The Nairobi Trio - Classic comedy sketch from The Ernie Kovacs Show in the 1950s
The Nairobi Trio - Classic comedy sketch from The Ernie Kovacs Show in the 1950s
Ernie Kovacs was years ahead of his time.
I think what makes Kovacs so great is that he just did whatever the hell he wanted. Television was new enough where many of the tropes and conventions hadn't been established yet. Kovacs was free to create whatever came in to his mind. I wonder how differently TV would have developed if he hadn't died so early in his career.
You could be right. And he definitely paved the way for a lot of TV experimentation. His Wikipedia page lists a lot of the people and groups he influenced and you can see how:
Kovacs has been credited as an influence by many individuals and shows, including Johnny Carson, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Jim Henson, Max Headroom,[1] Chevy Chase,[2][3] Conan O'Brien,[4] Jimmy Kimmel, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Pee-wee's Playhouse, The Muppet Show, Dave Garroway,[5] Andy Kaufman, You Can't Do That on Television, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Uncle Floyd, among others.[6][7] Chase even thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy Award for Saturday Night Live.[8][2]