SID CAESAR - THE GERMAN GENERAL SKETCH FROM NBC-TV'S YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS- CIRCA SEPT. 26, 1954 AND A SKETCH FROM CAESAR'S HOUR ON NBC-TV CIRCA 1956

SID CAESAR MAY HAVE BEEN TELEVISION'S FIRST, TRUE ,VIDEO VIRTUOSO.A BROADWAY AND VARIETY STAR WHO HONED HIS HIGH VOLTAGE PERFORMANCE SKILLS AS A YOUNG MAN IN THE RESORTS OF NEW YORK STATE'S CATSKILL MOUNTAINS,CAESAR STARRED IN ONE OF THE INFANT MEDIUM'S MOST DARING PRODUCTIONS, THE ADMIRAL BROADWAY REVIEW , A 90 MINUTE VARIETY SHOW WHICH WAS SIMULCAST IN 1949 ON THE NBC AND DUMONT TELEVISION NETWORKS. THE SHOW WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT THE SPONSOR, ADMIRAL CORPORATION, A TELEVISION AND RADIO MANUFACTURER, CANCELLED THE PROGRAM BECAUSE IT COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND FOR NEW TV SETS CREATED BY PROGRAM.
SOON AFTER, NBC , AT THE HAND OF UBER-PROGRAMMER SYLVESTER "PAT" WEAVER, TEAMED THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED CAESAR, WHO HAD STUDIED SAXOPHONE AT JULLIARD BEFORE LAUNCHING A CAREER IN COMEDY,WITH VERSATILE AND VIBRANT CO-STARS IMOGENE COCO,CARL REINER AND HOWARD MORRIS ON YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS. MOUNTED LIKE A NEW BROADWAY REVUE , EACH WEEK, WITH SATIRICAL, COMIC SKETCHES, SPRAWLING PRODUCTION NUMBERS AND TOP GUEST STARS,YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS WAS AIRED ON NBC-TV, LIVE FOR 90 MINUTES EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT, AND IS BELIEVED TO BE A PROGENITOR OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
THE CLIPS BELOW DISPLAY THE MANIFOLD TALENTS OF CAESAR'S CO-STARS, HIS LEGENDARY WRITING STAFF ( WHICH INCLUDED MEL BROOKS, NEIL SIMON AND LARRY GELBART) AND HIS OWN COMEDIC BRILLIANCE. THE FIRST SKETCH IS CALLED THE GERMAN GENERAL AND IT HAS A GREAT SUPRISE ENDING.THE SECOND CLIP IS FROM CAESAR'S WORLD , A 1956 NBC-TV SERIES THAT CAESAR HOSTED AFTER YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS LEFT THE NETWORK. HE RETAINED MOST OF HIS WRITING STAFF , CARL REINER , HOWARD MORRIS AND WAS JOINED BY A NEW FEMALE , CO-STAR, THE MULTI-TALENTED NANETTE FABRAY. HERE, THEY PANTOMIME A DOMESTIC DISAGREEMENT TO BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY.ENJOY !!!!!