Ernie Kovacs And Bob Hope On DVD

Good afternoon Kovacsians. Our good friend John Hammes of The UGA Science Library at The University Of Georgia wanted to share with us his quick review of an interesting piece of Ernie video memorabilia which he brought to my attention a while back. Fans of the blog know John as the gent who has contributed a couple of very tough trivia quizzes to the site. Here's his latest trip into Kovacsland:

Original Air Date: 12/11/59
"Bob Hope Christmas Special"

Repeat Air Date: 10/29/76
"Bob Hope's World Of Comedy"

BOB HOPE: The Ultimate Collection is mainly comprised of the original Bob Hope anniversary/compilation specials that were broadcast circa 1970's 1980's. This is a four DVD set that was released in 2007.

The 1976 "World Of Comedy" special is the sole feature on disc four. Among hundreds of clips, this includes a sketch featuring Ernie from the 1959 Christmas Special. EK and BH had another sketch on that same special (based on top 40 radio "Payola"), but that other sketch is absent here. Guess we will need to sent nice letters and e-mails to the good people at the Hope Estate, requesting the 12/11/59 Christmas Special in full.

Ernie's segment on "World Of Comedy" was unfortunately edited somewhat: it would have been better to see the entire sketch. Still, this is a good representation of Kovacs, clocking in at two minutes.

I'd like to thank John for taking the time and effort to put this together for the EK Blog. If you're an EK fan, Hope fan or both be sure to pick up a copy.

On May 12, 2009, the New York Observer ran an interesting piece about the former talk show host Richard Bey. Interesting because I was just having a "whatever happened to discussion" with someone the other day then saw this and interesting because someone in the article compares Bey to EK. I will say this; I never liked his show because of the prurient and infantile subject matter but I always liked Bey and found the man funny. He had some good bits, did some decent character work and was always quick on his feet. I can see the EK comparison to a certain extent. Read the article if you get a chance and judge for yourself. As always feel free to post a comment.

Thanks for stopping by friends. Until we meet again, "It's Been Real!"

Cooking Up Some "Hammes" With Miklos: Trivia!!

Good evening my fellow Kovacsians.

The Ernie Kovacs My Space Fan Page is up to 741 friends and as always we thank everyone who requested an add or accepted a request from us. I'd love it to hit 1,000 members by the end of the summer if possible; we're up 16 from our last post so we're on the way, albeit a small way.

Our fellow Kovacsian, friend and trivia buff, John Hammes of The UGA Science Library at The University Of Georgia, has sent us yet another fantastic trivia quiz. You may remember the last one which involved Ernie and Jack Benny; this promises to be even MORE difficult and of course I'm grateful to John as it means that I don't have to think of a new one myself! Thank you John!
This trivia involves that classic Kovacsian character, master Hungarian chef "Miklos Molnar" who, contrary to popular belief, did not always appear as a chef in Ernie's sketches. Here are John's questions:

1. Miklos Molnar was not restricted to a cooking show...name another genre "lucky" enough to claim him.

2. What then current show was Ernie lampooning?

3. Miklos kept a pair of shears handy; how did this help him interact with the show's co-star?

For Extra Credit: Give Miklos' version of this show's title and describe in what state Miklos interacted with members of the show's audience.

Here's a hint in case your having trouble; John saw this on the A&E Biography which was done on Ernie and broadcast almost exactly ten years ago; June 23, 1988 to be exact. The link will bring you to the one page I found where you can purchase the VHS which is Amazon; A&E's website was no help. Hopefully you have a copy.

You can submit answers to the questions in any one of the following ways:

1. Post your answers here in the comments section.
2. Send your answers to me through the Ernie Kovacs My Space Fan Page.
3. Email your answers to me by clicking HERE.

I'll announce the winner in a future post so get to it!

Before I leave you today I'd like to share a very interesting video clip I found of Ernie on a 1957 episode of the game show "What's My Line?"; Ernie was a frequent panelist and actually used to do his own spoof called "Where Do You Work-a John?" Unfortunately I've never seen that and I don't think anyone else in the present day has as its not on any video collections I've encountered.

Thanks once again for stopping by and until we meet again "Its Been Real!"

Some Kovacsian Jack Benny Trivia

Good afternoon fellow Kovacsians. I receive many nice emails from folks who enjoy our various Kovacsian websites. Here's one I received today from John Hammes of The UGA Science Library at The University Of Georgia:

Thank you for all you are doing. A lot of people can now receive greetings from Ernie Kovacs "over your internet tube"! His work is so superior to today's programming, and a quick visit to "his" web pages makes a lousy day much better. Many, many thanks!

Well, John, thank you for visiting! Its my pleasure and I certainly echo your sentiments.

It turns out that John is quite the Jack Benny fan and he had an idea for a trivia quiz related to Ernie's January 25th, 1959 appearance on CBS TV's Jack Benny Program:

1. During Jack's opening monologue, what prized possession does Ernie share with him?

2. What do Jack and Ernie present for the main sketch?

3. Ernie gives a very dramatic performance at sketch's end. Why?

4. There are two things about this broadcast that are the first and only time something happened to Ernie during his career. What are they?

I must admit that I did not know the answers to these questions and I don't think you'll find them in books so it will take a real Jack Benny fan to answer them. I may have seen the episode once at the Museum of TV and Radio (then known as the Museum of Broadcasting and now known as The Paley Center For Media) but that was quite some time ago. I did find out, however, that you can see the episode by ordering The Best Of Jack Benny, a 4 DVD set where it is found on Disc Two.

Thanks to John Hammes for a great quiz! He's reached Kovacsian blog immortality and you can too by submitting answers to the questions in any one of the following ways:

1. Post your answers here in the comments section.
2. Send your answers to me through the Ernie Kovacs My Space Fan Page.
3. Email your answers to me by clicking HERE.

I'll announce the winner in a future post so get to it!

The Ernie Kovacs My Space Fan Page is up to 676 friends this week, an increase of 15 since our last post. As always we thank everyone who requested an add or accepted a request from us.

And now some fun Ernie related posts from the Blogosphere:

Robert McHenry is Mad about Mad Magazine!

Portzebie talks about the history of Mad's Alfred E. Neuman

A great post about the early days of video which talks about Ernie

Ernie in the old TV series Shotgun Slade? I guess so, pardner!

Pop Art Diva talks about the Tonight Show Hosts and mentions our fellow Kovacs...

Thanks once again for stopping by and until we meet again "Its Been Real!"