Do any of you remember The Ernie Kovacs show?

[kentauros]

Too early for me to remember, but did see plenty of it in reruns and specials later. Here's the PBS-produced Ernie Kovacs series-introduction by Jack Lemmon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgL3l5CTDaA

Ernie Kovacs: ''The Silent Show'' 1957 (in color! :D)

[blogslut]

1. Wanna go nuts?

Here's the first part of about 5 hours of an oral history/interview with Edie Adams from The Archive of Television History:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dmksRLrKdI

[hobbit709]

2. Yep.

[trof]

3. The Nairobi Trio

:rofl:

[Graybeard]

11. Jack Lemmon loved that he once played one of the apes.

He would boast about it often. Kovaks friend Frank Sinatra did it once too as a goof. Funny stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nairobi_Trio

....

[trof]

13. And heeeere they ARE! I give you...The Nairobi Trio!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uw03hS_EMY

[Kali]

4. only as reruns

late 60's - early 70's maybe even on PBS?

[Paladin]

5. Kovacs Was A Genius. (n/t)

[rebel with a cause]

16. That's what I have always heard

but he made me a nervous wreck when I watched him as a kid. Don't know why. :shrug:

[surrealAmerican]

6. He was absolutely brilliant.

I only saw reruns, like that PBS series. I suspect much of his work was lost, having been broadcast live.

[annabanana]

7. love. . love . . LOVED that show...

Sheer inspired lunacy!

[bikebloke]

8. Faintly

I was still pretty young.

[kentauros]

9. He was also in the Alec Guinness movie "Our Man in Havana"

Tropicana Scene - Ernie Kovacs

movie trailer

[Graybeard]

10. He was going to be in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" but was killed in an auto crash.

Edie Adams did the film but Sid Caesar replaced Kovaks

in the part of her husband.

[kentauros]

12. I didn't know that.

He would have been just as good in that role :)
Although I think he might have been more laid-back than Sid was...

[BrklynLiberal]

22. WOW! I did not know that....

[rurallib]

25. A Corvair that the wheels rolled under on and caused a rollover.

I believe it was one of the incidents that led to the whole safe auto movement.

[blogslut]

19. He was in one of my favorite EVAR movies

Bell Book & Candle:

http://www.flixster.com/movie/bell-book-and-candle

[femmocrat]

14. I think I remember the Nairobi Trio.

Not sure if I remember them from seeing more recent clips of them, though.

[sarge43]

15. Remember it well.

The Niobe Trio, Percy Dovetonsils, funny, funny stuff.

[madrchsod]

18. percy would`t pc today

[sarge43]

24. No way. May he rest in peace. n/t

[madrchsod]

17. i think i watched every show when i was a kid

hell i remember watching milton berle in the early 50`s

no wonder i`m still screwed -up.......

[susanr516]

20. I remember it

but I was really young, so I didn't truly appreciate it.

[BrklynLiberal]

21. YES!! The man was an absolute genius!!!

I have to laugh just thinking about some of the things he did.

The Nairobi Trio!!!


http://erniekovacs.blogspot.com/2007/03/nairobi-trio.html

Regarding Ernie's famous "Nairobi Trio" sketch:

1. One ape was Ernie and one was Edie. Sometimes a famous celebrity would play the third ape. Name two famous celebrities who played the third ape at some point.

2. What is the name of the song that is always used in this sketch?

For Extra Credit: How did Ernie come across this song and what does the title mean?

OK. Simply post your answer in the form of a comment (all comments are moderated). Once again there are no prizes but you will attain infamy by having your comments on a blog for all to see.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Oh yes, I remember that show

I was still in grade school when he died, so I'm sure I didn't get a lot of his humor, but I enjoyed his general off-beat air.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

26. a genius ahead of his time

Too bad he had to die so young.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

27. Music quiz. Pop quiz. No peeking at wikipedia!

What is the main ragtime theme song called and what famous composer of the Jazz Age wrote it?

:D

[TheCentepedeShoes]

28. I had a modern dance PE class in

college and we had to divide up in threes and present a short "performance"
My group did a sort of Nairobi trio thing but without any accompanying music
Got an A
I loved Ernie and Edie