The Tonight Show and NBC Disses Ernie

Posted on 04/30/2009 at 8:46 pm by Bob Cesca

kovacs_life_cover.jpg

Photo: Cover of Life Magazine, April 1957

Very few people realize that Ernie Kovacs was the host of the Tonight Show in the middle 1950s. And it doesn’t really help that NBC and television historians routinely neglect mentioning not just Ernie’s part in the show, but his overall influence in those early days of television. (In fact, Steve Allen and other subsequent Tonight Show hosts routinely stole Kovacs’ bits and never really gave him proper credit. Allen’s “Answer Man” character, in particular, was a direct knockoff of Ernie’s “Mr. Question Man”. Eventually, it became Carson’s famous “Carnac” character.)

Nevertheless, NBC has entirely overlooked Ernie on their 50th Anniversary Tonight Show Experience website. No mention of Kovacs at all. None. Go here to join the campaign to make sure Ernie gets the recognition he deserves.

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Ernie with announcer Bill Wendell (who eventually became Letterman’s first announcer).

UPDATE: There’s been some online discussion as to whether Ernie was merely a guest host during the Steve Allen era. While it’s true that Enie hosted fewer episodes than some guest hosts, POVonline notes that the official name of the show was TONIGHT with Ernie Kovacs. Guest hosts, on the other hand, never received title billing which indicates to me that irrespective of how many shows he hosted, Ernie was an official host of the Tonight Show.

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  • gypsy

    what a slap in the face! can’t believe the great leno isn’t saving the day with his great greatness! hehe…

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇ Silly Ratfaced Git ∇

    Wow. The Tonight show was his idea. He spent years trying to sell the brass on the idea and they finally relented.Ernie Kovacs was a genius and to this day one of the only artists to fully comprehend the possibilities of television as a new and unique medium of expression. His shows were imaginative and brilliant. His death was a great loss. Had he lived longer I am quite convinced he would have produced some really fascinating shows. I never missed his shows broadcast live in the 50s.”Television. A medium. Because it is neither rare nor well done.” – Ernie Kovacs.

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇ Silly Ratfaced Git ∇

    Edie Adams would have been on their ass over this. She did a great job preserving his legacy.NBC has always been run by total fuckwits. At least they are consistent.

  • jmrunning3

    I was born after Ernie died, but I credit my dad with inviting me to watch re-runs of his TV show. Even today, his brilliance and comedic genius is far above the drivel we see today.Bob, what’s the latest on the movie you’ve bene working on about him?

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob Cesca

    >>>Bob, what’s the latest on the movie you’ve bene working on about him?I haven’t worked on the script in a while. Still trying to find the right tone. I waffle between a straightforward biopic and something more in keeping with David Walley’s stageplay (my friend David died in 2005). Extrapolating Walley’s vision into a film would give the whole thing a Charlie Kaufman vibe, which is great, but challenging to write/pitch/sell.

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