Editing Ernie Kovacs (section)

==Visual humor and characters==
[[File:Take a good look adams kovacs 1960.JPG|thumb|right|With wife [[Edie Adams]] in the television series ''[[Take a Good Look (TV series)|Take a Good Look]]'']]
At WPTZ, Kovacs began using the ad-libbed and experimental style that would become his reputation, including video effects, superimpositions, reverse polarities and scanning, and quick [[blackout gag|blackouts]]. He was also noted for abstraction and carefully timed [[Non sequitur (literary device)|non-sequitur]] gags and for allowing the [[fourth wall]] to be breached.<ref name="Young">{{cite book|title=When Television Was Young: The Inside Story with Memories by Legends of the Small Screen|editor-last=McMahon|editor-first=Ed|editor2-last=Fisher|editor2-first=David|publisher=Thomas Nelson|year=2007|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whentelevisionwa0000mcma/page/288 288]|isbn=978-1-4016-0327-4|url=https://archive.org/details/whentelevisionwa0000mcma|url-access=registration|quote=ernie kovacs.|access-date=November 8, 2010}}</ref> Kovacs's cameras commonly showed his viewers activity beyond the boundaries of the show [[set construction|set]]—including crew members and outside the [[studio]] itself. Kovacs also liked talking to the off-camera crew and even introduced segments from the studio control room.<ref name="Dumont"/> He frequently made use of accidents and happenstance, incorporating the unexpected into his shows. In one of Kovacs's Philadelphia broadcasts, Oscar Liebetrau, an elderly crew member who was known for often sleeping for the duration of the telecast, was introduced to the audience as "Sleeping Schwartz." Kovacs was once knocked unconscious when a pie smashed into his face still had the plate under it.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/125079473/?terms=edie%2Bmarilyn%2Bspoof|title=Edie to imic Marilyn Again|author=Wilson, Earl|date=February 5, 1970|page=11A|work=Florida Today|access-date=January 8, 2017}}(subscription required)</ref>

Kovacs's love of spontaneity extended to his crew, who would occasionally play on-air pranks on him to see how he would react.<ref name="Wendell">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0fEvAAAAIBAJ&pg=2964,4341043&dq=bill+wendell&hl=en|title=Bill Wendell, 75, Television Announcer|date=April 16, 1999|newspaper=Lakeland Ledger|access-date=November 23, 2010}}</ref> During one of his NBC shows, Kovacs was appearing as the inept magician Matzoh Hepplewhite. The sketch called for the magician to frequently hit a gong, which was the signal for a sexy female assistant to bring out a bottle and shot glass for a quick swig of alcohol. Stagehands substituted real liquor for the iced tea normally used for the skit. Kovacs realized that he would be called upon to drink a shot of liquor for each successive gong. He pressed on with the sketch and was quite inebriated by the end of the show.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nnYfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5509,3178344&dq=percy+dovetonsils&hl=en|title=Channel Markers|date=February 18, 1961|work=The Norwalk Hour|access-date=March 18, 2011}}</ref>

Kovacs helped develop camera tricks still common decades after his death. His character Eugene sat at a table to eat his lunch, but as he removed items one at a time from a lunch box, he watched them inexplicably roll down the table into the lap of a man reading a newspaper at the other end. When Kovacs poured milk from a thermos bottle, the stream flowed in a seemingly unusual direction. Never seen on television before, the secret was using a tilted set in front of a camera tilted at the same angle.<ref name=LifeMagazine/>{{sfn|Spigel|2009|p=190}}
[[Image:Kovacs hole in head 2-1957 special.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Barbara Loden]] and Kovacs positioned in front of two television cameras for illusion.]]
He constantly sought new techniques and used both primitive and improvised ways of creating visual effects that would later be done electronically. One innovative construction involved attaching a [[kaleidoscope]] made from a toilet-paper roll to a camera lens with cardboard and tape and setting the resulting abstract images to music.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Silverblatt|editor-first=Art|title=Genre Studies in Mass Media: A Handbook|year=2007|page=258|publisher=M. E. Sharpe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Mmy8wYWI3EC&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA32|isbn=978-0-7656-1669-2|access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref> Another was a soup can with both ends removed fitted with angled mirrors. Used on a camera and turning it could put Kovacs seemingly on the ceiling.<ref name="Pioneers"/> An underwater stunt involved cigar smoker Kovacs sitting in an easy chair, reading his newspaper and somehow smoking a cigar. Removing it from his mouth, Kovacs was able to exhale a puff of white smoke, all while floating underwater. The trick: the "smoke" was a small amount of milk which he filled his mouth with before submerging. Kovacs repeated the effect for a [[Dutch Masters (cigar)|Dutch Masters]] television commercial on his ABC game show, ''[[Take a Good Look (TV series)|Take A Good Look]]''.<ref name="Clowns"/>
[[Image:Kovacs hole in head-3 1957 special.jpg|120px|thumb|left|Kovacs appears to look through [[Barbara Loden|Loden]]'s head.]]

