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Allen, Parr, Carson, Leno, O'Brien...And Kovacs?

H

hubcity

Mark Evanier (who runs a fun blog to read in general) makes a convincing argument for the inclusion of Ernie Kovacs (even at the expense of Joan Rivers, Joey Bishop, et. al., all of whom were *guest* hosts) in NBC's Tonight Show Experience history.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_04_19.html#016988

Perhaps, as is suggested at the Ernie Kovacs Blog here...

http://erniekovacs.blogspot.com/2009/04/tell-nbc-to-ernie-kovacs-to-their.html

...it might be worth it to add our voices in support to the NBC message board, for reasons I go into on my own blog (plug, plug) here:

http://www.altrok.com/2009/04/there-are-six-hosts-kovacs-on-tonight.html
 
hubcity said:
Mark Evanier (who runs a fun blog to read in general) makes a convincing argument for the inclusion of Ernie Kovacs (even at the expense of Joan Rivers, Joey Bishop, et. al., all of whom were *guest* hosts) in NBC's Tonight Show Experience history.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_04_19.html#016988

Perhaps, as is suggested at the Ernie Kovacs Blog here...

http://erniekovacs.blogspot.com/2009/04/tell-nbc-to-ernie-kovacs-to-their.html

...it might be worth it to add our voices in support to the NBC message board, for reasons I go into on my own blog (plug, plug) here:

http://www.altrok.com/2009/04/there-are-six-hosts-kovacs-on-tonight.html
Click to expand...

let me second the nomination of Ernie Kovacs! when i was a kid i was amazed at the things Kovacs was doing on TV. i was 11 when i heard the news that he was killed in a car crash, even at that age, i was struck at the loss. by the way he was a fine actor in movies too.
 
Absolutely Ernie should be included in the Tonight show discussion! NBC is, unfortunately, a shell of it's former self but still can't be forgiven for not including Mr. Kovacks. The man was way, way ahead of his time and the ultimate in cool. Embrace your past NBC, it's about all you've got now.
 
People may forget that Kovacs hosted the "Tonight Show"
two nights a week in 1956. Steve Allen, the original "Tonight
Show" host, had just started his Sunday-night show against
Ed Sullivan, and NBC wanted him to devote his attention to it.
Can you imagine five 90-minute "Tonight Show"s plus an hour
show on Sunday nights? That would have been a killer, so
Steve turned Monday and Tuesday nights over to Ernie, who
probably got his biggest audiences during that time. I do
believe that one of his regular viewers was a young David
Letterman.

BTW, Ernie almost became a regular panelist on "What's
My Line?" He appeared ten weeks out of thirteen in the
summer of 1957 and, according to Gil Fates, scored a huge
laugh with this question to Mystery Guest Henry J. Kaiser,
the automobile tycoon: "It has been established, Mystery
Guest, that you have an automobile named after you. Now
this is just a wild guess, but could you by any chance be
Abraham Lincoln?"

Ernie, however, was about to move to California, where he
did--as someone said--make some fine appearances in movies,
as well as his ABC specials and his cult game show Take A
Good Look, before his all-too-early death in 1962.
 
bpatrick said:
People may forget that Kovacs hosted the "Tonight Show"
two nights a week in 1956. Steve Allen, the original "Tonight
Show" host, had just started his Sunday-night show against
Ed Sullivan, and NBC wanted him to devote his attention to it.
Can you imagine five 90-minute "Tonight Show"s plus an hour
show on Sunday nights? That would have been a killer, so
Steve turned Monday and Tuesday nights over to Ernie, who
probably got his biggest audiences during that time. I do
believe that one of his regular viewers was a young David
Letterman.

BTW, Ernie almost became a regular panelist on "What's
My Line?" He appeared ten weeks out of thirteen in the
summer of 1957 and, according to Gil Fates, scored a huge
laugh with this question to Mystery Guest Henry J. Kaiser,
the automobile tycoon: "It has been established, Mystery
Guest, that you have an automobile named after you. Now
this is just a wild guess, but could you by any chance be
Abraham Lincoln?"

Ernie, however, was about to move to California, where he
did--as someone said--make some fine appearances in movies,
as well as his ABC specials and his cult game show Take A
Good Look, before his all-too-early death in 1962.
Click to expand...

In 1961 Steve Allen once again ventured into late night TV. He started his Westinghouse show from Hollywood. It was carried five nights a week. I liked this show alot, but it only lasted until late 1964.
 
all in all, Steve Allen was the most influencial of ALL the Tonight Show hosts, even Carson stole from him, not to mention Letterman, leno and so on..
 
cspotrun said:
all in all, Steve Allen was the most influencial of ALL the Tonight Show hosts, even Carson stole from him, not to mention Letterman, leno and so on..
Click to expand...

I totally agree and besides comedy he was a good song writer too. A very talented man.
Letterman has often talked about how Steve Allen greatly influenced him.
 
[/quote]

In 1961 Steve Allen once again ventured into late night TV. He started his Westinghouse show from Hollywood. It was carried five nights a week. I liked this show alot, but it only lasted until late 1964.
[/quote]

Allen was doing two network shows, one being a "Prime-Time" variety show up against Ed Sullivan plus The Tonight show, he dropped out of the Tonight Show to concentrate on the variety show, which ended up getting smashed by Ed Sullivan. Allen then wanted back in the game but Paar had the show, and syndication was no match for NBC, too bad. Steve Allen was the greatest, and i would love to see that show again somewhere. SMOCK!! SMOCK!!
 

