Ernie Kovacs - Kitchen Symphony

[alto100]

Either this is total genius or I'm totally stoned...this clip is a trip... Ernie K was ahead of his time ... way ahead...

[Zachism]

Oh my god I must be so fucking high right now

[MrBeatMachin]

Master Esquivel!!

[kangadillo]

He had an amazing imagination.

[KingSlimjeezy]

thumbs up if your here bc of NPR

[namaste91]

how weird is this?! Man,i have to find more out about Ernie Kovacs!

[zzindorf]

Puts Letterman to shame.

[novatodave]

And this was done LIVE...right? No editing - no retakes. One take. Brilliant! Thanks for posting.

[KingSlimjeezy]

@novatodave no, this was not live. although much of his stuff was

[laggie24]

Pure Comedy of wayback... why did it have to "get lost" ?!? hmmmm

[nokomarie1963]

Sort of like kitchen nightmares to that overblown music of the day.

[MusicJew158]

goddamn it exotica is weird shit

[eastportland]

I know, these are early-television special effects, but why were the water drops falling 'up' at 0:47?

[eastportland]

@eastportland

OK, I watched the closing credit scenes. Watch that video at about 2 min, 43 sec., shortly after the flames.

[FnordicQueen]

Proof that hallucinogens existed, and were used, in the '50s. :D

Zombie chickens, fried ice cubes, and exploding salads.

This is up there with some of the great Canadian animators of the time (like Norman McLaren).

That sardine trio cracks me up. And the salad dressing dance to "Bali Hai" is just...haunting.

Hail EK and Joe Behar!

[Sandra33139]

Listen all you people out there that doesn't know genius if it was standing right under your noses. This man was way ahead of his time, ..if you don't get it then fine, but don't ridicule what you don't understand. There will never be another Ernie Kovacs, and that's very sad. He truly was original !!

[elainescolors]

Lamp posts and hats crack me up too.

[elainescolors]

Oh my word!! I loooooooooooooove this.Facets and percolators and sardines are sooooooo funny.

[homemoviescolorado]

Before technology was substituted for creativity. I would rather watch this then anything new on the tube

[elainescolors]

@homemoviescolorado you got that right "home".lol

[yaknbo]

Caution! Do NOT watch this on LSD!

[baldric55]

What the hell was going on in Kovac's head?

[Jourell1]

@baldric55 I don't know but I wish I have a piece of it. Absolute genius.

[elainescolors]

@Jourell1 agreed. not many around like him.both he and his head appear to be rare birds . maybe other folks are as original and talented but they dont "let it out" and roam around with it for whatever reason.just think about it.there could be more out there.it could be you .it could be me.it could be yaknbo or baldric. creepy thought,huh?

[elainescolors]

@Jourell1  ok. maybe not as talented.

[elainescolors]

@Jourell1  or as original .

[lrd9999]

"LUKE" .. LOL!!

I always thought it was stupid the way they kept making sinks with separate hot and cold spigots well into the '60s, even when there was no way to close the drain.

PS: That dancing chicken is creepy; really, really creepy.

[virginiaorganbuilder]

@lrd9999 No, the hands holding the oil and vinegar are the creepiest!

[offstride]

Kovacs could have been in television till today. Writing and pushing the envelope. I hope him well in his happy place.

[mikemcgee]

the fragmnets parts of the kovak show that have been preserved on its original video tape the cigar commersials and the artys stuff only

[deewest11]

wow, i have been reading KOVACSLAND by Diana Rico, halfway thru i HAD to jump up & check youTube and Sure Enuff!! here are some of the things i have been reading about!!

this show had my on the floor laffing back when i was a kid. And the book has been Great.

[leicafool]

given the tech of the time, one has to give ernie credit for the speical effects he used! He was one of the master's of what i think is called the "sight gag". In that respect the only one who i think could come close was the late Benny Hill albeit his were more on the vulgar side and not as wholesome as ernie's.

On a sad note, this day that i am posting is also the anniversary of his fatal car accident in 1962

RIP Ernie!! you are missed

[westpalmscott]

I'm sure that Kovacs provided Andy Kaufman with plenty of inspiration

[bryankovacs]

bryan kovacs / multi-media artist / inventor / rockstar /...kovXXX,,,

[greenthumbguy1]

:47 shows the genius of Kovacs

[contessakitty]

He was such a genius...

[592010]

This is what great entertainment on TV was ... not the asinine/brainless reality shows that are on TV today.

What a shame the way things have become.

[bigpeeler]

Amen, brother.

[JeremiahEnglish]

@592010 EK was brilliant, no doubt about it, but I tire of hearing, over and over again, that contemporary television is nothing but dreck. It isn't. Shows like the Wire, Breaking Bad, Louis (Louis CK) and the Daily Show are just a few of the that will undoubtedly stand the test of time and be looked back upon as breaking new ground. Maybe not so far ahead of their time as EK, but certainly not asinine or brainless.

[NoCensorshipYT]

I'm 50 now, but it was my Dad that introduced me to Ernie Kovacs.

