Reply #250: Anyone remember the Ernie Kovacs Show?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

Kovacs was one of the great comedic pioneers on American television. I was just a little kid at the time but I remember seeing some pretty strange stuff on that show, even by modern standards. Although few people may even have heard of his show now, during its time it was one of the most popular and talked-about programs on the air.

"Laughs For Sale" was another comedy series that was truly unique. I think it aired in the early 1960s and it had people like Paul Winchell and Shecky Greene as regular guests. The extremely innovative aspect of "Laughs For Sale" was that the show appealed to the general public across America to write comedy skits which the comedians on the show would then perform the following week. Some of the stuff was kind of lame but some of it was pretty funny, and all written supposedly amateurs who watched the show. I think the prize for getting your comedy to be aired was something like $500.

Paul Winchell and and his dummy Jerry Mahoney (and Knucklehead) was a great comedic ventriloquist show and one of my favorites growing up.

Another old show that I recall as being pretty funny was "The Life Of Riley" with William Bendix. That show was one of my first memories of TV in the early 1950s.