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The Influence of Ernie Kovacs - Yesterday
Actor and comedian Ernie Kovacs was a key force in shaping modern (or more precisely post-modern) television. He hosted, wrote, and produced a range of shows for CBS and NBC in the 1950s, demonstrating a gift for sight gags, witty dialog, and oddball sketch humor. Kovacs work paved the way for Laugh In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Saturday Night Live, and David Letterman.
Kovacs legacy was not as big as it could have been, in part because he died at age 42 from injuries suffered in a car wreck.
Kovacs was known for his wacky characters: the fey poet Percy Dovetonsils, the musical apes of the Nairobi Trio, his everyman Eugene, and applying musical backgrounds to the actions of everyday life. Kovacs was also know for making use of every primitive special effect available from television's early days.
Today, we'll take a look at several examples of Kovacs work, followed tomorrow by more recent work by contemporary people making use of Kovacs' ideas.
If you want a much more complete look at Kovacs' work, take a look at the DVD release of the 1977 PBS Retrospective - The Best of Ernie Kovacs.
The Influence of Ernie Kovacs - Today
As I mentioned yesterday, actor and comedian Ernie Kovacs was a key force in shaping modern (or more precisely post-modern) television. He hosted, wrote, and produced a range of shows for CBS and NBC in the 1950s, demonstrating a gift for sight gags, witty dialog, and oddball sketch humor.
Kovacs work paved the way for Laugh In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Saturday Night Live, and David Letterman.
If you want a much more complete look at Kovacs' work, take a look at the DVD release of the 1977 PBS Retrospective - The Best of Ernie Kovacs.
Here is an example of Letterman showing off some of the influence Kovacs had on him, along with a couple of contemporary music video mashups of Kovacs' work.
