Ernie Kovacks is worth a butchers to any self-respecting comedy fan: OK, he was an American of Hungarian descent, but his pioneering work on late 50s-early 60s US televisual output remains unique and experimental, unlike anything we see today: probably because considerable leeway was given in those untested, fledgling TV days.
I first became aware of Kovack's name and reputation courtesy of one Terry Gilliam, who was so enthralled as a youngster by the cock-eyed, skewed world inhabited by Kovacks and his entourage, that he repeatedly brought his name up during interviews, and it is only recently that I have been able to uncover early televisual gems as wrought by this early surrealist master.
The basics of Kovack's craft can be accessed here, in this excerpt from a US site, which serves up offerings of some of the remnants of his ground-breaking show:
http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/35772/master/1/?page=1
Basically, Kovacks approched the very early TV medium as the experimental concern that it truly was: crucially, he embraced the potential of early visual effects, which witnessed gravity effects, [tilted sets] splitscreen elements and outside filmed broadcasts, interspersed with then-pioneering TV visuals, which included groundbreaking CSO [colour seperation overlays] to challenging, trailblazing effect: this was a world away from the more typical, user-friendly 'Hi, Honey, I'm home!' braindead fare that so polluted the ratings to effectively popular-----if braindead effect-----to millions of American TV viewers during the late 50s/early 60s period.
Kovack's life story is also well worth a gander for historians of classic comedy: essentially an anarchic renegade, his early master tapes were mostly dumped into the freezing Hudson River---somewhere near the Statue of Liberty------on account that he died in an automobile accident before squaring up his considerable debts with the NYC studio that funded his delightful experiments.
Kovacks also spent considerable resources and imagination in pursuing the love of his life, the delightful Edie Adams, who once secured the not inconsiderable coup of Miss American TV' at some point in the early 50s. All through his televisual career, Kovacks cocked a snook at the US IRS tax authorities, refusing to pay taxes he never believed in, which resulted in the lion-share of his income being deducted from source,: this ploy saw Kovacks eventualy being forced into take poorly-concieved media-work, like slipshod late 50s US gameshows, in order to appease the taxman.
Basically, only 15 0r so hour of Kovack's work is available for assessment-------and this includes 'colour specials' long thought totally-defunct-------and to be blunt, this fragmented, surviving material is essential if pioneering, off-the-cuff nonconformist fare is your forte.
Kovack's 'tilted set' extravaganza has since passed into comedy folklore, with contemporary updates still referencing the master. Here's a recent= example of considerable worth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyqEjatCSe0&feature=related
Kovack's wife Edie Adams enjoyed a 20-year-long [at least] career flogging the virtues of commercial cigars [ironically, of a very different brand of her beau!} Even after paying off Kovack's considerable debts accumulated throughout his carefree, freewheeling life, Edie was still headstrong enough to ammass a personal fortune , becoming a millioairre in the process [in the late 60s, a million bucks really WAS a fortune, unlike today] : also, let's face it, Edie was a BABE at her peak!;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQEyI4oQizM&feature=relate
If, on the other hand, repeat DVDs of 'Father dear Father' from 1968 starring Patrick Cargill and dogular sidekick Nanny is your aesthetic comedy choice, I respect your choices.