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Among the pioneers of television, Ernie Kovacs was one of the most original and imaginative comedians. His zany, irreverent, and surprising humor not only entertained audiences throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, but also inspired a host of later comedies and comedians, including Monty Python, David Letterman, much of Saturday Night Live, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Captain Kangaroo, and even Sesame Street. Kovacs created laughter through wildly creative comic jokes, playful characterizations, hilarious insights, and wacky experiments. "Nothing in moderation," his motto and epitaph, sums up well Kovacs's wholehearted approach to comedy and life.

In this book, Andrew Horton offers the first sustained look at Ernie Kovacs's wide-ranging and lasting contributions to the development of TV comedy. He discusses in detail Kovacs's work in New York, which included The Ernie Kovacs Show (CBS prime time 1952-1953), The Ernie Kovacs Show (NBC daytime variety 1956-1957), Tonight (NBC late-night comedy/variety 1956-1957), and a number of quiz shows. Horton also looks at Kovacs's work in Los Angeles and in feature film comedy. He vividly describes how Kovacs and his comic co-conspirators created offbeat characters and zany situations that subverted expectations and upended the status quo. Most of all, Horton demonstrates that Kovacs grasped the possibility for creating a fresh genre of comedy through the new medium of television and exploited it to the fullest.

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Ernie Kovacs lived his life at fever pitch - a life that ended in 1962 when his car skidded out of control. Kovacsland is an engrossing and entertaining portrait of a television pioneer. Index; photographs.
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Customer Reviews (6)

Great
There was only one Ernie Kovacs.He died way too soon. Good bio. Thanks!

Biography of Ernie Kovacs
Must reading for any fan of Ernie Kovacs.
So many facts about the life of the most ingenious man who ever got in front of a television camera.He understood the medium of television as no one has to this day.If the technology we have today had been available to him at the time, I can't imagine what he could have created.
"The Nirobe Treo" he created is always funny no mater how many times I watch it.
His untimly death, was one of the saddest events in the world.

Ernie Kovacs HATED "laugh tracks".Too bad his hatedred didn't catch on!

Well Done!
I bought this book several years ago, and I highly recommend it to any Kovacsphile! Diana Rico presents a wonderful portrait of this innovative genius, hitting all of the highs and lows. TV misses Ernie to this day!

An easy read about a complicated talent
People use words like "off-beat" and "wacky" when it comes to Ernie Kovacs, but in truth the man had a real sense of humor.By this I mean he understood humor, could almost break it down to the atomic level in his head, and assemble wonderfully funny and original pieces from those atoms.Those of us who love humor love Ernie because he would create new forms of it instead of the trite and hackneyed ones that surround us to this day in bad sitcoms, awful sketch comedy shows, and terrible stand-up.Only when you look at Ernie's stuff do you recognize the stagnant brine most Americans call TV comedy and how ubiquitous it is.

This bio would be best if there was more from Ernie himself on his process, but since tragedy has made that impossible Ms. Rico has stitched together an impressive Persian rug of a tale using those who knew him and worked with him.She also provides exhaustive background on the goings-on in his life to give an excellent sense of perspective and accomplishment.You learn more about Ernie the man than about how he was able to come up with all of that great stuff.

Reading this book is like Ernie's life - funny, detailed, warm, intelligent, human, and over way too soon.

Well worth finding-or reprinting!
There have been three biographies of Ernie Kovacs in the last 25 years(well, one of the three is really Edie Adams' memoir); Diana Rico's is the best, and likely to remain so for some time-I wish I had written itmyself!Ernie Kovacs was a fascinating, mercurial man with an eclectic andvery strong appeal, and Rico manages to capture his personality, talent andtremendous charm without ever tipping over(as so many "star"biographies do)into bathos or hero-worship.Fair-minded, and with accuracyreflecting a lot of primary interviews and careful research, it's also justa plainly well-written, entertaining read.If you've a special interest inKovacs, or are simply curious about who he was, and what the days of theroaring 50's rat-pack was like, this is a book to seek out. ... Read more

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Ernie,we all love you!!
This is a great biography of the reknowned actor/comedian Ernie Kovacs.We,all love you!!!!!!! ... Read more

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The bawdy uproarious novel about the high-pressure world of TV. ... Read more

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Ernie WasA Visionary, Not A Writer
Ernie Kovacs was the guy who said televsion (50s style) was called a medium because it was neither rare nor well done. He instsed on looking at things his own way, and using TV's technology in ways no one else would even imagine.

