The Ernie Kovacs Show must have seemed to NBC a good way to fill a half an hour in the Monday-through Friday morning schedule. But sustaining unbridled zanyism on a high level of efficiency five days a week is about as difficult as making a perpetual motion machine.
Kovacs, of course, is not trying anything new. The only thing that changes with this kind of show is the personality of the man who heads it up. Kovacs is better than most. He is experienced, poised, and, generally, even master of the gags that fall flat. When his material is genuinely funny, he is brilliant. But solid bits of writing are not easily come by.
He is, in short, a thoroughly likable man who could become the kind of comedian NBC is seeking. But nothing can burn the heart out of a newcomer faster than this business of demanding that he be at least amusing, if not downright funny, five times a week. Mr. Kovacs and his wife, songstress Edie Adams, who lends him valiant support in this marathon, both deserve something better.
