Thanks for uploading this gem! I laughed till I fell down, the first time I saw this (back in the 1950s when it aired), and seeing it again here it still makes me laugh.
Modern audiences fall asleep when they have to use their brains? Was that suppose to be sufficicated humor?? Some sort of brilliant satire? To me the MGM cartoons like the House of Tommorrow are more clever than that was even though it had the same ring to it, except it had a bit more slapstick to it. Instead of a pie in the face it was water in the face. You telling me that David Kelley shows dont' require brain power? You really did not have to use your brain to get that joke.
What makes this funnier is that it's from an age when almost everyone had clocks like this in their homes. In that sense, this sketch was extremely relatable to the audience of this era.
Great concept and brilliantly performed by the actors. I wanted to see more slapstick from the malfunctioning figurines. It got a bit redundant at times. But the punchline at the end made it all worth it.
a true tv legend man they dont make shows like this ne more comedy at its best take our comedians that we have today n put them in a show like this n lets see what happens true comedy legends 3stooges abbott n costello these people and charlie chaplin and more its nice to have cussing in comedy but true comedy u dont need it they can make us laugh just by doin something like this
This is one of the first TV shows my family watched after emigrating from England to Canada in 1953. We roared with laughter. I hadn't seen this skit again until now, but I never forgot it. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory. What a brilliant program Your Show of Shows was, live every Saturday night featuring humor that left us limp from laughter.
@macflyfilm This was completely asinine, and the premise of the sketch wasn't clever (then or now). Sure, I enjoyed it, but don't insult me with that pretentious non-sense. It's all frivolous fun. Nothing more. Also, what constitutes "classic" anything? Being made decades ago doesn't make it anymore valuable than, say, a recent sketch on SNL, creatively speaking, of course.
@macflyfilm This is a pretty funny video... but this comment doesn't make any sense. Why does this particular video require an abundance of brainpower? It's pretty easy to understand.
Problem is, we may never know, because the powers that be won't give classic TV much of a chance. Even on TV Land, the one venue supposedly for that purpose, monochromatic visuals have all but disappeared (save for Andy Griffith and "Leave It To Beaver," they've even disposed of "I Love Lucy"0, even as contemporary "reality" shows have creeped into that situation as well.
I think vintage TV shows could be appreciated by younger viewers, though as a Baby Boomer realize perhaps I'm more tolerant of a more gentle, thoughtful, slower-paced style of comedy than "experts" claim younger viewers would be, with their notoriously short attention spans, who'd supposedly immediately reject any programming not in color.
I've always had a soft spot for Imogene Coca, even recall her doing Prince spaghetti commercials. I'd love to obtain some episodes of her "Grindl" series.
And I'd also love to obtain some episodes of "Caesar's Hour," with Nanette Fabray and Bea Arthur. I did see one of "The Commuters" sketches, thought it held up well.
that tragedy is that so much of Sid's work has been lost ...unlike Lucille Ball he didn't have the luxury of getting it down on film but on lousy kinescopes...so that's why ,even though he was the most inventive and by far the one who has stood the test of time best of all, many young people don't know who he is whereas they all now the more mainstream Lucille Ball and her now dated sitcoms.
Lucille Ball was a gifted comic actress, one of the first females to do pantomime really well, having studied under Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Red Skelton.
One could just as easily call Caesar's programs dated as well. But good comedy will survive the ages, as many of Lucy's and Caesar's shows do.
I know young people who find Lucy's classic routines, the "Vitameatavegamin" and the grape stomping in the wine vineyard, to still be hilariously funny.
Also, both Desi Arnaz, for his developing of the three camera filming technique and utilization of film cinematography, essentially inventing the syndicated rerun; and Ernie Kovacs, for his skill and mastery of early videotape work, splicing and edits, use of black-outs, were both equally as inventive as Caesar in the early TV medium.
Kinescoping needn't be prohibitive of good quality display. The recent releases of "Mister Peepers" are proof of that, as have been Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" releases. Today, with digital restoration, audio & video may be cleaned up significantly.
I've enjoyed what I have seen of Caesar's episodes of "Your Show Of Shows," particularly the "From Here To Obscurity" parody that pre-dates exactly what Carol Burnett did so well on her shows every week, those great, classic film send-ups.