In 1961 Steve Allen once again ventured into late night TV. He started his Westinghouse show from Hollywood. It was carried five nights a week. I liked this show alot, but it only lasted until late 1964.
[/quote]

Allen was doing two network shows, one being a "Prime-Time" variety show up against Ed Sullivan plus The Tonight show, he dropped out of the Tonight Show to concentrate on the variety show, which ended up getting smashed by Ed Sullivan. Allen then wanted back in the game but Paar had the show, and syndication was no match for NBC, too bad. Steve Allen was the greatest, and i would love to see that show again somewhere. SMOCK!! SMOCK!!
[/quote]

I would love to see that show again too. My favorite segment was when he made the funny phone calls. I read a few years ago that some of those shows had been saved. I guess at one time they thought they were lost. Whether we'll ever see them again--who knows.
 
Allen made an album from the funny phone calls segment;
it includes one involving Peter Sellers and I think there's
one with Jerry Lewis. Since the album was put together
in the 1960s your best chance of finding it may be on ebay.
It's called "Funny Fone Calls."
 
bpatrick said:
Allen made an album from the funny phone calls segment;
it includes one involving Peter Sellers and I think there's
one with Jerry Lewis. Since the album was put together
in the 1960s your best chance of finding it may be on ebay.
It's called "Funny Fone Calls."
Click to expand...

I have the album with that title, but it doesn't have Sellers on it. Mine has Mel Brooks, Dayton Allen & some others. I do remember hearing the Jerry Lewis call with Allen on a radio show.
 
I thought I remembered Allen mentioning Sellers
being on the album in one of his "Funny People"
books; I could be wrong, you know. Also, I said
I thought Jerry Lewis was on there (I wasn't totally
sure). However, if you want to read the scripts of
their funny phone calls, try to find the two volumes
of "Funny People."
 
bpatrick said:
I thought I remembered Allen mentioning Sellers
being on the album in one of his "Funny People"
books; I could be wrong, you know. Also, I said
I thought Jerry Lewis was on there (I wasn't totally
sure). However, if you want to read the scripts of
their funny phone calls, try to find the two volumes
of "Funny People."
Click to expand...

Maybe there was another album. The one I have doesn't have Lewis either, but I've heard that call played on radio shows in the past.
 
You made that clear, that you heard Jerry's
phone call on radio. If you can't find it on an
album (and it may not be), I still suggest you
find Allen's "Funny People" books; there are
scripts of both Jerry's and Peter Sellers' calls.
Jerry's is particularly funny, as he calls a caterer
about a (probably nonexistent) party he wants
to throw. That way you can save them for posterity,
if you wish.
 
Back to the Kovacs topic, I've read that at one point after Steve Allen first left the Tonight Show to devote full time to his primetime show, Kovacs was asked to take it over five nights a week. He demurred...so NBC went down a dead end with the "Tonight! America After Dark!" experiment, which turned the show into a late night version of the Today Show (complete with Jack Lescoulie from the Today show as co-host) and lasted about six months before the network wrote it off. Kovacs turned them down again, since he'd moved out to the West Coast. They then came after Jack Paar, who was hosting a successful daytime talk/variety/comedy show over on CBS, and brought him in as soon as his contract was up. Paar then pretty much set the format the show's been following for the last 52 years, with opening monologue, a comedy bit or skit, and then the chat with guests. Johnny, Jay and Conan haven't really changed a thing since.

An Ernie Kovacs Tonight Show might also have gone down a similar path--but might have been a significantly different show. What he'd been doing on both local TV in Philadelphia and New York, and what he did on national TV, was ahead of its time, more of an anticipation of the kind of show we got years later on Laugh-In. Monty Python or SCTV. If Kovacs had stayed in NYC to do that show, instead of moving out West, we wouldn't have lost him in that sad accident at the beginning of 1962, and we might have gotten years of unique and groundbreaking TV. Undoubtedly he'd have eventually gone to prime time...and undoubtedly NBC would have recruited Johnny Carson to replace him, setting the history of late night TV back on something like its current course. But who knows how TV comedy might have changed?
 
Yes, there were two Funny Fone Call albums. I'd look up the title, but I'm too lazy to turn around and look in my record library.

Mike
 
Mike said:
Yes, there were two Funny Fone Call albums. I'd look up the title, but I'm too lazy to turn around and look in my record library.

Mike
Click to expand...

I have one of the Funny Fone call albums. Sure would like to get the other one.
 
try www.gemm.com. I've purchased quite a few records through that service. My "Fone Call" albums though are originals. I don't know when I'm gonna sell them, though.

BTW, I do not have any financial interest in, nor do I get any commissions, for mentioning gemm.com.

Mike
 
Kovacs did influence "Laugh-In," although
indirectly and five years after his death.
One of the regulars on his ABC shows in
the late '50s/early '60s was actress Jolene
Brand, wife of producer George Schlatter,
who created "Laugh-In" and used Kovacs'
"blackout" technique of jokes lasting only
a few seconds.
 
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