www.jackbenny.org

"...it's been real..."

Ernie Kovacs' sign-off

In the early '60s Kovacs did a series of specials for ABC that were lightyears ahead of anything else being done on television at that time using special effects and creative use of video tape.

I remember a lot of the blackouts he did to the accompaniment of Moritat (Mack the Knife in German). Another memorable one I remember is a shot of the business end of a pencil sharpener (crank turning on the other side) as the recording in the background was Sentimental Journey being whistled. (It looked as if the sharpener was doing the whistling. Only a mind like Kovacs' could come up with that.)

Does anybody remember his "quiz show" "Take a Good Look" where the so-called clues were basically the same type of sketches he did in the later series of specials I mentioned?

IIRC during at least one season where he did the specials he also was the host of "Silents Please." His Dutch Masters Cigars commercials on all of those shows were classics, again done in similar style to the shows surrounding them.

Chuck Schodowski, was at CBS (Now FOX) affiliate WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland as a cameraman, engineer, producer/director and Horror Movie Host for 47 years before retiring in June 2007. He says that when he and Bob (Hoolihan the Weatherman) Wells took over for "Ghoulardi" (Ernie Anderson) in December 1966 as "Hoolihan and Big Chuck", He took a lot of inspiration for the skits they did from Ernie Kovacs and his style..Wells did a series (Readings by Robert) that was a dead-on spoof of Kovacs' "Percy Dovetonsils" character.

I have often said that Ernie Kovacs was to TV what Jack Benny was to radio...saw the strengths of the medium and used them to create comedy, as opposed to just taking vaudeville and trying to superimpose it.

It's a real shame that the world lost Ernie before his time. He was a genius at what he did. From what I understand, most of his shows were recorded over so we're lucky to have what's left. His work is shown even less than Jack's.

I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

Frank Nelson wrote:It's a real shame that the world lost Ernie before his time. He was a genius at what he did. From what I understand, most of his shows were recorded over so we're lucky to have what's left. His work is shown even less than Jack's.

I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

As far as I know, Edie Adams, his widow owns the rights to whatever shows exist. I've seen stuff from the '50s, and a lot of his stuff with ABC in the '60s since his death. However, since all of it is in glorious black and white, I imagine we won't see much of it on TV in the future.

I've got a four-disk set of his work from the late fifties and into the sixties. On one of them, a commentator--Dick Cavett?--can't recall--notes that the pace of Ernie's shows is very slow compared to TV humor today. But ya know, sometimes that's a good thing.

For the life of me, I can't tell you why the Nairobi Trio is funny. Three guys in gorilla masks and long coats, miming to a tinkly little German tune--sounds just silly, and I suppose it is silly. But I can't help laughing my head off at the bit, none the less.

Brad from Georgia wrote:I've got a four-disk set of his work from the late fifties and into the sixties. On one of them, a commentator--Dick Cavett?--can't recall--notes that the pace of Ernie's shows is very slow compared to TV humor today. But ya know, sometimes that's a good thing.

For the life of me, I can't tell you why the Nairobi Trio is funny. Three guys in gorilla masks and long coats, miming to a tinkly little German tune--sounds just silly, and I suppose it is silly. But I can't help laughing my head off at the bit, none the less.

The show that really changed the pace of TV humor was Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. However, I remember in one episode they actually paid tribute to Ernie Kovacs as being the father of the type of humor that they were doing.

As for the Nairobi Trio, put me in the same category as you. The NT bit is my video equivalent of "Si-Sy" (sorry LL).

Frank Nelson wrote:I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

I always thought that was Fred Allen?

TheSportsmenQuartet wrote:

Frank Nelson wrote:I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

I always thought that was Fred Allen?

On The Big Show. It's the one where they do the Benny show.

I'm sure he said it somewhere else, too.

Yhtapmys

TheSportsmenQuartet wrote:

Frank Nelson wrote:I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

I always thought that was Fred Allen?

You're right, it was Fred. I don't know how I got the two mixed up.

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In can claim lineage to Kovacs. Producer George Schlatter was (and still is) married to actress Jolene Brand:
Brand was a member of Kovacs' ensemble.

Frank Nelson wrote:

TheSportsmenQuartet wrote:

Frank Nelson wrote:I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

I always thought that was Fred Allen?

You're right, it was Fred. I don't know how I got the two mixed up.

Well after more research, I'm not sure who was the originator of the line, although to me it sounds more like Ernie than Fred.

TheSportsmenQuartet wrote:

Frank Nelson wrote:I believe it was Ernie who said " television is a medium because it's rarely well done."

I always thought that was Fred Allen?

Yup...'tis Fred Allen.

That music accompanying Ernie Kovacs' pencil sharpener and other office furnishings - plus another sequence with kitchen accessories - was by none other than ESQUIVEL!
That recording and others are fairly easy to come by on compact discs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EXKMJ4LMKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ImgssN ... re=related

I read somewhere recently that Esquivel wrote that well-known 1960s and '70s Revue-Universal TV fanfare. It makes sense!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KxNojmk ... re=related

- William