TAKE A GOOD LOOK #1
This excellent series showcase of Ernie's improvisational talents hosts a panel of celebrities who must figure out based on the wacky clues Ernie provides in the course of a number of prerecorded skits who the identity of guests are. Panelists in this episode are Cesar Romero, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Jim Backus, and guests are Miss America, two married Czech Olympians and the man who began the world's goldfish-swallowing phenomenon (29:23).
TAKE A GOOD LOOK #2
Panelists include Cesar Romero, Ernie's beautiful wife Edie Adams and Hans Conreid. Guests include Family Doctor of the Year and the sole woman reporter allowed to accompany and cover President Eisenhower's worldwide tour (28:39).
TAKE A GOOD LOOK #3
Panelists include Cesar Romero, Edie Adams and Hans Conreid. Guests include a champion female harness racer and a furniture factory owner who employs chimpanzees in his factory. Ernie's skits include his beloved character Percy Lovetonsils and features the Nairobi Trio performing "Solfeggio" (29:55).
I WAS A BLOODHOUND
This improbable and preposterous 1958 interspecial treat stars Ernie as a gumshoe who's talent is the ability to sniff out trouble - literally. Utilizing his superior olfactory powers, he follows the scent of a kidnapped elephant and returns the pachyderm to his prince of an Indian prince owner (26:08).
KOVACS ON THE CORNER (1957)
This is one of my most treasured possessions - an exceedingly rare 1952 recording of this seminal TV comedy show broadcast to the NBC network from the studios of WPTZ Philadelphia. Co-hosted by wife Edie Adams, who never looked more beautiful and with sunny disposition sings throughout like a bird, this extraordinary show also featured a great performance by the Dave Appell Trio and showcased a wacky cast of real & imaginary characters in Ernie's fantasy-land neighborhood. I've yet to see an earlier example of this TV show format, and rarely have any of the shows that follow in this tradition been so honestly and spontaneously funny - you can be sure the crew really is laughing out of sincere joy and gladness in what was being broadcast!
SHOTGUN SLADE (B&W, 25:51)
Ernie guest stars as a grizzled old gold prospector who gets caught up in a mining scandal in this rare pilot episode of the 1959 dark Western SHOTGUN SLADE.
DINAH SHORE CHEVY SHOW (1958, 59:24)
Not only do Ernie and Edie appear together at the crest of their independent and mutual careers in this now celebrated 1958 summer series, but the great Louis Prima and his lovely wife Keely Smith perform their act live & do they swing!
SILENTS PLEASE (B&W, 28:33)
Ernie was the host of this important show which sought to rekindle interest in the silent film pictures of his youth, utilizing musical and narrative audio accompaniment to the film in order to make the film accessible to modern audiences. In this episode: Rudolph Valentino in SON OF THE SHEIK.