"Hold everything...don't nobody move!!" There's big news for Ernie Kovacs fans…real big news. A new DVD box set of Kovacs programs is slated for release in 2009.Koch Entertainment and the Archive of American Television have banded together to launch a new series of DVD's called The Archive of American Television Presents. The first release is a box set called The Studio One 
Anthology, which contains 17 episodes of the landmark live drama series Studio One. The set came out last week, on November 8th. Their next release will be the 1959 TV adaptation of Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run. Click on the link above for the AAT to see more about these and to watch a trailer for the Studio One set.
Also in the works is a DVD box set of Ernie Kovacs programs. I have been hired to curate the set, which will contain 15 hours of Ernie Kovacs shows, plus bonus extras.
I've been involved with the project for about a year, although things have become more official and in motion in the last few months (that's why you're only hearing about this now). I've screened a lot of material, visited Edie Adams' film/tape storage facility in L.A. and inspected kinescopes, done research at the Paley Center in N.Y., and looked at rare Kovacs materials found by private collectors.
There is no "street date" slated for the DVD set, but the release will happen sometime during 2009, possibly as early as the middle of the year. It's a little early to talk about specifically what will be on the set at this point. I will post updates here and on my site erniekovacs.info as things are remastered, confirmed and locked in as DVD content.
Edie was to have had a creative hand in helping select the programs on the set, and I was really looking forward to working with her on this. I miss her and hope that the set does justice to all the hard work she put in (since the 1960s!) to save kinescopes, videotape masters, scripts et al of Ernie Kovacs' amazing work.
-- Ben Model
EDITOR'S NOTE, FRIDAY, APRIL 10 2009: I'm sad to report that this project has been put on hold. Click here to read more.-
Al Quagliata
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On Tuesday, November 19, 2013, MVD Entertainment Group will release "Here's Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection"! This is a 4 DVD, 12 hr set of the
entire run of Edie Adams variety show which aired on ABC from 1962-64. It is the first-ever release of her classic variety show after more than 50 years.
Bonus material includes Edie''s musical numbers from the Ernie Kovacs show, a 16-page booklet with rare photos, program notes and her iconic Muriel Cigar
commercials. Here's a 
which will be officially released on Tuesday, October 23, 2012.
5 comments:
This is dynamite news. I can't wait!
P.S. Bowwwwwwmph!
I will start wearing my saetbelt now, so I won't miss this.
please keep us informed as much as you can about the details and all.
To both Rob and Dan,
Stay tuned here guys. You can rest assured we will keep you and all the fans abreast of any details.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
As a longtime Kovacs enthusiast, I'm excited about this upcoming release. To the "initiated," Kovacs is a visionary figure, but this release will introduce his work to a new generation - much like the PBS series did for me in 1977.
Stephen,
So very true. Thanks for the comment.
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