald Van Gleason and Poor Soul installments. Asalways, Gleason is in top and well-rounded form.

Next comes a "Colgate Comedy Hour" starring Dean Martin andJerry Lewis as two bumbling soda jerks.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening is the first televisedFriars Roast, a 1958 harpooning of Ed Sullivan. The late comic JackE. Leonard is terrific as he continually breaks up Walter Cronkite'ssincere attempt to recap …