Ernie Kovacs played one version of “Captain Buzzkill” or another in most of the movies he made for Columbia. He was being cast for what he looked like, his “type”. Kovacs made two attempts to upend this: one we know… Read More »Eugene: The Movie!
“I went to high school with Ernie Kovacs!” is one thing you never expect someone to say to you at an event. But that is precisely what a woman who attended the Ernie Kovacs Day event last month said to… Read More »Kovacs Centennial Celebration Held in Trenton
I’ve seen the famous Ernie Kovacs commercial for Dutch Masters a few dozen times, at least, and never noticed the string quartet. Not that they were in the commercial, the one known as “Haydn”, the one that won Kovacs and… Read More »Stringing Along With Ernie Kovacs for Dutch Masters
Ernie Kovacs show ensemble cast members turn up out of seemingly nowhere in the TV-ography of the shows. Ernie’s penchant for casting or hiring people through unusual channels and based on a personal reaction runs throughout his career. The trajectory… Read More »Singer Peter Hanley – Under-Documented Kovacs Ensemble Player
The Nation’s First Exposure to Ernie Kovacs Was in a Summer Replacement In 1951 After hosting a daily 7-9am wake-up show as well as a number of other programs — cooking, fashion, quiz — for local NBC affiliate WPTZ, Ernie… Read More »How Do You Replace Kukla, Fran and Ollie?
The best-known and most-seen version of Ernie Kovacs’ famous “Nairobi Trio” sketch is one shot on videotape. It was used in an episode of the 1977 series “The Best of Ernie Kovacs”, and it’s on YouTube. I’d always thought the… Read More »The Nairobi Trio: Behind the Masks
Ernie Kovacs hated working with a live audience for his TV shows. His TV shows feel like you’re having a visit with him. Having spent 8 years in radio before starting in TV, in its own nascent years, Ernie carried… Read More »Just You And Ernie Kovacs…And a Theatre Full of Fellow Fans
Ernie Kovacs must have had an inkling that his viewership on the half-hour comedy-variety show he did late mornings on NBC in 1955-1956 would include children. Why else would a puppet show have been a staple of the program’s regular… Read More »Kovacs and Kapusta Puppets by Larry Berthelson
Ernie Kovacs made a point of bringing make-up artist George Fiala out on camera in what may his only TV appearance. It was not to show Fiala off or pay tribute to his craft, but as a reassuring gesture a… Read More »George Fiala — Make-up Artist for Uncle Gruesome, Soaps, Santa and Soupy
Jack Newlon may have been hoping lightning might strike twice in 1952 when he composed and recorded Oriental Rag. His former piano student Tony DeSimone’s recording of his Oriental Blues was now being heard fairly regularly on Ernie Kovacs’ popular… Read More »Jack Newlon, Oriental Blues and Oriental Rag