Using this advertisement or the screening from class as an example, discuss how Ernie Kovacs’ artistic experiments with television sound (or silence), aesthetics, and timing dialogue with growing concerns about television’s noisiness and commercialism?
It's genius. Kovacs literally takes what was wrong with television at the time and made fun of it using little more than sounds effects/voice-overs and his big personality. I'd never heard of Ernie Kovacs before this class, but after watching his "Eugene" during the screening and this short advertising spoof, I understand why comics like Chevy Chase looked up to him. It’s easy to see how comedians like Chase applied Kovacs’ concepts to their TV shows, especially SNL.
ReplyDeleteMost shows, like I Love Lucy and the Honeymooners relied on strong, loud, flamboyant characters. These kinds of characters, along with a few clever lines and well-placed advertisements, dominated the market at the time. Kovacs, as a comedian, takes everyday instances and cultural norms and makes fun of them. He did so effectively by returning to minimalist tendencies: combining his perfect comedic timing with sound effects. Notice in the advertisement, all it took was a sarcastic voice over combined with Kovacs' facial expressions and antics to create hilarity. The advertisement was actually a perfect and humorous critique of TV’s tendencies at the time. Instead of loudly reciting perfect jingles and sales pitches for prized products, he silently made a mockery of them. It’s the simplicity and effectiveness in Kovacs’ performance in contradiction of the flashy and consumerist tendencies in 1950’s TV shows that made Kovacs’ experiments a success and inspiration for generations to come.
In the screening from class, I noticed that there were a lot of unorthodox stylizations of how the show was presented. For instance, the opening credits consisted of “live” animation where the names of people that contributed to the show had active movements to the point of distraction. This style was very different from 1950s sitcoms where there were bold introductions of the stars of the show. In the “Eugene” skit, there was the employment of the lack of dialogue. The use of only noise was very different compared to the use of dialogue in sitcoms to present the plot. This different form of noisiness emphasized the use of sound effects in support to adding humor to the show. Aside from the sound effects, the use of comedic gags add to the humor of this show.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of addressing the growing concern about television commercialism, the advertisement in Kovacs did opposite of what sitcom advertising was. For example, in I Love Lucy, the representation of commercials were loud and cheery to the point of obnoxiousness. Kovacs played the counterpart by not using anything catchy to sell the product. Instead he used him clumsiness to emphasize the difference between the two styles. Such addresses the growing concerns in television commercialism.
The key to comedy is to make sure that the audience isn't expecting what is coming. Ernie Kovacs clearly understood this concept and utilized it throughout his works. This commercial is funny and memorable because it inverts every expectation that the audience had going into the commercial.
ReplyDeleteThe audience had grown to expect a too-loud salesperson in a commercial; in contrast, after his introduction, Ernie doesn't say anything to the audience. As a result of the expectations, it seems very funny to the audience that Ernie doesn't say anything. Ernie then goes on to fumble with the cigars, in contrast to the expectation of the perfect depictions in a standard commercial. Finally, it is revealed that Ernie is standing in a pool of water; this is just silly which contrasts with the commercials for products that took themselves overly seriously.
Much of Ernie's humor in this commercial is based on his contextual understanding he had that people were fed up with the noise level in commercials. His comedy is satirical without being overt in any sense of the word and that is part of what made it so well received. The experimental nature of his commercials must have made it much more humorous at the time that it was originally aired as oddball wacky commercials are more common now.
What he does in this commercial is the exact opposite of what an advertisement should be. I would argue that his presence in this commercial actually detracts from the product all together. I am so sucked into his humor that I am not paying attention to the actual advertising. Not to mention he is not acting like the typical model for a commercial. Typically in advertisements, we see the model pantomiming what the voice over is saying to further convince the audience. Instead he mocks it, and makes the goal of the advertisement "to entertain" rather than "to sell".
ReplyDeleteThis stems from how he refuses to talk. The ad is relatively quiet, with only his actions and the voice over to compose this commercial. He is taking a different approach because most ads are loud and in the audience's face. He allows his slapstick physical humor to do the talking for him. He is more whimsical with his actions rather his voice and whole being.
This reminded me of Lonesome Roads in "A Face in the Crowd". He completely sabotaged the advertisement for mattress but managed to sell them through this tactic. Could it be said from Kovacs’ disengagement from the ad that he is actually helping commercialism? We discussed in lecture how television had this sense of "realism" and that it was more trustworthy that film. By Kovacs acting like his usual goofy self and not portraying the annoying salesman, he gains more credibility and trust with his audience.The audience does not feel like a pawn in a marketing scheme because he refuses to buy into the typical behavior of an ad.
