Thanks to this thread I recently purchased the entire box set of The Phil Silvers Show. I am currently watching through the first season. It's just as funny as I remember it.
Bilko Page 3
Oh...............
Bilko on Forces TV is now repeats already and never got to see one of the better M/Sgts played by Joe E Ross and his domineering wife Emma.
If that is all they are going to show (some 20 shows?) then I will have to treat myself to the box set.
Yes, I noticed that as well. As far as I can make out, they just showed series one and then started again instead of going on to series two, three & four. Still, 34 episodes is better than we've had from terrestrial tv in recent years.
I'm currently watching the un-aired pilot episode (the first of 143 episodes in total) and, in terms of everything comedic, it hasn't aged a day since 1955.
Set on a fictional army base in Roseville Kansas but actually filmed before a live studio audience in Manhattan, this is sitcom at its funniest and finest.
You can't get better than Bilko.
Also, I believe that un-aired episode is probably the first program in TV history in which the word "motherf**ker" came close to being uttered.
When talking about a group of men who have recently cheated him at cards, Bilko gets as far as "Those muh . . ." before remembering he's talking to the padre and quickly correcting himself.
The first aired episode is a remake of the pilot in which several of the original cast members are replaced by the cast members that came to be known and loved by fans of the series.
Interestingly, in this first aired episode, when Bilko is talking to the padre about the soldiers who cheated him, he never comes close to using the offensive word.
Clearly, some TV executive spotted it in the pilot episode and nearly fainted!
Another interesting thing about this first aired episode is that it's the first appearance of the wonderful Colonel Hall, played by Paul Ford who was legendarily forgetful when it came to his lines.
He fluffed his second line and his third and went on to forget and fluff a great many more during his years at Fort Baxter.
My immediate thought is - if he was this bad in the broadcast episodes, how bad must he have been in the outtakes? 
Just discovered there is a Phil Silvers Museum (and Emporium). Next time you're in the Coventry area...
Half interesting fact
Phil Silvers got the highest ever salary for a carry on movie for Carry on follow that Camel (30K no less)
later matched by Elke sommer for carry on behind
Does anyone know the reason why he was drafted in?
Because Sid James, for whom the part had been written, had had a minor heart attack (hence his being bedridden in the next film Carry on Doctor). And Rank were hoping this would give them the opportunity to promote the series in the American market. It didn't! Interestingly the first American they considered was Woody Allen.
Quote: Billy Bunter @ 20th September 2022, 8:26 AMInterestingly the first American they considered was Woody Allen.
That would have been a very different movie!
He was just a nerdy TV stand-up at the time - no film credits to speak of.
Quote: Billy Bunter @ 20th September 2022, 8:26 AMBecause Sid James, for whom the part had been written, had had a minor heart attack (hence his being bedridden in the next film Carry on Doctor). And Rank were hoping this would give them the opportunity to promote the series in the American market. It didn't! Interestingly the first American they considered was Woody Allen.
Thanks,very interesting.