One of the special effects he employed made it appear as if he was able to look through his assistant [[Barbara Loden]]'s head.  The illusion was performed by placing a black patch on Loden's head and standing her against a black background while one studio camera was trained on her. A second one photographed Kovacs, who used the studio monitor to position himself exactly so that his eye would appear to be looking through a hole in her head.<ref name=LifeMagazine/>

He also developed such routines as an all-gorilla version of ''[[Swan Lake]]'', a poker game set to [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]]'', the skit ''Silent Show'', in which Eugene interacts with the world accompanied solely by music and sound effects, parodies of typical television commercials and movie genres, and various musical segments with everyday items (such as kitchen appliances or office equipment) moving in sync to music.<ref name="Theory"/><ref name=Horton>{{Cite book|title=Ernie Kovacs & Early TV Comedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzXtobwmRZAC&q=ernie+kovacs+swan+lake&pg=PA53|editor-last=Horton|editor-first=Andrew|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn= 9780292779624|access-date=September 3, 2013|date=March 1, 2010}}</ref> A popular recurring skit was [[The Nairobi Trio]], three derby-hatted apes (Kovacs, his wife, Edie Adams in gorilla suits; and frequently, the third ape was Kovacs' best friend Jack Lemmon) miming mechanically and rhythmically to the tune of [[Robert Maxwell (songwriter)|Robert Maxwell]]'s "Solfeggio".<ref name=genius/>{{sfn|Greene|2007|pp=65-66}}

Kovacs used extended sketches and mood pieces or quick blackout gags lasting only seconds. Some could be expensive, such as his famous used-car salesman routine with a jalopy and a breakaway floor: it cost $12,000 to produce the six-second gag.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{Cite book|editor1-last=Newcomb|editor1-first=Horace|editor2-last=Dearborn|editor2-first=Fitzroy|title=Encyclopedia of Television|year=2005|pages=2697|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFXgj7a55agC&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA816|isbn=1-57958-411-X|access-date=July 17, 2010}}</ref> He was one of the first television comedians to use odd fake credits and comments between the legitimate credits and, at times, during his routines.<ref name="Series">{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j7kvAAAAIBAJ&pg=4966,2940400&dq=ernie+kovacs+credits&hl=en|title=Ernie Kovacs Back on the Right Track|author=Danzig, Fred|date=September 22, 1962|work=[[Beaver County Times]]|access-date=October 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Rehearse">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bjkpAAAAIBAJ&pg=4957,3466495&dq=edie+adams&hl=en|title=Latest TV Star, Kovacs, Needs To Rehearse|author=Crosby, John|date=January 8, 1953|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref>

Kovacs reportedly disliked working in front of a live audience, as was the case with the shows he did for NBC during the 1950s. He found the presence of an audience distracting, and those in the seats frequently did not understand some of the more elaborate visual gags and special effects, which could only be appreciated by watching studio monitors instead of the stage.<ref name="Seriously"/>

