ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION – A DVD Review by John Strange

 

ERNIE KOVACS: THE CENTENNIAL EDITION – A DVD Review by John Strange

 

Ernie Kovacs was a comedic genius who was lost way too early.  In January of 1962, just 10 days short of his 43rd birthday, Ernie was killed when he lost control during a turn on a rain-slick road and crashed his car into a power pole.

 

His death was a blow to the people who loved him.  From Hollywood to the loving rooms of our country, people had come to be entranced by his sense of humor and whimsy.  He had a talent for creating visual comedy that amazed everyone who watched his various shows and specials.  His repertoire of characters was wide ranging.  When added to the abilities of his beautiful wife Edie Adams, they were very nearly a full company of players with no assistance. 

 

But they did have assistance from a pool of very talented friends and performers who quickly joined the inner circle of friends.  Possibly the most famous, at least to me, was Jack Lemmon.  He had a place in one of my favorite skits, 'The Nairobi Trio'.  Along with Mr. Lemmon and Ernie, the female gorilla (blond playing the piano) was Edie Adams and who later was replaced by Jolene Brand (Ms. Adams was working on other shows).

 

The Ernie Kovacs: The Centennial Edition is a combination of two collections of the best of Ernie Kovacs work, The Ernie Kovacs Collection (6 DVDs) and The Ernie Kovacs Collection, Volume 2 (3 DVDs).  Together they contain about 22 HOURS of TV shows, interviews, panels, movie trailers, and commercials.  With the exception of the panel  and the ATAS HOF Induction (filmed after Mr. Kovacs death) and the interviews, nearly everything shown on these disks are written by Ernie Kovacs himself.

 

We are given a wonderful selection of the various TV series he had.  Most were mostly variety shows but one was a game show.  These shows made a strong impression on many of the comedians who came after him.  George Schlatter went on to be the producer and director of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In where Ernie's influence was obvious.

 

All of these shows are in black and white since they were shot before color came into use in television.  The skits were as varied as Kovacs' imagination could make them.  From sight gags to plays on words, using props and techniques that he and his folks had to develop on the spur of the moment with little or no budget.  They did things that today's shows would be hard pressed to match, much less exceed.

 

I am sad that all of the amazing music from his shows, with only a couple of exceptions, was cut out due to budget constraints (and to make it fit on the disks).  At the beginning of most of the disks was this statement: "The sheer number of musical performances in the NBC shows would have required cost-prohibiting music clearances.  As such, and regrettably, many of them were edited out to make this collection possible.  Every effort was made to make the transitions as seamless as possible."  I wish I had been given the chance to see the musical numbers but I understand that the costs to clear the musical numbers would have raised the cost of the final product. 

 

I spent a few days watching this collection.  It is a massive collection that allowed me to learn more of this icon whose name I first learned when at an early age I would catch reruns on TV (yea, I am THAT old).  My first real immersion in the man's humor and style came when I watched him in the film Wake Me When It's Over.  The theatrical trailer for the film as well as Five Golden Hours are included on the last disk of the collection.

 

Ernie, I learned was not hot to be on the screen.  He obviously wasn't against it but by his own statements in a CBC interview in the collection, it wasn't what he really looked forward to doing.  He was a perfectionist who made each skit and bit work to his timetable, each done in one take.  If it wasn't perfect, it had to be reshot.  Unlike today, the music was played during the shooting not added in afterwards in post.  In fact, very little was done in post in those days.

 

My list favorite bits in the collection was way too long to add here so I will give you my top five:

 

Having watched this collection, I would love to see acting schools do at LEAST a semester watching this collection and examining how he did what he managed to do with his micro-budget.  I think that the men and women who complete this course would go on to amaze us all.

 

 

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BRAND NEW: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost

SALE ITEM: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale

SECOND HAND: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used

RENTAL: Worth taking a look at, but not owning

COASTER: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks

PULL!: Makes a great Trap Shooting target