Ernie Kovacs was a man that was far ahead of his time. He was an actor, comedian, performer, and writer. Throughout his career, he was a man that sought new ways to entertain an audience. He was wildly experimental in his work and much of what he did has gone on to influence generations. A number of television shows, special optical effects, characters, and comedic styles have been directly influenced by his work.
Although he died at the age of 42, Ernie Kovacs left his mark on this world. Kovacs was born in 1919, growing up in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1937, he graduated from high school with a passion for drama. Kovacs then decided to attend acting school. Once obtaining his degree from the New York School of Theatre, he was on his way. Kovacs began working for a local radio station in Trenton. After being a DJ for a few years, he finally got his opening into the world of television, in 1949. He worked on shows such as Three to Get Ready, the Tonight Show, and others. As time went on, he began shows of his own creation such as The Ernie Kovacs Show and the well-known Silent Show. He influenced the face of television in a way that no other had before him. Aside from his television career, he starred in a few movies such as Operation Mad Ball, It Happened to Jane, Five Golden Hours, and more. In 1962, Kovacs died at the age of 42 during a fatal car accident. He is well known for his eclectic taste, his spontaneity, his humor, and his creations. After his death, he was awarded two Emmy Awards and inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
The work that Ernie Kovacs created throughout his career changed the way that television was looked at as a particular medium. As he first got his start in television, he introduced people to his famous sense of humor. The show Three to Get Ready was one of the first morning television shows. The majority of people thought that no one would watch television in the early morning, but Kovacs pulled in an astonishing audience. As his career continued, he began to introduce memorable characters such as Mr. Question Man, the Nairobi Trio, and Matzoh Heepelwhite, a humorously quirky magician. Each character that he created was wacky and imaginative. They were appreciated however; as Mr. Question Man was a direct influence for Carnac the Magnificent, a Johnny Carson character years later. His way of approaching TV in general, was unlike anyone before. As he began his own shows, he introduced new concepts. On the Ernie in Kovascsland show, he did a great deal of experimentation with the use of sound and how it corresponded with what the audience was seeing. He, for instance, had a bit on his show where music would play and certain appliances would dance to the music. The idea of animating background set pieces was new. This exploration of the correspondence between the visual and the audio was also seen in his famous show called the Silent Show. His character, Eugene, was mute for the entire show. Music would play in the background and Eugene would interact in comedic ways with the set. Kovacs also played around with the way things were shot for a live TV program. As he began his own shows, he pushed the limits of what people expected. He would show the home audience people off of the set and behind the scenes, which had never been done before. He, unlike anyone before him, liked to film without a studio audience so that he was able to perform special effects that could only be appreciated if watched from the screen. For example, he would build elaborate sets, such as one where a car fell through the floor, or one where everything that he put on the table in front of him appeared to be tilting to one side. His use of these effects turned TV into something other than just a way to record. Much of his work was unorthodox and unheard of, but he always defied the limits set before him.
From a creative stand point, Ernie Kovacs was one of a kind. He took the idea of TV as a pure tool to record and reshow what was going on, and turned it into a whole new concept. He turned it into a medium on which anything was possible. He introduced special effects that had never been thought of. For example, he once taped a can to the lens of a video camera and created an effect much like a kaleidoscope would. This became the start of what is now a psychedelic special effect.