Like many comedians of the era, Kovacs created a rotation of recurring roles. In addition to the silent "Eugene," his most familiar characters were the fey, lisping poet [[Percy Dovetonsils]], and the heavily accented German radio announcer, Wolfgang von Sauerbraten. Mr. Question Man, who answered viewer queries, was a satire on the long-run (1937–56) radio series, ''[[The Answer Man]]''. Others included horror show host Auntie Gruesome, bumbling magician Matzoh Hepplewhite, Frenchman Pierre Ragout, and sardonic Hungarian cooking-show host Miklos Molnar.<ref name="Watching">{{Cite book|editor-last=Castleman|editor-first=Harry|editor2-last=Podrazik|editor2-first=Walter|year=2004|title=Watching TV: Six Decades of American Television|page=416|publisher=Syracuse University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A16TTK0vN7sC&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA149|isbn=0-8156-2988-5|access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref> The Miklos character wasn't always confined to a kitchen; Kovacs performed a parody of [[Howdy Doody|''The Howdy Doody Show'']] with "Buffalo Miklos" as the host.<ref name=Horton/><ref name="Seriously"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=ernie+kovacs&f=all&c=all&advanced=1&p=4&item=B:22490|title=The Ernie Kovacs Show (NBC)|date=August 13, 1956|publisher=Paley Center for Media|access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref> Poet Percy Dovetonsils can be found playing Beethoven's ''Moonlight Sonata'' on a disappearing piano and as a "Master Detective" on the "Private Eye-Private Eye" presentation of the ''[[The United States Steel Hour|US Steel Hour]]'' on CBS March 8, 1961.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/eoTWzZ893go Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131207103256/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTWzZ893go Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTWzZ893go|title=Video-YouTube-Percy Dovetonsils-Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata|website=[[YouTube]]|date=May 3, 2009 |access-date=July 15, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rM8zAAAAIBAJ&pg=1178,633157&dq=ernie+kovacs+private+eye&hl=en|title=TV private eye took it on the chin Wednesday night|author=Danzig, Fred|date=March 9, 1961|work=The Bulletin|access-date=July 15, 2010}}</ref> On the same show, the Nairobi Trio abandons its instruments for a safe-cracking job; still with a background of "Solfeggio", but speaking, two of the three appear in an "Outer Space" sketch.<ref name=Horton/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=--UQAAAAIBAJ&pg=6904,1154759&dq=ernie+kovacs+private+eye&hl=en|title=Private Eye-Private Eye Stars Kovacs Tonight|date=March 8, 1961|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|access-date=July 15, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 
Kovacs became a regular on [[NBC Radio]]'s program ''[[Monitor (NBC Radio)|Monitor]]'' beginning during late 1958, often using his Mr. Question Man character in his radio [[monologue]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Hart|editor-first=Dennis|title=Monitor: The Last Great Radio Show|year=2002|pages=254|publisher=iUniverse Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FuhPB7yz1TwC&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA129|isbn=0-595-21395-2|access-date=July 11, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.monitorbeacon.net/sounds/monitor-1959-hall.mp3|title=Audio file-''Monitor'' with Ernie Kovacs|date=June 6, 1959|work=Monitor Beacon|access-date=July 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010212059/http://monitorbeacon.net/sounds/monitor-1959-hall.mp3|archive-date=October 10, 2010|url-status=dead}}([[Windows Media Player]])</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13845469/ernie_kovacs_monitor/|page=29|title=Earl Wilson on Broadway|author=Wilson, Earl|date=November 20, 1958|newspaper=The Miami News|access-date=November 9, 2010|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>
[[File:Ernie Kovacs Private Eye 1961.JPG|thumb|180px|Kovacs being made up (upper left) for the ''[[U.S. Steel Hour]]'' "Private Eye-Private Eye" (1961) in which he played many of his usual characters as well as a butler (upper r), a skin diver (lower l), and [[Santa Claus]].]]

Kovacs never hesitated to lampoon those considered institutions of radio and television. In April 1954, he started the late-night talk show, ''[[The Ernie Kovacs Show]]'', on [[DuMont Television Network]]'s New York flagship station, WABD. Stage, screen and radio notables were often guests. [[Archie Bleyer]], head of Cadence Records, came to chat one evening.  Bleyer had been the long-time orchestra director for [[Arthur Godfrey]]'s radio and television shows.  He had been dismissed by Godfrey the year before, together with fellow cast member, singer [[Julius La Rosa]].  In La Rosa's case, he hired a manager, defying an unwritten Godfrey policy. With Bleyer, Godfrey was angered when he found that Bleyer's record company [[Cadence Records]] had produced spoken-word material by [[Don McNeill (radio presenter)|Don McNeill]], host of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Don McNeill's Breakfast Club]]'', which Godfrey considered competition to his show. Bleyer and Kovacs were shown in [[Split screen (filmmaking)|split screen]], with Kovacs wearing a red wig, headphones, and playing a ukulele in a Godfrey imitation, while talking with his guest.<ref name="Dumont"/>

