Musical Office (1961)

[MichaelHansenFUN]

I LOVE IT ERNIE KOVACS HAVE VERY RARE FILM ABOUT HIM!!!

ernie kovacs rules...i think i have his stuff on vhs and dvd it is so awesome!!! and edie was in a cheech and chong film.

[TEMPmichaelhansen]

didnt he do a routine to the tune of Cozy Cole - Big Noise From Winnetka

[LGJoe88]

For me, this video is the "father" of Daft Punk's "Around the world" and all those kind of videos in which the inanimated things come to life. Sorry for my bad english, I'm mexican hehe.

[blackrock1969]

Dunder Mifflin 1961, after dark...

[gbeachy2010]

Looks more like an episode of a Twilight Zone nightmare scene. Strange but surreal.

[TeenCretin]

Ernie was awesome!!! And Edie was sexy!! White Owl cigars!!!

[tonytakoma]

From what I've heard, these "musical" segments took 18-hour days upon days to create and choreograph. ABC gave him 'carte blanche' - highly usual at that time (early '60's). You wouldn't anything like this today: both the lack of imagination and the permanence of CGI have rendered this stuff obsolete. There's no telling what Kovacs would have done had he lived longer. At least we have this he left behind. Absolute genius.

[TomJayable]

sounds good :)

[artytoons]

When your office pencil sharpener whistles "Sentimental Journey"...

one can either hum along...or apply for retirement. :-)

[DarisPrayers]

love it! love it! love it! love me some ernie kovacs.

[ferdinandrecords]

muy bien, el rey mexicano del space age pop Esquivel!

[librarybob1958]

How the hell did he DO that? Brilliant! Long before TW3, Laugh-In, or SNL, there was Ernie Kovacs, possibly the best of any of them.

[hudsterboy]

it must have been great when there was nothing else on to compete with. You could basically crap in a bucket and it would be innovative.

[pxyzyzygy]

So it wasn't just the hippies who were doing acid in the 60s.

[elainescolors]

drawers

[elainescolors]

oh boy, oh boy!!! Funny drawes and paper cups.this is by far the best one!!! yipee.

[HunterMann]

Great short film! Bring back the rotary dial phones & manual typewriters...yeah!!!

[reyzaguirr]

does anyone know how many of Ernie's shows are still extant?

[MrUnidyne]

@reyzaguirr There was a set entitled "The Best of Ernie Kovacs" released a few years ago, but it is out and print and the DVD copies are rather pricey, but the VHS tapes are reasonably priced. You can check on eBay or Amazon for copies.

[grjls]

so lounge

[SBreeze80]

Thanks for posting. fab show, I just wtched it online at lastnightstvshows (.) com

[dittoscope]

3D desktop metaphor

[grjls]

so much pleasure

[DennyC765]

Earnie was truly a man of creativity WAY beyond the norm!

[veewitch]

I always loved this one.  I haven't seen it since I was in college !! xxx

[Heritage1972]

Great! Video & music!

[darthclaytor]

Incredible. All of them!!!

Many Thanks!

[jessicaNjacque]

before CGI...how the hell did they do this all?? very cool

[NoCensorshipYT]

God does this take me back.

When I was a kid, ABC used to have these tribute shows to Ernie Kovac and my Dad and I LOVED them.

The man was truly a comedy genius, WAY ahead of his time.

[FromHolbergsTime]

Very original comedy from the early television era. Kovacs invented a zany kind of video creativity which still lights the imagination.

[FromHolbergsTime]

Brilliant early Kovacs from an era of television long gone but never forgotten.

[lennoxido]

congratulations! this video is very emotive!

wonderful viva esquivel!

[moloch49]

Ernie Kovacs was a brilliant comedian - way ahead of his time. His sight gags have never been equalled, and his tragic, premature death robbed the world of his comedic genius. Who knows what turn comedy would have taken had he lived.

(Probably much better than it will ever be today.)

Thank you, Ernie, for all the magical evenings I spent as a child watching your unusual, innovative and zany shows!

[tapeduk]

I like the phone and pencil sharpener

[CadillacL]

I discovered Esquivel on Youtube about a year ago. WAY ahead of his time w/the use of the (then new) stereo. You just don't hear music like this today. I've also heard of Ernie Kovacs..wow, was HE head of his time too for producing this.

