Not so long ago, people behind the scenes in TV watched Ernie Kovacs and wondered how long he could keep up the terrific pace. At the time he was doing his early-morning wake-up show (7:30 to 9 A.M. on Channel 3) plus sundry duties as a TV star of various other shows.
Now that a five-day-a-week, half hour TV network show (7 to 7:30 P.M. on NBC network) has been added, those same people are goggle-eyed. They don't know how he does it. We didn't know how he does it, either, but we found out.
All you have to do is arise every morning at 5:30, have breakfast by 6:30, appear at the studio several minutes before 7:30. Of course, it would be a lot worse if you couldn't ad lib an hour-and-a-half morning show the way Ernie does.
Then Ernie checks in at his office, goes over his mail, his scripts and what have you. He proceeds to go into his "shower and change clothes" routine. This SCC routine happens at least four times a day, so you readers might just as well get accustomed to the initials.
Lunchtime rolls around and Ernie usually grabs a snack while still at his desk. Usually by just after lunch, most of the business affairs, correspondence and fan mail have received the once over. About the fan mail Ernie says:
"The fact the show is network only means that I receive more mail. But people from all of the 24 stations seem to be the same. They write the same kind of letters, ask the same kind of questions."
Ernie is a bit modest on that "more mail" business. His fan correspondence has hit as high as 1500 pieces of mail weekly.
On Thursdays, Ernie does the Pick Your Ideal show at 1:30 - 1:45 P.M., which means he checks into the studio again in the early afternoon. Then it's back to his office and another SCC routine. By three P.M., Ernie starts writing his script for the next day's network show. He roughs out the show on paper, checks various technical points with associate producers BIll Griffin and Andy McKay. He goes over the script with Benn Squires, director; Bill Hoffman is consulted about sound problems; Dick Riebold is instructed about the sets.
Of course there's more to cover with his secretary "Angel" McGrath, who'll take care of the script details, with Edythe Adams, vocalist, and Tony DeSimone on the music....but an amazing amount of preparatory work is packed into that brief space.
At 4:30 he's back in the studio for camera rehearsal of the next day's network show. At 5:45 comes the old SCC and he's back at 6:55 for "Ernie in Kovacsland." Ernie says he doesn't mind doing the show at all. What does bother him is fitting the items on the program into those five station breaks which come at 7:04.50, 7:09.50, 7:14.50, etc. After 7:30, when the show is over he stays at the studio long enough to select the music for next day's telecast, which must be cleared by the network.
At 8:30 comes the next-to-the-last SCC. You'd think he'd be hitting the hay at this time in order to be able to pile out again at 5:30 in the morning -- but not Ernie.
"I refuse to just work and sleep," says Ernie. "I've got to have a few hours to read, or take a walk or a ride, or have some fun in some way -- even if I do lose a lot of sleep."
The result? About 4 hours a day, average of sleep for Ernie.
Ernie maintains an apartment in mid-town Philadelphia. His weekends are spent in Trenton. He takes off immediately after his Friday program so he can spend as much time as possible with his children. He recently acquired a racy-looking speedster -- a 1951 Jaguar, which his little daughters, Kip Raleigh, age 2, and Bette Lee, 4, are more delighted with than anything else. Ernie loves taking them places in the car, but like most fathers, he admits:
"I spend some pretty tough days during the week, but nothing exhausts me more than a day with the kids!"