That's interesting, I know that Marty Feldman, another of my faves, wrote for John Cleese, David Frost & many otehrs before performing himself.
Maybe you need a good writing apprenticeship to hone performing skills. Glad Sid's clock is still performing all these years later, even if it doesn't keep the time.
This was first seen on "YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS" in September 1953- Ed Herlihy, the show's announcer, is the narrator. This is the best example of Sid, Imogene, Carl and Howard's "clockwork precision" in making such an absurd premise so funny!
I'm sure glad these videos are still around! I grew up with all this. Now I realize how terrifically talented and creative they all were. There is nothing like this anymore.
classicc shitt this is hilarious when ur high as fuck
khan83theking 1 month ago
does anyone know if there is any way to get this music without the laughing?
sidshakeshaw 1 month ago
could someone explain why this is funny? because i watched it all the way through and didnt laugh once.
timrhooker 3 months ago
Unbelievable, with all the meaningless (think about it) junk on Youtude, a genius is inconscionably neglected
aristopus 4 months ago
I'm 19 and I can't stop laughing XD Man you gotta miss good comedy. I wish there were more comedians like Sid.
RavenBliss3461 4 months ago
Hilarious! Simply Hilarious!
MrBasketballplayer50 7 months ago
Maybe if Stephen Fry was in it...
TheFoadolfat 7 months ago
Those aren't mechanical figures as the narrators claims. Those are people.
Yyyyzyyy 1 year ago 3
@Yyyyzyyy Their automatons thats like robots back in the olden days. Look it up in wikipedia.
wergersnee 8 months ago
" Anybody want to buy a 10 ton clock?" Priceless XDDD
yogafan6500 1 year ago 4
Totally hilarious!!
Crwthy 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
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honsusando 1 year ago
Pay attention, kids. This is comedic genius you're witnessing.
Texasfilly101 1 year ago 4
This has been flagged as spam show
Watch closely, kids. This is comedic genius you're witnessing.
Texasfilly101 1 year ago
People's attention spans are too short nowadays for sketches like this. Sad but true.
davidls11 1 year ago
Thanks for uploading this gem! I laughed till I fell down, the first time I saw this (back in the 1950s when it aired), and seeing it again here it still makes me laugh.
URLy2Rise 1 year ago
anybody wana buy a 10t clock?
name848 1 year ago
Just watched "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" for the first time and now I'm craving more of these old stars...
Truthiness231 1 year ago 4
@Truthiness231 That's one of my all-time favorite movies!
Texasfilly101 1 year ago
The best
sr633 1 year ago 2
This one is good, but Aggravation Boulevard is the best.
giles422 1 year ago
LOL! pure comedy!
atticus126 1 year ago
Modern audiences fall asleep when they have to use their brains? Was that suppose to be sufficicated humor?? Some sort of brilliant satire? To me the MGM cartoons like the House of Tommorrow are more clever than that was even though it had the same ring to it, except it had a bit more slapstick to it. Instead of a pie in the face it was water in the face. You telling me that David Kelley shows dont' require brain power? You really did not have to use your brain to get that joke.
blabbermouth777 1 year ago
What makes this funnier is that it's from an age when almost everyone had clocks like this in their homes. In that sense, this sketch was extremely relatable to the audience of this era.
MattArchives 1 year ago
Forever in debt to the real pioneers of TV. A Big Thank You!!
ESmithStringSlinger 1 year ago
Comment removed
n7896 1 year ago
How is that funny!? boooooooooooooooooooooring
sskrewdriver 1 year ago
Great concept and brilliantly performed by the actors. I wanted to see more slapstick from the malfunctioning figurines. It got a bit redundant at times. But the punchline at the end made it all worth it.
plpfake 1 year ago
a true tv legend man they dont make shows like this ne more comedy at its best take our comedians that we have today n put them in a show like this n lets see what happens true comedy legends 3stooges abbott n costello these people and charlie chaplin and more its nice to have cussing in comedy but true comedy u dont need it they can make us laugh just by doin something like this
Thegreatjoker13 1 year ago
which is the episode where coca tries to stop a bullet from killing sid and fails. "not quite" i believe is the famous line. anyone???
brur37 2 years ago
das fetzt :)
TheRina81 2 years ago
I was just a little dude, but I remember this bit too: A Classic!!
