LEADER 03989nam 2200685Ia 450 001 9910810249903321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-292-79297-2 024 7 $a10.7560/721944 035 $a(CKB)2550000000010880 035 $a(OCoLC)610031582 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10381443 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000417050 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11278044 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000417050 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10437640 035 $a(PQKB)10704606 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3443475 035 $a(OCoLC)826516722 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse2437 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3443475 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10381443 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC7271468 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL7271468 035 $a(DE-B1597)587547 035 $a(OCoLC)1280943367 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780292792975 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000010880 100 $a20090904d2010 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aErnie Kovacs & early tv comedy $enothing in moderation /$fby Andrew Horton 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aAustin $cUniversity of Texas Press$d2010 215 $a1 online resource (141 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-292-72194-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aIntroduction: Nothing in moderation. An overview of the postwar era and the Ernie Kovacs shows in the context of American television comedy -- The flow of the Philadelphia and New York Kovacs shows: comic surrealism, verbal and visual -- Silents please! Ernie, California, and working with music, sound, and surrealistic visuals on his specials -- Ernie in the movies: from comic director to supporting character actor -- The Kovacs legacy: I don't know. I just do it!. 330 $aAmong the pioneers of television, Ernie Kovacs was one of the most original and imaginative comedians. His zany, irreverent, and surprising humor not only entertained audiences throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, but also inspired a host of later comedies and comedians, including Monty Python, David Letterman, much of Saturday Night Live, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Captain Kangaroo, and even Sesame Street. Kovacs created laughter through wildly creative comic jokes, playful characterizations, hilarious insights, and wacky experiments. "Nothing in moderation," his motto and epitaph, sums up well Kovacs's wholehearted approach to comedy and life. In this book, Andrew Horton offers the first sustained look at Ernie Kovacs's wide-ranging and lasting contributions to the development of TV comedy. He discusses in detail Kovacs's work in New York, which included The Ernie Kovacs Show (CBS prime time 1952?1953), The Ernie Kovacs Show (NBC daytime variety 1956?1957), Tonight (NBC late-night comedy/variety 1956-1957), and a number of quiz shows. Horton also looks at Kovacs's work in Los Angeles and in feature film comedy. He vividly describes how Kovacs and his comic co-conspirators created offbeat characters and zany situations that subverted expectations and upended the status quo. Most of all, Horton demonstrates that Kovacs grasped the possibility for creating a fresh genre of comedy through the new medium of television and exploited it to the fullest. 517 3 $aErnic Kovacs and early tv comedy 606 $aComedians$zUnited States$vBiography 606 $aMotion picture actors and actresses$zUnited States$vBiography 606 $aTelevision comedies$zUnited States 615 0$aComedians 615 0$aMotion picture actors and actresses 615 0$aTelevision comedies 676 $a791.4502/8092 676 $aB 700 $aHorton$b Andrew$0564671 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910810249903321 996 $aErnie Kovacs & early tv comedy$94092816 997 $aUNINA