Ernie Kovacs as Percy Dovetonsils, Poet Laureate, reciting "Leslie the Mean Animal Trainer"

[StudioForty7]

thumbs up if the Simpsons brought you here.

[elc1960]

I certainly hope "sharpsponge" below me was kidding and not serious in their remarks . . . my God, who the hell thinks the bombardment of our eyes and ears by so-called "reality shows" is a good thing? They're all the same; the only difference is the cast members (and then only a slight difference at that).

[K4Fusion]

What a bunch of stiffs in the live (or, should I say, dead) audience. Clearly, these people didn't know how to respond to such an avant garde performer!!!

[rolko52]

@K4Fusion - At this point in his professional career, Kovacs did not want a live audience. The laughter that you hear is from the stage hands.

[K4Fusion]

@rolko52 Thanks for the FYI. Even so, his crew could have been a bit more animated. I think that if I were a part of his crew, I'd have had a tough time not laughing!

[sharpsponge]

I'm so glad I live in a time when there are wonderful shows like "Jersey Shore" to watch now. No wonder people who lived in the 1950s were so repressed. This was what passed as entertainment!

[harpo103]

Can I please have my sthapler?

[neatoauctions]

There is a frequently performed song, on the Best of Ernie Kovacs VHS tapes, with the lyrics that sound like, "...Mickey Messa, Pregnant honcho..." Does anyone have an idea as to whom is singing it, or the song’s title?

[rolko52]

@neatoauctions It's is the Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht song "Mack the Knife" (or "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer") sung by the late German comedian and actor Wolfgang Neuss.

[hawksoob]

Hard to think that this character was not, at least in some part, the inspiration for Milton in "Office Space."

[rolko52]

@hawksoob Absolutely. The Coke bottle glass lenses and the lisping voice seem to highly inspired from Percy.

[DoctorScuba]

I t'himply WUV per'thy He it'h wit'h out a DOUBT amoung the bes'ht!

[Nickcat5]

He put meaning into off-beat and funny at the same time.

[moogamax]

Thanks for the clip, rolko, not to mention the backstory. I had no idea Percy had any real-life models. Really, he doesn't need any; he stands just fine on his own. He's a rotten poet, and probably knows it, but doesn't really care -- not as long as he stays at least half-crocked. That should be funny enough for anyone.

[ajajfuj]

Kovacs? Is he Hungarian?

[tfowler20]

His parents were... He even speaks Hungarian in some of his shows...

[rolko52]

@ajajfuj He was a Hungarian-American born in Trenton, New Jersey

[yogafan6500]

Leslie, The mean animal trainer, Is one of the best poems ever made.

[rolko52]

@yogafan6500 - I love how Kovacs could fly under the radar for that time.

[RKMARTIN]

My Dad introduced me to Ernie Kovacs when I was just a child. Even then, I knew he was special. I still love his work. Comedians today owe so much to him and Johnathan Winters.

[Tubernaut]

There will never be anyone else like Ernie Kovacs. His use of camera techniques was innovative in its day and to a certain extent still is.

[microdot]

@RKMARTIN I hate to say it, but I am old enough to remember kovacs morning tv show and his racy sci fi puppet shows...we weren't allowed to watch, but we did anyways...kovacs is the one person I have always said I would have rather been, and frankly, I have been a lot of different people. he still is one of real heroes....