Ernie Kovacs NBC Morning Show 12/19/1955 1/3

[From "Kovacs Corner" on YouTube.com] - After his debut stint over WPTZ in Philadelphia, NBC programming chief Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, the father of actress Sigourney, brought Ernie into the New York market over WRCA-TV. Later the call sign was changed to WNBC-TV, which is still the NBC Television Network's flagship station in NYC. This morning program predated The Today Show with Dave Garroway. Prior to this time it was assumed that nobody would watch a television program prior to 7AM. Ernie proved them wrong! Remember, the rules and and writing techniques that we take for granted today were just being created, tried, and tested. The audience seems asleep and Ernie makes a heroic effort to keep the pace of the show moving. So little remains of these early television programs that we by circumstance may not see the very best of Ernie's material from this period. Enjoy it as an example of a surviving work. By the way, Ernie just finished a three hour stint on the NBC Radio Network for "Monitor" before this show!

Category:

Comedy

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[rolko52]

@fromthesidelines Your observation is true. The amount of advertising dollars that Godfrey drew against that of Kovacs has no comparison...he pounded Ernie into the ground! In terms of critical and artistic acclaim, in addition to personal class, Kovacs has Godfrey beat. In this comparison, Godfrey's big sponsor dollars didn't necessarily equate to Ernie's proud and memorable legacy.

[rolko52]

Arthur Godfrey had to be an egotistical load by firing Julius LaRosa on the air and it cost him dearly. He was a powerhouse in the broadcast industry at that time, and it's pathetic that after 50 years Arthur Godfrey is virtually unknown. Even his sad decline and death by lung cancer could not turn the public's attitude. There are no Arthur Godfrey tribute sites on YT that I know about.

[altfactor]

This program aired exactly four days before I was born..........LOL!!

[altfactor]

@altfactor I think an exception was his "Take A Good Look" game show, but his later comedy specials were without an audience.

[altfactor]

It's very interesting that there is a studio audience, considering that most of Kovacs's work after 1956 was done without one (and for that matter, without canned laughter).

[zerobeat18]

I have the 6-DVD box set and it's sad that they edited out most of the music (couldn't afford the rights). This exact show is on a DVD and it's nice to see it here WITH the music!!! The show flows way better.

[WSenator1]

Among my earliest memories was hearing "Oriental Blues," Ernie Kovacs' theme song, around my house. (But not when THIS cliip was first on TV - I was three then!) I didn't know enough, being a boy, to get most of the jokes, but what I could get I laughed at. What a genius! Thankfully, enough of those shows exist so that those who were as young as I was then, and later generations could enjoy, and laugh loud and long.

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, 'rolko', but Godfrey was still an "attraction" in 1955 (even though his ratings and popularity were slowly declining after the "LaRosa incident"), and advertisers waited in line to sponsor HIS six daily quarter-hours on radio [four of them simulcast on TV]. Ernie was known around advertising circles as an "eccentric", and sponsors rarely, if ever, sustained his daily NBC-TV series.

[fromthesidelines]

Ernie was on LIVE, weekday mornings at 10:30am(et) [mostly unsponsored], right after "DING DONG SCHOOL". He had the same kind of audience that David Letterman was to have for HIS daytime comedy/variety show in the summer and fall of 1980- in both of their cases, not enough to stay on. How'd YOU like to be on opposite the viewers' favorite, "ARTHUR GODFREY TIME"?

[wmbrown6]

Some segments of this show had their audio excerpted for "The Ernie Kovacs Album" (Columbia PC 34250) in 1976.