Well, “It’s Been Real: The Life and Legacy of Ernie Kovacs” was great fun to attend. On a personal note, Joel was extremely kind and gracious to me. He even shooed away an overly intrusive fanboy out of the way so that he could take a picture with me. I told him, “Sampo sent me,” and his response was, “He sent you here to kill me?”
The event lasted 2 hours. The highlight of the evening was a 17-minute montage of Kovacs’ funniest and most visually clever moments. At one point in the program, Joel had removed his shoes and, with characteristic humility, remarked that they were Kovacs’, but he himself was not capable of shining them. (Of course, since his shoes were suede, he wouldn’t’ve been able to get much of a sheen on them.) Ever the wordsmith, Joel also coined the term “Kovacsian,” which fellow panelist Robert Smigel (the creator of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) suggested was an impressive-sounding word that could get you laid. In attendance were Richard Foos, CEO of Shout! Factory and co-founder of Rhino Entertainment, and Lauren Hutton, whom moderator Keith Olbermann called upon during the Q&A session.
Of everyone on the panel, Joel received the most enthusiastic ovation at the end of the evening.
Thanks, Jamie!
My old pal David Bianculli (who regularly fills in for Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air” ) also was in the audience, and wrote about it on his blog.
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Damn, I might have to look into this. I was intrigued before, but reading up on Kovac’s impact on American TV culture makes want to see it just to look at the (explicitly acknowledged!) root of so much other material.
I’m going to use the term Kovacsian this weekend in an effort to get laid.
I was the fanboy damnit!
(kindin)
Hell, I would have been a starstruck babbling idiot is Joel was standing in front of me. He’s slowly move away…
I have no idea how the MST3K guys manage to remain so gracious in the face of their may fans. They’re so unassuming!
Did Olbermann ask Lauren Hutton if the word Kovacsian would indeed get Joel laid? :kissed:
It’s kind of sad that Robert Smigel – a very funny and talented writer – will forever be known as the guy with his hand up Triumph’s butt.
Any suggestion as to where a Kovacs neophyte might begin to illuminate his sorry self? (Hey, don’t look at me that – I’m young!)
As a young boy, seeing Percy Dovetonsils would cause me to break up in hysterical laughter. I also loved the surreal visuals that Kovacs and crew could produce in such a fledgling medium. Even many years after the fact, I was astounded by the outright weirdness on display.
Kovacs was amzingly innovative, he would have been even more
successful in the cable world of today-especially teamed
with his wife.
Oh, and Edie Adams :inlove: did one of the most sexy commercials ever
for Muriel Cigars, ending with:
“Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime?”
Why a cute nose wiggle. (Take that Marilyn Monroe).
Any chance this panel discussion will air anywhere? PBS?
I remember watching Ernie on tv back in the day. He was doing tv as it was never done before. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Glad to see people notice his impact…..where is the pic of you and Joel???
Not surprised at the low amount of comments. Don’t think I’ve seen much of Kovacs on the air now for at least 30 years. Kind of like how Laurel Hardy shorts & movies suddenly dropped off the face of the earth about 15 years ago.
I guess it’s one of those rights things. I can’t for the life of me understand why someone would hold something like Kovacs or Laurel & Hardy hostage and than jump on somebody to extract every last bit of money out of them if they so much as showed a clip that went beyond 20 seconds or so. Don’t they realize that their lack of airtime will eventually render them completely out of any kind of demand, as the generation who loved them dies off and the next group never even heard of them and couldn’t less about them?
This is what you have here with Kovacs, and what is happening to L & H.
But for the record, I enjoyed the Ernie Kovacs shows I got to see on tv as kid in the early 70’s. He was ‘out there’, especially for his time. Definitely not the kind of dumbed down unintelligent ‘comedy’ that sells so well to the popular masses.
Yeah, I too empathize for any fanboy, knowing it’s happened to most of us at some point.
It’s so weird when you meet someone who’s works you have admired for so long.
You sit and think of all the stuff you would say when the moment finally comes.
But when it arrives, if you are any kind of thinking being, you suddenly realize that ‘hey, this person has a life to live, and what can I possibly say that would ever have any kind of impact or hold any meaningful memory for the person?’
Nothing really, because they are real people like you and me, and then you get completely tongue tied and you say something stupid because you don’t know what to say.
It was like that for me when I finally met Mike Nelson, and I bet it was like that for him when he finally met someone he admired.
I always take comfort in the fact that even the Apostle Peter, when confronted by Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, said something equally stupid and it even says so right there “because he did not know what to say”.
Basically it says he didn’t know what he was talking about. Meanwhile Moses, Elijah & Jesus are standing there thinking “Make us tents? Get this fanboy outta here, what a goof!”