zounds456 2 years ago
This is one of the first TV shows my family watched after emigrating from England to Canada in 1953. We roared with laughter. I hadn't seen this skit again until now, but I never forgot it. Thanks for bringing back a fond memory. What a brilliant program Your Show of Shows was, live every Saturday night featuring humor that left us limp from laughter.
hpy999 2 years ago
I think that this was the first sketch that Danny and Neil Simon wrote for Caesar. After the success of this bit, they were "in" with him.
mrmuch 2 years ago
Absolutely brilliant! Wow! :)
Shazbut01 2 years ago
OMG That is so funny! I wept!
markhh 2 years ago
my dad showed me this show when i was like 9 or 10. I fucking love it!!!!! so funny.
may my dad r.i.p as well because he was the shit and i really wish he was alive now.
sideoftheham420 2 years ago 4
This is brilliant! Unfortunately, modern audiences would not stand for a 7+ minute comedy sketch that took over 3 minutes to set up the joke.
genecorrado 2 years ago 6
Modern audiences fall asleep when they use have to use their brains.
macflyfilm 2 years ago 27
And there's no sex in it too..lol
Snookiebutt 2 years ago
Not quite. I think that when Coca goes into the left hand door there is a slight innuendo. Sid sort of wants to follow her too.
timtak1 2 years ago
@macflyfilm This was completely asinine, and the premise of the sketch wasn't clever (then or now). Sure, I enjoyed it, but don't insult me with that pretentious non-sense. It's all frivolous fun. Nothing more. Also, what constitutes "classic" anything? Being made decades ago doesn't make it anymore valuable than, say, a recent sketch on SNL, creatively speaking, of course.
jd55192 1 year ago
@macflyfilm This is a pretty funny video... but this comment doesn't make any sense. Why does this particular video require an abundance of brainpower? It's pretty easy to understand.
Ishygog 11 months ago
Totally HILARIOUS, Thanx for sharin'! = )
qualqui 2 years ago
Hmmm....
purespirit9 2 years ago
Problem is, we may never know, because the powers that be won't give classic TV much of a chance. Even on TV Land, the one venue supposedly for that purpose, monochromatic visuals have all but disappeared (save for Andy Griffith and "Leave It To Beaver," they've even disposed of "I Love Lucy"0, even as contemporary "reality" shows have creeped into that situation as well.
gymnastix 2 years ago 3
I think vintage TV shows could be appreciated by younger viewers, though as a Baby Boomer realize perhaps I'm more tolerant of a more gentle, thoughtful, slower-paced style of comedy than "experts" claim younger viewers would be, with their notoriously short attention spans, who'd supposedly immediately reject any programming not in color.
gymnastix 2 years ago 2
I've always had a soft spot for Imogene Coca, even recall her doing Prince spaghetti commercials. I'd love to obtain some episodes of her "Grindl" series.
And I'd also love to obtain some episodes of "Caesar's Hour," with Nanette Fabray and Bea Arthur. I did see one of "The Commuters" sketches, thought it held up well.
gymnastix 2 years ago
that tragedy is that so much of Sid's work has been lost ...unlike Lucille Ball he didn't have the luxury of getting it down on film but on lousy kinescopes...so that's why ,even though he was the most inventive and by far the one who has stood the test of time best of all, many young people don't know who he is whereas they all now the more mainstream Lucille Ball and her now dated sitcoms.
Dirkdebruyne 2 years ago
Don't disparage one to boost another.
Lucille Ball was a gifted comic actress, one of the first females to do pantomime really well, having studied under Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Red Skelton.
One could just as easily call Caesar's programs dated as well. But good comedy will survive the ages, as many of Lucy's and Caesar's shows do.
I know young people who find Lucy's classic routines, the "Vitameatavegamin" and the grape stomping in the wine vineyard, to still be hilariously funny.
gymnastix 2 years ago
Also, both Desi Arnaz, for his developing of the three camera filming technique and utilization of film cinematography, essentially inventing the syndicated rerun; and Ernie Kovacs, for his skill and mastery of early videotape work, splicing and edits, use of black-outs, were both equally as inventive as Caesar in the early TV medium.
gymnastix 2 years ago 2
Kinescoping needn't be prohibitive of good quality display. The recent releases of "Mister Peepers" are proof of that, as have been Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" releases. Today, with digital restoration, audio & video may be cleaned up significantly.
