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Take a
Good Look was a panel show Ernie did for two seasons, from
October 1959 to March 1961, with a summer break during 1960.
Ernie Kovacs hosting a game show? After the critical success of
the "Silent Show" in January 1957, Ernie acted in movies for Columbia
Pictures and did several guest shots, but basically for two-and-a-half
years Ernie did not have a regular TV show. After acting "Our Man
in Havana" and making the "Kovacs on Music" special for NBC in late
spring of 1959, Ernie connected with a sponsor, Consolidated Cigar, and
this panel show was born.
Part game show and part absurdist theater, "TGL" pitted a panel of
three celebrities -- usually Edie plus two pals of Ernie's -- against
Kovacs who dared them to guess the identity of
the guest, who was someone who was in the news and had been written
about recently in "Life" or the "Saturday Evening Post". The
clues were blackouts and short skits Ernie created, but the actual clue
information was so convoluted (the number "5" on the back wall of a
set, or an off-hand commend by Percy Dovetonsils before reading an ode)
there was no chance the panelists could figure out who the guest was.
The best part of the show was the commercials for Dutch Masters
cigars. Ernie took great pride in the spots, which he made
himself and which were aired during the show with the audience mikes up
so you'd hear laughs during the commercials. One of these, called
"Haydn", won a Clio the first year the awards were given out. The
clues and commercials feature Ernie, Bobby Lauher and Peggy Connelly
(who later married comedian Dick Martin).
The show aired Thursday nights on ABC
from 10:30 to 11:00. When the show was cancelled, Ernie appeared
the following week in the show "Silents, Please" as host. This
show aired weekly through October of 1961, with breaks monthly for
Ernie's specials.
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Panelists
appearing regularly on "Take a Good Look" included:
Edie Adams (often wearing a gown she'd made), Hans Conreid (who had
appeared with Ernie and Edie in "Private Eye, Private Eye" a 1958
special produced by Max Liebman), Cesar Romero, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jack
Carson, Janet Leigh,Ben Alexander, Jim Backus, Carl Reiner and Mort
Sahl.
Ernie's relationship with Dutch Masters continued through the making of
his monthly specials in 1961-62. Back then, the sponsor bought the
airtime and, as long as the product sold well, the show stayed on the
air. Ernie's ratings weren't amazing, but he sold cigars.
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