@10 Tv has changed so much in the last 10 years or so and people don’t want to watch comedians like Kovacs or Laurel and Hardy anymore.Not the younger people,that’s for sure.They want to watch the so-called reality shows with vulgar language,raunchy behavior and so on.The older comedians are too slow for them.Everything has to be moving all the time,like in movies,too.If there’s no blood or gore or CGI car chases every 15 minutes,they’re bored to tears.I think Turner Classic Movies and Tv Land should show Kovacs,Laurel and Hardy and the rest all the time and get them back in the public’s conscience.People overseas never forget the old comedians,but we do.Parents should let their kids be aware of the older comedians and that there’s more out there than just what’s on tv.
@12 I personally take offense at that, since I’m pretty young but have a reasonably sophisticated appreciation for humor and other cultural forms . . .
But that describes the rest of my demographic perfectly. It’s hard to be one of the few odd ones out.
Still, be careful how you globalize. My parents introduced me to the Marx Brothers, old-school Saturday Night Live, and Monty Python. Not all of us youngin’s are totally out of touch with the older culture, especially in this age where youtube can bring it to us directly. Pretty much all of my friends know exactly what I mean when I exclaim “THIRD BASE!”
I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get to this. I’ve enjoyed Kovacs’ work since PBS started running highlights of his shows back in the 70’s (introduced by Kovacs’ friend Jack Lemmon). I also remember when CC would run stuff from his shows, back when CC actually cared about comedy made before 2000.
I understand, though, that the event was taped and will be available for viewing at the Paley Center’s library. Next time I’m in the city, I’ll check on it.
Oh, regarding Joel getting to work with Kovacs’ archives: how did he land such a sweet gig?
I’m aware of Ernie Kovacs impact on the medium as well as comedy but have seen very little of the actual stuff over the years. I think I may just have to buy the box and get hip.
Peripherally; what the heck was Lauren Hutton doing there exactly? Was she just an audience member who was called on to ask a question? Surely she wasn’t on the panel. No offense to Ms Hutton but she doesn’t strike me as a Kovacs scholar. Of course, what the hell do I know about Lauren Hutton aside from her (apparently) being a “super” model and (definitely) a bad actress?
Well, there’s also the Terry-Thomas gap in her teeth. You probably know about that. That’s about the extent of my knowledge of Ms Hutton.
Regarding today’s television comedy climate, if faced with the option of watching a reality show or Laurel & Hardy, I’ll just go read a book, thanks. :pain:
I was lucky enough to attend and it was a real fine evening. George and Lorene (sp?) Schlatter stole the show, as both knew Ernie Kovacs well (she was on his show and played the young female foil in many skits). Seeing the man who created Laugh-In in person was like being in the presence of a childhood hero.
While it’s always a pleasure to see Joel, he and Robert Smigel really didn’t have much to contribute to the evening. As usual, Keith Olbermann was a little too talkative, but was also very funny and self-deprecating. Lauren Hutton was just in the audience and raised her hand to make a comment during the Q&A. She made a wonderful statement about how Kovac’s fresh and wild take on the world during the banal stultifying 50s let her know there was a different world possible outside of Texas if she could only hold on until she was old enough to get out of there.
The Paley Center does tape and sell many of its panels, so it’s quite possible that this will one will available sometime.
The event commemorated the release of a 6 DVD Kovacs set on Shout! Factory, which if you order before Tuesday the 19th, will come with a 7th bonus DVD free of charge (I’ve already ordered mine!)
@13.I didn’t mean to globalize and if it didn’t apply to you,then you shouldn’t take offense to what I said.I wasn’t generalizing.I was talking about those that don’t care for the older comedians.I didn’t mention an age either,so younger to me could be 40 years younger than myself.What I said also applies to those who are in charge of what’s on tv as well.Take a look at what’s on MTV and VH-1 for instance..Sorry to offend.I didn’t mean to. :shame:
I remember seeing some Kovacs as a kid; my dad was very excited when it came out on VHS, and he told me something about his importance to the medium. I remember it as being very strange, but holding up very well after all those years. I’m glad to see that today’s comedians recognize the importance of those who came before.
@18 Don’t worry. You’ll notice that I mostly agreed with you. ;b
I guess sometimes I’m overly dry in what is intended to be a relatively light-hearted, though purposeful, reply. So I was using “offense” in a very general, even teasing, rather than deadly serious way.
I received my copy of the Shout Factory Ernie Kovacs DVD set this past Saturday, which was 3 days before the street date of the 19th. I’ve watched bit & pieces of all 6 DVDs (I haven’t see the bonus DVD yet). From what I’ve seen, the quality of the videos are half-decent, considering that these are 50+ years old. The color 1957 “Eugene” show is not exactly in pristine condition & some of Ernie’s initial dialoge is missing. The biggest surprise was that the video quality of the ABC special that I watched on Disc 5 was not as good as the one in the White Star Best of Ernie Kovacs DVD. There are repeated mentions of the fact that the material had to be edited to remove musical numbers due to rights issues. Despite these problems, Shout Factory did a very good job in packaging the material & it’s great to see @ least something of Ernie’s pre-ABC special TV material. If you’re a newbie, I would recommend viewing clips of his posted on YouTube to get a feel for his work before deciding on getting this box, although if you can “get” MST3K or Monty Python, you can “get” Ernie.