[MrUnidyne]

Both Esquivel & Kovacs were years ahead of their time. One can only imagine what they could have made had they collaborated.

[richiepiep]

Very inspirational and original! This is where Terry Gilliam of Monty Python and beyond got his mad title designs and anarchic image associations from! He said so himself. Sadly, a mostly forgotten comedian by now and a true pioneer of amazing versatility. I really thank YouTube (and the user) for unearthing this!

[astarrystar]

haha thanks ^_^

[roxyluver]

SO awesome. <3

[astarrystar]

Maybe I'm just stupid, what what the heck is that thing on top of the clock?

[xela8p]

A office nick knack

Your not stupid <3

[w00tandyay]

i love the pencil sharpener part... this is awesome!

[tristramshamdy]

lo infinito en sonido !

[zizizzi]

Delightful!

[uberover]

Love Esquivel. Very fun vid :D *****

[nameofthepen]

Uberover - what a fantastic share!

I was never aware of Esquivel until you sent me this, but I'm going to search You Tube for some more of his great music as soon as I post this comment, and hit the 5* rating on this charming video. Thanks so much. :)

[sssnacksss]

the switchboard lighting up is killer.

[jimrockford78]

You have to admire the sheer talent and imagination that went into arranging this piece! In this bleak creatively bankrupt modern day world we live in,we could never hope to see such inspired offbeat ideas like this. Today everything has to be computer animated,vulgar and violent with tons of throwaway pop culture jokes and bad attitude.

I am simply in awe of the sheer amount of talented people we had in the 40's,50's and 60's.

TV's golden era!

Equivel and Kovacs work well together!

[jimrockford78]

The word genuis is so abused today,but Juan Garcia Esquivel honestly deserves the accolade. He was a true musical futurist,a brilliant arranger who made the most incredible music this side of saturn! I only wish he would have made more records in his unique "sonorama" sound.

Does anyone have any clips of his appearance on Johnny Carson?

By the way,thats Alvino Rey on steel guitar! They were supposed to make a movie of Esquiels life,but nothing ever came to fruition.

[jimrockford78]

The word genuis is so abused today,but Juan Garcia Esquivel honestly deserves the accolade. He was a true musical futurist,a brilliant arranger who made the most incredible music this side of saturn! I only wish he would have made more records in his unique "sonorama" sound.

Does anyone have any clips of his appearance on Johnny Carson?

By the way,thats Alvino Rey on steel guitar! They were supposed to make a movie of Esquiels life,but nothing ever came to fruition.

[visor109]

How original! You would NEVER see something this creative on TV these days!

[vidonweb]

Yes, even then, they didn't like spending the few dollars that it cost for Ernie to make these bits.

[dlpine]

this is pretty cool. thanks for sharing, turkeytv. and to my friend mark, for sending my way.

[catchersmitt0]

It's delicious, slightly creepy, and sooo wonderful. I love Kovac's stuff (I still have not gotten over the Nairobi Trio).

[goldbergje]

I could NOT have said it better..."delicious, slightly creepy, and soooo wonderful..."

YES!!!

[jerrykroezen]

Wonderfull to see how dull the first videoclips were! In great contrast with the wonderfull music of the great mister ESQUIVEL I'm a great fan!!!

[formerrocker]

Great one! I can't help but think of all the work the prop / special effects guys had to do behind the scenes.

[59Impala]

Just great! Thank you for sharing!

[143AC]

Soupy Sales,Chuck McCann,Johnn Ginger

and"Uncle Johnny"Coons also did this type of

sight gag comedy on their tv shows.

[143AC]

Amazing!

When one thinks of this type of visual

comedic art..the only names that come to

mind are..The Fleischer Brothers and

Bob Clampet.

[ironbear]

I loved Kovacs and his cutting edge use of stage effects and video techniques. The first public figure I ever grieved, as a kid back in 1962.

[Victheremin]

This originally appeared just like this on Ernie Kovac's show in either the late 50s or early 60s. I think he was using the contemporary music of the time and Esquivel was wildly popular.

[granuloid]

...Amazing.very rare and beautyful,was this made as clip for Esquivel's tracks?Got others?

[goldbergje]

No. This was a clip from a documentary honoring Kocacs, that aired on Showtime network in the fall of 1982. I've been looking for this clip for YEARS :)