I've enjoyed what I have seen of Caesar's episodes of "Your Show Of Shows," particularly the "From Here To Obscurity" parody that pre-dates exactly what Carol Burnett did so well on her shows every week, those great, classic film send-ups.
gymnastix 2 years ago 2
good stuff
BeantownJim 3 years ago 2
Great Fun, thanks Ulilein !
parlophonman 3 years ago
For me too, mijn lieve Daniel!
dsanw 3 years ago
I can't believe this video doesn't have a whole 5 stars! This was hilarious! I'm only 22, but it's still funny today!
glfcrtman 3 years ago 22
The Clock,a SC Classic. How could thay have kept a Straight face,and man,what talent here.
bullcur 3 years ago 2
Mainstrause Village in Covington, KY has a clock like this.
Jnmcda0 3 years ago 2
This and This Is Your Story are amongst Sid's finest sketches. Da Ali G, da Woody Allen and da George W Bush just aren't as funny.
Well, maybe da last last one is.
eflabb 4 years ago
I love the skit where he roughs up the guy sitting next to Imogene Coca at the movie theater, who he falsely assumes is her date. TOO FUNNY! Patti NJ
whenaman 4 years ago 2
I love the skit where he roughs up the guy sitting next to Imogene Coca at the movie theater, who he falsely assumes is her date. TOO FUNNY! Patti NJ
whenaman 4 years ago
I love the skit where he roughs up the guy sitting next to Imogene Coca at the movie theater, who he falsely assumes is her date. TOO FUNNY! Patti NJ
whenaman 4 years ago
Woody Allen wrote for Caesar's Hour, I don't know which sketches though.
immisho 3 years ago
Woody Allen wrote for Caesar's Hour, I don't know which sketches though.
immisho 3 years ago
That's interesting, I know that Marty Feldman, another of my faves, wrote for John Cleese, David Frost & many otehrs before performing himself.
Maybe you need a good writing apprenticeship to hone performing skills. Glad Sid's clock is still performing all these years later, even if it doesn't keep the time.
eflabb 3 years ago
Love this!!
Nice outfits too...
Deloresxz345 4 years ago
Oh Jesus!! TV will never be this funny ever again!
piasillo 4 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
um... how exactly is this funny?
MrMuskOx 4 years ago
Absolute insanity....how the performers managed to not die laughing-I dont know...Can you imagine being in the audience???
ARoundOfApplause 4 years ago 5
Sheer brilliance. TV today pales in comparison to this.
jjm1965 4 years ago 3
Sid invented American tv comedy, he needs to get more props from our generation.
UlyssesTheGreat 4 years ago 3
What great teamwork--writing, acting and directing, Plus originality!!
attabuoy 4 years ago 4
W U N D E R B A R!!! Now that's what I call fantastic ensemble work! And on LIVE tv yet! Matchless! Thanks for sharing!
erzbet07 4 years ago 2
Ah......those were the days! I laughed so hard. All 4 were masters of their craft. Thanks for posting it.
torino273 4 years ago 3
Took me back 5 decades in a flash of hysteria!
sagalat 4 years ago 2
So wonderfdul...the performances...and the funny sound effects ! Only Carl Reiner is still alive.
Zeydez 4 years ago
Sid Caesar is still with us, and I hope he's around for a long time to come.
azdana 4 years ago 3
Sid is 85!!!
ARoundOfApplause 4 years ago
According to Wikikpedia, this great talent is still with us.
3sprachig 3 years ago
This was first seen on "YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS" in September 1953- Ed Herlihy, the show's announcer, is the narrator. This is the best example of Sid, Imogene, Carl and Howard's "clockwork precision" in making such an absurd premise so funny!
fromthesidelines 4 years ago 2
I'm sure glad these videos are still around! I grew up with all this. Now I realize how terrifically talented and creative they all were. There is nothing like this anymore.
ldFlorida 4 years ago
What a wonderful memory! I miss them all so much.
NClackum 5 years ago 2
Lovely! So much more intelligent than most of the rubbish we see today.
mitchikaboola 5 years ago
Genius!
jballar00 5 years ago
Absolutely perfect!
WayOutWardell 5 years ago
This is just about the funniest routine I have ever seen.
banjobud 5 years ago 2