Ernie Kovacs was one of early television’s true underrated geniuses. And a tragic one.
I can still remember the sad day of January 12, 1962 when he died in a car accident at the height of his popularity. I was in elementary school and chose that as my current events story to present to Mrs. Quinn’s class. I fought back tears. But I thought: “Surely even though he’s gone, his comedy will live on…”
In a way it did, in a way it didn’t. ABC broadcast his final special after his death with a special announcement before it aired, saying Ernie would wanted it that way. I watched the show in my father’s den in our house on Knollwood Drive in New Haven, Connecticut and thought: “Even though he’s gone, his kind of comedy will continue.” Did it?
Yes, comedians such as David Letterman carried on the irony that the comedy pioneer brought to 1950s and early 1960s television. Laugh-In later emulated the rat-a-tat-rat pace of his blackouts. Some, such as Johnny Carson, said his humor didn’t hold up. And, yes, Kovacs did often march to a different pace. But he experimented with the new medium of television unlike any other television comedy of his time. He didn’t resemble the other TV comedians who extended their vaudeville and radio careers on the new tube by doing quick-pay-off comedy.
Kovacs was supremely visual. He could (and did) do a whole routine with 1950s orchestra music in the background and videos of things such as tea kettles steaming in time to the music. He could do blackouts as good as any done in silent movies. He could turn the TV screen into a near cartoon festival — with humans. And he had a sublime sense of irony that was finally echoed in the 1970s with the advent of Saturday Night Live and the new breed of comedy-club-nurtured TV comedians (such as Letterman and others).
Kovacs had his own PACE. His comedy timing was at times more like Jack Benny’s (whose DVDs still provide superb lessons in timing for aspiring comedians.). He could and did do quick hilarious sketches and black-outs. But he (like Benny) had no problem doing a bit and taking his time by slooooooowly getting to the payoff…which could be conveying an attitude. And his timing was superb.
He tinkered with the medium of television itself. You can watch him open a thermos in one bit, and the water flows upwards; it was not a special effect, but the way he set up the camera and- the set itself. In another memorable bit, he would get down on the floor and play with sound waves from the music that was playing.
Here’s one of his most famous routine — beloved by some, baffling to others. The Nairobi Trio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uw03hS_EMY
You can learn more about Kovacs online at the Encyclopedia of Television. His official website is here. Kovacsland (unofficial site) is HERE. The Ernie Kovacs blog is HERE. And you can buy a collection of his best bits below:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.