Today, whenever a business seminar leader trots out the well-worn cliche "thinking outside the box," Ernie's face comes before me.

And music was innate.So much of Ernie's TV tech stuff was 100% visual, it was tantamount to viewing a series of silent films.

And we remember that silent movies had musical accompaniment.Ernie had to furnish music which would at once associate itself with the ruthlessly original visual imagery and also be, hopefully, something we'd not heard before.

He scoured the globe for 1950s-era music that you'd never heard before.For example, even fifty years later, I cannot hear the version of "Jalousie" on this CD without seeing the "office equipment" visuals he made.And I'd be grateful for a plateful of fish.

Ernie's outlook on things has warped me for life.I read this book when I was a kid, and thought, if television is really like that, I don't know if I want to work in it.

And I never did...until I was on IIT/V in the 1970s.

But that's another story. ... Read more

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A Sesame Street/Golden Press Book...published by Western Publishing Co.,...in conjunction with Children's Television Workshop ...Sesame Street Muppets Inc., 1987 (The Sesame Street Book Club) ... Read more

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Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was anAmerican comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, andvisually experimental comic style came to influencenumerous television comedy programs for years after hisdeath in an automobile accident. Such iconic shows as Rowanand Martin's Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, TheUncle Floyd Show, Saturday Night Live and even CaptainKangaroo, Sesame Street and The Electric Company, and TVhosts such as David Letterman and Craig Ferguson are seenas influenced by Kovacs. ... Read more

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Catalog of an Exhibition at the Museum of Broadcasting May 30- September 4, 1986. ... Read more

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Chapters: Rod Steiger, Marty Feldman, Fritz Lang, Bette Davis, Scatman Crothers, Ernie Kovacs, Charles Laughton, Josh Ryan Evans, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Webb, Roy Campanella, Ricky Nelson, Brittany Murphy, Bobby Fuller, Gene Autry, Paul Winfield, Richard Farnsworth, Telly Savalas, Leo Durocher, Bob Kane, Lucille Ball, Liberace, John Ritter, Clarence Johnson, John Gilbert, Stan Laurel, Andy Gibb, Orry-Kelly, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Dorothy Lamour, Julie London, Ralph Bellamy, Walter Lantz, Albert R. Broccoli, Ann Harding, Dick Wilson, Donald O'connor, Mary Brian, Marjorie Main, Brad Davis, Jill Ireland, Antonio Moreno, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Edie Adams, Edward Coxen, George "Gabby" Hayes, Forrest Tucker, Claire Windsor, Judith Barsi, Ozzie Nelson, Rex Ingram, Bert Convy, Burt Mustin, Carl David Anderson, Jess Willard, Sabu Dastagir, Harriet Nelson, André de Toth, Lamont Bentley, Reginald Denny, Gail Davis, Olan Soule, Melvin Franklin, Porter Hall, Harriet E. Macgibbon, Marie Wilson, Bill Cody, Jr., Ann Little, Haven Gillespie, Dar Robinson, Horace Heidt, George Zucco, Priscilla Bonner, Jason Robards, Sr., Paul Zastupnevich, Al Viola, Sue Williams, Diane Linkletter, Bill Williams, Don Alvarado, Otto Kruger, Claire Whitney, Lloyd Bacon, Jack Nimitz, Clarice Sherry, Ruth Royce, David Bailey, Betty Francisco, Harry Ackerman, Ralph Yearsley, Robert Arthur, Joe Brooks, Robert Francis, Katherine Victor. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 569. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasi...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=63517 ... Read more