He was truly a unique talent and has been copied by other comedians many times over.

[fromthesidelines]

Because of the elaborate special effects and extra hours used in videotaping and editing these specials- the famous 10 second "blackout" of used car salesman Kovacs slapping the top of the car, only to see it fall through the asphalt, cost him $10,000 to produce- Ernie often went over budget, adding to his already precarious financial situation at the time, 'tux'. Yet, he and his production crew were willing to spend that extra time and money to make sure his comedy ideas came though on TV...

[Lampshade51]

From 1961, made for Ernie's monthly specials on ABC. They ran at 10:30 PM and were not highly rated, but Dutch Masters bought the half-hour because their sales went way up and that's all that counted. Ernie was also allowed to create his own commercials which were lifted out and played elsewhere, too.

It was early videotape, but it WAS edited (directed by Ernie). There was no electronic editing then, so you carefully cut the tape around the image. You can see some of the jumps.

A genius.

[fromthesidelines]

Actually, Ernie was on ABC, with his series of monthly specials for Dutch Masters, in 1961, 'gt'. He and NBC parted company in 1959.

[gt40mk2]

>it's videotape, which meant, at that time, that there were no cuts,

Mmmm - don't be so sure about that. They started editing 2" tape at NBC in the late 50's. And this was from 1961, and Kovacs's show was on NBC.

[laflizard]

Wow, you gotta be pretty insecure to have your sexuality threatened by Ernie Kovacs.

[bootray]

@laflizard You got that right. He's like a caveman coming out of the forest and throwing rocks at the sun,

[01punditX2]

@backsidefloater321

you need big help bro. better get it, its a matter of survival

[Thadfrog]

great stuff

[dubhippy]

i don't believe so.

i think the music was made for the show and esquivel isn't the only person who made music that sounds like this. look up space age pop, bachelor pad, lounge & martin denny.

[CadillacL]

Is this esquivel's music?

[RRaquello]

This is Cherokee, the old Ray Noble tune, as done by Esqivel. It is available on some of the cd issues of Esquivel's music. EK also used Esquivel's interpretations of Jealousy & Sentimental Journey on another video of animated office equipment.

[CadillacL]

Thanks for the info. In the past year I've gotten into Esquivel & I've heard of Ernie, on specials, for years. How he was ahead of his time on things. This really blew me away. As far as Esquivel, how can you even discribe his influence.

[GHFAN2289]

I have to write an essay on this guy, lol, he was extremely creative for his time.

[suckminus]

I wonder if David Lynch saw this in his formative years...

[sacrificethestars]

this is what i have been looking for all my life

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, it would be someone like Juan Esquivel to come up with that kind of arrangement, 'reno'...

[fillerkish]

a video called JACKS GOT A PROBLEM in the eighties, forget the band, did the same thing with the chicken

[vidonweb]

Please understand folks that this was new at the time. That is what makes it genius.Although cartoons often inpired Ernie.

Thanks for posting,laflizard.

[tuxguys]

I heard his widow, Edie Adams, say once in an interview that the television medium at that time was still so new that nobody really knew what it WAS, but Kovacs had the genius to eliminate what he knew it was NOT, and start trying things from that point. You might also want to note that this is not film, it's videotape, which meant, at that time, that there were no cuts, the entire scene had to be choreographed and shot live (on tape), from beginning to end. Make a mistake? You start over.

[arkibet]

It's amazing to see how much he paved the way for modern cinemotography.

[KoroOutbreak]

Definitely agree that Kovacs is a mostly forgotten legend. I remember watching him on Nick at Nite when I was very young, but didn't quite understand why it should be interesting. Now I watch this stuff and I love it.

[2kath51]

he was THE PIONEER of what tv could be used for.....light years ahead of his time. when he died, a lot of my heart went with him. and i was quite young, but he was SO great!!!

[Televisionworks]

Genius! This is were the original ideas start!

[fromthesidelines]

This was a segment from one of his 1961 videotaped specials...Ernie loved collecting records, and had a huge library at one point. The musical background- "Cherokee"- came from one of his favorite "percussion in stereo" albums (which one, I don't know).

[renofirvine]

it's esquivel,fromthesidelines,anot­her innovator of that era...and i hope this comment goes in the right place

[nor405]

Early in 1950 Ernie Kovacs had an agreement with Prince Souvanna Phouma of Laos to sponsor a half hour show with a new, improved shaving Laotian. But the Federal Trade Commission, in a meeting outlining the government's strong case against the unusual commercial, provoked the assigned attorney to say, 'I like it!" He was then told, " Like it? You'll try it!" (From "The Untold Side of Ernie Kovacs)

[mikey42]

Ernie and Esquivel are a perfect match for the weird and wonderful.

[blackwingy]

Ernie, I absolutely adore you.

[wmbrown6]

Just curious: Which song was this done to, and who recorded it?

[mossman]

It is Esquivel, a melody, first part is Cherokee. Check out if Esquivel if you like this tune!

[starview1]

Kovacks was an original.

[trikbag57]

Kovacks was a genius before his time