Comedians And Satirists Codexery

Ernie Kovacs

Radio's first true rebel, per radio historian Gerald Nachman.

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Ernie Kovacs was a television comedian known for his visually experimental and spontaneous style that influenced many later programs.[1] Ernest Kovacs's birth year was 1919, and his television career started in 1950 at WPTZ, NBC's Philadelphia affiliate.[2][3]

Key facts and history

Kovacs's father Andrew emigrated from Hungary, arriving at Ellis Island in 1906.[2] Kovacs hosted Three to Get Ready, the first regularly scheduled early morning show in a major television market, premiering in November 1950.[4] Kovacs hosted his own version of the Tonight show from October 1956 until January 1957.[5] He received a 1962 Emmy Award for Outstanding Electronic Camera Work after his death.[6][7]

For his January 1950 audition at WPTZ, Kovacs wore only a barrel and shorts.[8][3] The Ideal Manufacturing Company sponsored Pick Your Ideal, a fashion program that became Kovacs's debut television show.[3]

What the cited sources add

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia account notes that Kovacs's show Deadline for Dinner premiered on March 20, 1950 at 3 pm.[8] The Paley Center for Media records that The Ernie Kovacs Show aired on NBC on August 13, 1956 at 8:00 PM.[9] The Broadcast Pioneers account reports that Kovacs created characters like Percy Dovetonsils and the Nairobi Trio while in Philadelphia.[8] The same source confirms that Kovacs came to WPTZ from radio station WTTM in Trenton, where he grew up.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: O'Connor, John J., "TV View: Ernie Kovacs: A comic to the medium born", The New York Times, March 8, 1987; Chase, "The Unique Comedy of Ernie Kovacs", TV Guide, April 9, 1977, p. 39–40; O'Connor, John J., "TV: Why Ernie Kovacs's humor grows with time", The New York Times, November 17, 1982; Visconage, Matt, "Conan O'Brien and the Legacy of Ernie Kovacs", Splitsider, January 23, 2012; Willmore, Alison, "Take a Look at the Unappreciated Genius of TV Pioneer Ernie Kovacs", Indiewire, May 2, 2012; Walley, "The Ernie Kovacs Phile", Simon & Schu en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Great Clowns of American Television", McFarland & Company, 2001, p. 270; Goodman, Mark, "Nothing in moderation", The New York Times, May 13, 1990 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Corliss, Richard, "Philly Fifties: TV", July 7, 2001; "Ernie Kovacs", Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia; Chorba, Frank J., "Ernie Kovacs, U.S. Comedian", The Museum of Broadcast Communications (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "WPTZ's Kovacs Reaps Early Scanner Harvest", April 7, 1951 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edelstein, "Trenton’s Ernie Kovacs was a ‘Tonight Show’ host, even if NBC refuses to acknowledge the fact", The Trentonian, August 19, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tony-Winning Actress Edie Adams Dead at 81", CBS News, October 16, 2008; "Late Ernie Kovacs Is Honored As Best TV Director Of 1961", Courier-Journal, 12 February 1962, p. 18; "Emmy Awards Database-Ernie Kovacs", Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; "Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Inductees", Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1987; "Hollywood Walk of Fame-Ernie Kovacs", Hollywood Walk of Fame (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Ernie Kovacs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Emmy Awards Database-Ernie Kovacs", Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Ernie Kovacs", Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. facts only, no text reused. broadcastpioneers.com
  9. "The Ernie Kovacs Show (NBC)", Paley Center for Media, August 13, 1956. facts only, no text reused. paleycenter.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ernie Kovacs (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Named in this entry

Hungary

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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