Kovacs's television programs included ''Three to Get Ready'' (an early morning program seen on Philadelphia's [[KYW-TV|WPTZ]] from 1950 through 1952), ''It's Time for Ernie'' (1951, his first network series),<ref name="Pioneers"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1B4EAAAAMBAJ&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA6|title=Time For Ernie|editor-last=Ackerman|editor-first=Paul|magazine=Billboard|date=June 2, 1951|access-date=November 8, 2010}}</ref> ''Ernie in Kovacsland'', (a summer replacement show for [[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]], 1951),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043195/|title=Ernie in Kovacsland|publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=November 8, 2010}}</ref> ''[[The Ernie Kovacs Show]]'' (1952–56 on various networks),<ref name="Dumont">{{cite book|title=The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television|editor-last=Weinstein|editor-first=David|year=2006|publisher=Temple University Press|page=240|isbn=1-59213-499-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tV7fXlQQdz4C&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA175|access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Rehearse"/> a twice-a-week job filling in for [[Steve Allen]] as host of ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' on Mondays and Tuesdays (1956–57), and game shows ''[[Gamble on Love]]'', ''[[One Minute Please]]'',<ref name="About"/> ''[[Time Will Tell (game show)|Time Will Tell]]'' (all on DuMont),<ref name="Dumont"/> and ''[[Take a Good Look (TV series)|Take a Good Look]]'' (1959–61).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.erniekovacs.info/TAGL.html|title=Take A Good Look|publisher=erniekovacs.info|access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref> Kovacs was also the host of a program, ''Silents Please'', which showed silent movies on network television, with serious discussion about the movies and their actors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1523658/silents_please_1961/|title=Like Old Songs, Silent Movies Are Coming Back|author=Crosby, John|date=April 3, 1961|work=Janesville Daily Gazette|page=12|access-date=January 5, 2015|via = [[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

During the summer of 1957, Kovacs was a celebrity panelist on the television series ''[[What's My Line?]]'', appearing in 10 of the season's 13 episodes. He took his responsibilities less than seriously, often eschewing a legitimate question for the sake of a laugh. An example: Industrialist [[Henry J. Kaiser]], the founder of an automobile company, was the program's "mystery guest." Previous questioning had established that the mystery guest's name was synonymous with an automobile brand, Kovacs asked, "Are you – and this is just a wild guess – but are you [[Abraham Lincoln]]?"—a reference to the [[Ford Motor Company]]'s Lincoln automobiles.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Allen|editor-first=Steve|title=Steve Allen's Private Joke File|year=2000|pages=432|publisher=Three River Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bi0-4WDPGrEC&q=ernie+kovacs&pg=PA245|isbn=0-609-80672-6|access-date=July 11, 2010}}</ref> Kovacs gave an interview admitting that he was absent from the show when he wanted to go out for dinner on a Sunday, leading the reporter to offer that as the reason for Kovacs leaving the series.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MK0yAAAAIBAJ&pg=765,459345&dq=ernie+kovacs&hl=en|title=What! Wyatt Earp Insecure?|author=Torre, Marie|date=June 17, 1958|newspaper=The Miami News|access-date=November 12, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Actually, Kovacs's participation ended because his contract was up—the summer season was over. Goodson and Todman valued Kovacs's presence in the summer series and kept him on as a guest panelist. According to ''What's My Line?'' producer [[Gil Fates]], "We offered him a contract and a permanent place on the panel but, wisely, Ernie didn't want to tie himself down [to New York] at that point in a burgeoning career. He did his last show with us in November of that year, then went to California to work and live."<ref>[[Gil Fates|Fates, Gil.]] ''What's My Line?: The Inside Story of TV's Most Famous Panel Show'', Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1978, p. 103.</ref>