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Chapters: Freddie Prinze, Béla Lugosi, Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, Ernie Kovacs, Goldie Hawn, Jesse Ventura, Tony Curtis, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eva Gabor, Rodney Dangerfield, Paul Lukas, Mariska Hargitay, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jon Lovitz, Adrien Brody, David Krumholtz, S. Z. Sakall, Vilma Bánky, Bill Dana, Jessica Szohr, Agnes Bruckner, Kirk Alyn, J. Edward Bromberg, Lya de Putti, Shawn Hatosy, Michael Pataki, Kurt Kasznar, Richard Ryen, Steffi Duna, Joe Penner, Ilona Massey, Zita Johann, Amerigo Tot, Éva Szörényi, Haruka Orth, Michu Meszaros, Elizabeth Kaitan, Lucy Doraine, Charles Puffy, Oscar Beregi, Sr., Franciska Gaal, John Bartha. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 244. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: James George Janos (born July 15, 1951), best known as Jesse "The Body" Ventura, is an American politician, former governor of Minnesota, retired professional wrestler and color commentator, Navy UDT veteran, actor, and former radio and television talk show host. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation as a wrestler and color commentator. In 2004, he was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame. In the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998, running as an Independent and member of the Reform Party, he was elected the 38th Governor of Minnesota and served from January 4, 1999 to January 6, 2003 without seeking a second term. Ventura was born James George Janos in Minneapolis, the son of Bernice Martha (née Lenz) and George William Janos. His father's parents were from what is today Slovakia, and his mother was of German descent. Ventura has described himself as Slovak. Ventura (then still using his legal name of Janos) attended the now-closed Cooper Elementary School, and graduated from Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School in 1969...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=65521 ... Read more

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Chapters: Ernie Kovacs, F. W. Murnau, Sam Kinison, James Dean, Bob Miller, Nick Adenhart, Pete Conrad, David Halberstam, Yip Harburg, Steven Stayner, Bob Clark, Don Rich, Clarence White, Jeff Cravath, Nathanael West, Michael Hedges, Kazimierz Deyna, Frederick Madison Roberts, Jerry Rubin, Joe Ranft, Richard Fariña, Nikki Catsouras Photographs Controversy, Lou Busch, Jill Banner, Shorty Hamilton, Terrence Kiel, Preston Gómez, Andy Demize, Jerry Edmonton, Charles Butterworth, Thomas Gomez, J. Stuart Blackton, Eric Campbell, Thuy Trang, Steve Howe, Fred Moore, Lamont Bentley, Dallas Cook, Gladys Brockwell, Heinie Reitz, Paul Jarrico, Lige Conley, Brian Simnjanovski, Edward Kennedy, Darrell Russell, Rushton Moreve, Lucien Ballard, Steve Duplantis, Rick Griffin, Lynn Strait, Samuel Ingham Merrill, Jennifer Syme, John Burden, Philip Taylor Kramer, Vivian Rich, Claudia Jennings, Marcus Cassel, Dorothy Dell, Harry Wolverton, Tu'ipelehake, Scott Plank, Keith Godchaux, Joe Keaton, John Howatt Bell, Ralph Evans, Charles Lewis, Jr., George W. Hill, Timothy Guy Phelps, Tim Layana, Paul Edmondson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Percy Kilbride, Tim Choate, Mike Mosley, Alan Crosland, Johnny Mantz, Razzle, Belinda Lee, Joe Berry, John L. Wasserman, Jilly Rizzo, Johnny Palermo, Charley Rogers, Guy Hedlund, Einar Hanson, Chico Ruiz, Junior Durkin, Curt Roberts, Mike Yaconelli, Billy Laughlin, Randy Bobb, Tom Dugan, Brent Liles, Ernest Haller, Carol Willis, Eddie Phillips, Ralph Lewis, Collier Young, Diane Thomas, Krysti Lynn, B. Reeves Eason, Jr., Millard K. Wilson, Tom Yarborough, Trinidad Silva, William James Craft, Melanie Lomax, Marguerite Clayton, Dave Dalby, Robert J. Horner, Galen Laack, Al Dvorin, Franklin Ritchie, Steve Susskind, Charles Emmett Mack, Denny Williams, Stacey Toran, Lexie Bigham, Charles F. Van de Water, Paul Stovall, Tom Capone, Paul Mace. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 466. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18622157 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 905 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and textual cross-references to related essays. ... Read more