Ernie Kovacs was a TV comedian who was seriously ahead of his time. He went from being a humorous morning show host in a local market (Philly), circa 1950, to being taken up by a network, to producing his own primetime sketch shows. Some of his work still exists--and this body of work is absolutely worth watching for anyone interested in the history of comedy and broadcasting.
His use of video technology for rapid editing and cutaway sequences so soon after the invention of the Ampex machine, his bizarre humour and non sequiturs, all of this would lead his friend Jack Lemmon to say he was fifteen years ahead of everyone else. But he died tragically young.
So, what if he isn't killed in a car crash during the winter of early '62?
At this point his productions for the American Broadcasting Company had been regularly scheduled specials, inspired by the success of a show he had produced in '57 after a Jerry Lewis colour broadcast. It doesn't appear that he had any weekly show in the works in 1962--much is made of the fact he was soon to begin work on the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World, in a role that was later recast with Sid Caesar after Kovac's death.
Also, Ernie didn't particularly like paying taxes, and he died owing the IRS $100,000, a pretty phenomenal amount for a guy who wasn't exactly among the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time. This forebodes badly for a man who should have had several more decades of work in his future (a youtube commenter suggests that Kovacs would have surely resorted to appearing in his own sitcom. Perhaps something of the quality of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis? Or maybe something not as memorable, depending on how much control he could exercise.)
I think an extant Kovacs probably spends most of the middle of the decade making films, with his TV specials being reduced to once or twice a year. Supporting roles in Rock Hudson/Doris Day vehicles and Elvis movies are probably the staple of what he does while he's recovering from his financial troubles. But soon a new day is dawning--the late sixties.
By 1967 all three US television networks are broadcasting in colour, while Hollywood is starting to produce more movies like The Graduate and What's New Pussycat?. Apart from the youth culture of rock and the hippies finally surpassing the achievements of the beats, the late sixties allowed the satire boom of the last decade to become mainstream. Profitable, even.
I think Kovacs jumps into this new environment feet first. Just as he grabbed video recording technology as soon as it came out, colour TV will be irresistable to him. He could be the first to reach-out to the youth audience that Laugh In and The Smothers Brothers Comedy were targeted at, very much like Spike Milligan in the UK got the drop on Monty Python (Dudley Moore and Peter Cook had also preceded 'Flying Circus').
How long should Kovacs be at the top of his game, creatively? That is hard to say. As pointed out, he wasn't the best at organising his business affairs. Men born at around the same time he was, or several years later, include Milligan, Sid Caesar*, Steve Allen, and Carl Reiner. Mel Brooks is half-a-dozen years younger than Kovacs would be if Ernie were alive today, and he's still working as a producer.
Though I don't think Kovacs would be able to work as long as he would have wanted if he'd lived until the end of the century, just being able to continue as a writer/performer/producer for that extra fifteen years Lemmon spoke of would see a remarkable output.
*IMDB says Caesar is still alive.
His use of video technology for rapid editing and cutaway sequences so soon after the invention of the Ampex machine, his bizarre humour and non sequiturs, all of this would lead his friend Jack Lemmon to say he was fifteen years ahead of everyone else. But he died tragically young.
So, what if he isn't killed in a car crash during the winter of early '62?
At this point his productions for the American Broadcasting Company had been regularly scheduled specials, inspired by the success of a show he had produced in '57 after a Jerry Lewis colour broadcast. It doesn't appear that he had any weekly show in the works in 1962--much is made of the fact he was soon to begin work on the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World, in a role that was later recast with Sid Caesar after Kovac's death.
Also, Ernie didn't particularly like paying taxes, and he died owing the IRS $100,000, a pretty phenomenal amount for a guy who wasn't exactly among the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time. This forebodes badly for a man who should have had several more decades of work in his future (a youtube commenter suggests that Kovacs would have surely resorted to appearing in his own sitcom. Perhaps something of the quality of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis? Or maybe something not as memorable, depending on how much control he could exercise.)
I think an extant Kovacs probably spends most of the middle of the decade making films, with his TV specials being reduced to once or twice a year. Supporting roles in Rock Hudson/Doris Day vehicles and Elvis movies are probably the staple of what he does while he's recovering from his financial troubles. But soon a new day is dawning--the late sixties.
By 1967 all three US television networks are broadcasting in colour, while Hollywood is starting to produce more movies like The Graduate and What's New Pussycat?. Apart from the youth culture of rock and the hippies finally surpassing the achievements of the beats, the late sixties allowed the satire boom of the last decade to become mainstream. Profitable, even.
I think Kovacs jumps into this new environment feet first. Just as he grabbed video recording technology as soon as it came out, colour TV will be irresistable to him. He could be the first to reach-out to the youth audience that Laugh In and The Smothers Brothers Comedy were targeted at, very much like Spike Milligan in the UK got the drop on Monty Python (Dudley Moore and Peter Cook had also preceded 'Flying Circus').
How long should Kovacs be at the top of his game, creatively? That is hard to say. As pointed out, he wasn't the best at organising his business affairs. Men born at around the same time he was, or several years later, include Milligan, Sid Caesar*, Steve Allen, and Carl Reiner. Mel Brooks is half-a-dozen years younger than Kovacs would be if Ernie were alive today, and he's still working as a producer.
Though I don't think Kovacs would be able to work as long as he would have wanted if he'd lived until the end of the century, just being able to continue as a writer/performer/producer for that extra fifteen years Lemmon spoke of would see a remarkable output.
*IMDB says Caesar is still alive.
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