One of the true pioneers of television comedy was Ernie Kovacs. I have always had an appreciation for his work, even though I didn’t grow up watching him. Every once in a while I would catch some special on the history of television comedy and there would be clips or extended segments would be shown. Then about 20 years ago a VHS set compiling some of his work was released and I was hooked.
Now Shout Factory has a second volume of Ernie Kovacs career work, this time in a smaller 3-disc set than the previous one. There’s an additional disc if you order the set directly through Shout Factory’s online store, and I recommend that, as this material is simply more of the same great classic television comedy by a pioneer of the medium.
The first two discs are concerned with the time when Ernie Kovacs was host of the NBC Morning Show – titled The Ernie Kovacs Show. The set looks like the basement of a studio, where Ernie Kovacs is given a camera crew, a studio audience and some time to fill in the morning. Not everything works, but you can see his ability to jump between carefully planned bits and improvisation.
Actually, these early morning shows from the 50s are a precursor to what would happen later – The Tonight Show came about after Ernie Kovacs did a similar thing in the morning. While Steve Allen is the first host of The Tonight Show, Ernie Kovacs was the second regular host, and he was a natural fit. You can see why when watching these morning show programs. While these episodes come about from the mid 50s, they are not the first time Kovacs had been on the airwaves in the morning, and his easy presentation is obviously relaxed.
For those that watched the previous DVD set, you can see (as was evidenced in that set as well) the clear jump in quality of the presentation. There was a larger budget and staff for Ernie to play with. There wasn’t necessarily a clear audience for Kovacs to play to, and he knew this. In a way, it’s almost as if he used this as a proving ground for material to be used elsewhere.
On disc three, we get “rarities” starting off with 3 episodes of Take A Good Look. This was a panel type game show, but at times one can’t tell at times if it is a prank show or comedy experiment – including the guests. There’s a clear disregard for the panel quiz show format, only the guests aren’t in on the joke. Panelists are meant to guess, via clues, who the guest is, only Ernie Kovacs is more interested in using the show as a framework for gags rather than a serious quiz show.
Then there is a television interview Ernie Kovacs did that is an absolute MUST SEE for fans. It runs 20 minutes and is very insightful. Medicine Man was the sitcom Ernie Kovacs and Buster Keaton were going to do together – perhaps the culmination of what the man wanted to do – filmed comedy on television. Sadly, his death right after filming this put an end to the series before it even began. Lastly we get a couple of trailers, some home movies, and a recent panel discussion on Ernie Kovacs by some authorities at Hollywood’s American Cinematheque.
That bonus disc if you order through Shout Factory? It contains even more episodes of Take A Good Look. It is fun watching how regular guest panelist Cesar Romero handled Kovacs take on the format.
The special features over the first two discs are isolated skits from the morning programs. A warning on the disc and in the insert warns viewers that a number of songs and commercials were snipped due to licensing fees. While it’s a shame they had to be cut, I applaud Shout Factory for being up front about it. As a result, however, we do get shows where the running time varies, as well as several orphaned skits, and here is where those skits are. Do take the time to watch these as they aren’t afterthoughts.
Ernie Kovacs was a very funny man, and a pioneer in comedy and television – both. This new set honors him and his legacy. Hopefully next year we’ll get another similar release.