THE SILENT SHOW - RARE ERNIE KOVACS PANTOMIME SPECIAL - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1957

Nobody could make more laughter with less dialogue on television than video virtuoso, Ernie Kovacs. The mad master of tv mime showcased his manifold talents on a 1957, LIVING COLOR special, called THE SILENT SHOW on the NBC television network.It was a television experiment that showcased Kovacs in a selection of comedy vignettes, performed without dialog.

The protean performer was also a visionary television tactician. While many great comedians and their writers labored to translate radio comedy to television,Kovacs was one of the first performers who used the technical tools of the young medium to true creative purpose in pursuit of laughter. He was a remarkable producer.

Kovacs,born in 1919,was a native of Trenton NJ and , today,a bronze bust , sculpted in his honor, resides in the executive offices of New Jersey Public Television. He began his television career in 1950, hosting an early morning show called THREE TO GET READY on what was then Philadelphia's NBC affiliate, WPTZ-TV. Today that station,KYW-TV, is a CBS Owned and Operated station.



One footnote in television history is that the station cancelled THREE TO GET READY, at the request of the NBC-TV. Network executives wanted the Philadelphia affiliate to clear a new morning program they were launching in January of 1952, called THE TODAY SHOW.

A demonstrative , mercurial man who was devoted to his wife, singer/comedienne Edie Adams, and family, Kovac's was also known to be consumed by gambling. He died , sadly, in a 1962 auto accident when heading home from a poker game.

Beyond his work on the small screen, he leaves an eclectic legacy of film performances.There is no way to fully assess his impact on generations of television performers , producers and to his loyal audience.

Below is a clip from the Retro TV website that features a rare, LIVING COLOR,excerpt from THE SILENT SHOW. This video , repackaged, some years later for a TV special about Kovac's myriad talents, starts with narration from NBC-TV's late night legend, Johnny Carson. Enjoy!!!!!

The button-down mind( and rapidly cancelled variety show ) of comic genius Bob Newhart - Rare clips from Newhart's NBC-TV series - Circa 1962

Bob Newhart was hosting the 1962 EMMY AWARDS when his NBC-TV comedy/variety series, THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, won the Television Academy's coveted award for "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor."

It was total validation for his observational, character driven style of television comedy.Some said he was too young, too cerebral and too subtle to register on the small screen.If Gleason and Berle went for belly laughs, Newhart's humor targeted your frontal lobes.

Bob Newhart had the unique ability to make you laugh and think.

A quiet and quirky accountant who looked at life in an ironic way, Newhart began writing and recording funny routines with a partner to preserve his sanity. The pair had some success selling their comedic bits to radio stations, but ultimately went their separate ways.

The Chicago native began to work as a solo act in nightclubs and honed his imaginative and inspired routines. They included a harried portrait of a besieged driving instructor, a craven, Madison Avenue advertising man, pitching his devious campaign strategy to candidate Abe Lincoln, and a bureaucratic security guard trying to determine how to handle King Kong climbing up the Empire State Building.

Unlike the most successful nightclub performers of the day, Newhart didn't do jokes about his domineering Mother-in-Law, those crazy teenagers or flavor-free airline food. He crafted hip snapshots of aberrant human behavior which had hilarious consequences for his appreciative audience.



Newhart's career exploded after Warner Bros. Records released his first comedy album in 1960.Entitled THE BUTTON-DOWN MIND OF BOB NEWHART , the vinyl LP won the recording academy's Grammy for "Album of The Year," beating out popular and bankable musical artists.

In doing that,he opened the door for comedians like Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Flip Wilson to do mainstream,long-form monologues on records.

The witty and wry social observations on the bands of his album propelled Bob Newhart into stardom
But television was a challenge for a young performer who lacked the confidence to carry a network show and lacked the confidence of the network that carried the show.While critical reviews were excellent, ratings and revenues were low.

On Emmy night, 1962, Newhart received a message from NBC programming executives and it was not a congratulatory telegram.

It was a cancellation notice.

The competition was formidable for the BOB NEWHART SHOW. The NBC-TV series aired on Wednesday nights at 10pm, opposite ABC-TV'S THE NAKED CITY, a gritty,police drama and CBS-TV's respected dramatic anthology,THE U.S. STEEL HOUR.Even with NBC-TV's powerhouse lead-in of THE PERRY COMO SHOW , the audience wasn't ready to accept young Bob Newhart as a variety host.

THE BOB NEWHART SHOW lasted only one season.

CBS-TV soon hired him to star with Carol Burnett and Dom DeLuise in The Entertainers, a weekly comic revue with music. The material wasn't written in Newhart's bright and bemused voice.

It tanked , quickly.

While devastated, Newhart's personal tenacity and professional work ethic carried him forward into a decade of success in Las Vegas showrooms, New York nightspots and as a frequent guest on such series as The Tonight Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace.He had small parts in films and recorded more albums.

The 1970's saw Bob Newhart welcomed into the MTM Productions family, where he achieved Television Icon status with his hit sitcom,The Bob Newhart Show,that aired on CBS-TV.

Below are two rare excerpts from two episodes of THE "FIRST" BOB NEWHART SHOW. Enjoy!!!!!

LAUGHTER ON A SUNDAY NIGHT- THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW ON NBC-TV- CIRCA JUNE 2, 1957

If watching CBS-TV's, wholesome Ed Sullivan Show was a Sunday night tradition from 1948 to 1971, then his multi-talented competitor,on NBC-TV,for much of the late 1950's, Steve Allen, will always be remembered for offering fast and furious,adult comedy as an attractive, programming alternative.

Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (12/26/1921 to 10/30/2000), who was the son of the legendary vaudevillians, Belle Montrose and Billy Allen, seemed to have comedy in his DNA. Born in New York City, he was raised by his mother's family in a Chicago, working class neighborhood.

Allen's early, unscripted work on Arizona radio, as a disc jockey, demonstrated a range of ad-libbing ability, rarely matched in show business. He moved quickly to broadcast wrestling matches and host his own show,Smile Time, on Los Angeles radio . A major success in California, Allen soon headed East to star in national shows on CBS Radio and Television. He was recruited by NBC to host a local , late night, television show , sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, in New York, which went national. It morphed into the original Tonight Show in 1954.

For a short time, he hosted the Tonight Show and a Sunday night , variety program designed to compete with Ed Sullivan. He left Tonight in 1956 to concentrate on the Sunday night show and his movie career. On that Sunday show ,he introduced America to Elvis Presley ( seen below and to the right with Allen and entertainer Imogene Coca) before the Rock and Roll icon ever set foot on Ed Sullivan' s stage.


Allen had a facile, inventive mind. In his lifetime ,he performed on countless television and radio shows,he authored over 50 books, and wrote thousands of songs. His ability to capitalize on the comedy in any given moment on stage is amazing and astonishing.

Here is a rare series of clips that comprise the June 2, 1957 episode of The Steve Allen Show, which aired at 8pm Eastern Time, Sunday evenings on NBC-TV. Notice the trademark, opening segment, called Crazy Shots, which were TV tailored, sight gags. Allen's omni-present and comedically potent, stock company, including Louis Nye, is front and center with guests like superstar Jerry Lewis, The Diamond's and his mother, Belle Montrose. Enjoy!!!!