During a time when devices to limit television’s noisiness were starting to be advertised, Ernie Kovacs offered a refreshing alternative to the jarring over-commercialization of television. He gave a unique response to the uneasiness growing out of television’s obnoxious loudness of the time. He used outlandish, experimental animation and music to introduce his largely silent program. The tone of the beginning of his program was quiet and laid back, but it also made interesting comments on other louder programs. For example, the pie thrown at the loud female presenter’s face made a mockery of the typically clamorous variety shows.
ReplyDeleteI thought his “Eugene” segment was extremely creative. It relied on sound effects and funny facial expressions rather than the uproarious characters of programs such as the Burns and Allen Show, the Martha Raye Show, or the Honeymooners. I enjoyed the screening because of the cleverness of moments like the “Digging the Panama Canal” book opening with sound effects of shovelling and the anti-gravity camerawork of Eugene having his lunch. But it also sparks a thought-provoking discourse about the issue of television being too noisy.
As Spigel wrote in her article about silent TV, “Kovacs's interest in artistic exploration was directed at wider social anxieties about the disruptive and distasteful noise of the new commercial television culture” (179). He satirized how annoying this noise had become by creating the character of Eugene, who became the embodiment of the noise. Eugene is a bumbling and irritating character to others around him, and this reflection on how bothersome noise can be is very funny because the viewer can easily relate. Eugene is affiliated with a different, lower class than the other characters and “Kovacs uses sound to elaborate this class dimension by associating Eugene with the 'noise' of the working classes that offends the sensibility of highbrows” (189). As I see it, the show provided smart comic relief to those distressed by TV’s noise.
The problem with the commercials was that they popped out. In The Burns and Allen Show we saw how the commercial just stood out and seemed awkward and in your face. Kovac’s silent commercials were the opposite. The cigar commercial fits right into his show. It becomes invisible with the show. He calls attention to it, but at the same time it belongs to the world that he has created on the television screen.
ReplyDeleteHis program worked differently compared to other existing television shows at the time. It called attention to things that would normally not draw our attention while viewing a show. Kovac’s simply holds the box of cigars and says nothing. The box of cigars draws our attention and we wait for Kovacs to say something, but instead he fumbles with the box and drops the cigars. It’s as if you’re receiving signals that this is obviously a commercial, yet it fails to tell you that it is a commercial. It sinks into the existing show. The noise level never changes and it seems to just pass as part of another gag of his. He didn’t allow the commercial to outshine his show, but be a part of it.
Ernie Kovacs’s silent TV was meant to deviate from typical TV shows in order to respond to TV noise and its “fraudulent nature” (specifically concerns about canned laughter and increased volume levels of commercials) and to use television as an art form. Spiegel writes, “in a technological society inundated by noise, silence has become a rare commodity packaged and sold to those who can afford luxury resorts and nature retreats far from the din of everyday life.” This idea suggests that something like silent television was made to seem higher class because of its lack of dialogue. With the combination of Kovacs’s almost Dadaist and absurdist style his show was meant to be and accepted as something reserved form intellectuals who were above the noise of commercialism and really wanted to watch television to appreciate the art. Even when commercials were necessary in the show the product being advertised was second to the style of the commercial unlike the product integration in the Burns and Allen show where the fact that they are selling carnation milk is impossible to ignore. The style and humor of the Kovacs commercial almost made the presence of the product too subtle however; it may have been more honest and therefore more refreshing to viewers so they may have been more inclined to purchase the cigars. Kovacs was also frequently seen smoking these cigars on camera without it necessarily being a time for advertising, which may have also added to the honesty of this form of commercialism.
ReplyDeleteA revolutionary ahead of his time! I would venture to say that Ernie Kovacs was one of the most innovative and introspective television personalities of the 1950’s in terms of evaluating the intensely commercialistic culture at that time. Television as a relatively new art form was more or less searching for a purpose. Was it to be used to further commercialism and sell things to people? Or could it be used as something else, as a form of art?
ReplyDeleteKovacs explores the futility of commercialism and it’s general ridiculousness through this commercial as well as his show as a whole. His show utilizes the power of the absurd, of silence, and of a general departure from the norm. Most television shows at the time focused on an ideal life in the home such as I Love Lucy, where comedy depended on loud slapstick jokes or clever dialogue, but Kovacs did something different. The comedy from his show comes from the complete opposite of normalcy. For example, his skit with the three men in the gorilla masks seems completely random, and in the end it still didn’t seem to have a purpose, not even a plot. But this is what makes his comedy! This absurdity makes fun of the staleness of regular television and challenges the viewer to participate in something that maybe requires a little more thought.
People are not stupid and they can, for the most part, tell when someone is trying to sell them something today. But many ads in the early television were built in to the programming in a way that removed the audience from the world of show and transported them to the sales pitch. The shows basically just flat-out stated that they had to sell their viewers this product now no matter how forced or counterfeit it may have seemed. Even in programs like The Burns and Allen Show where the ad for Carnation Milk was (somewhat lamely) built into the story, it was still very the audience that they were being sold to the advertisers.
ReplyDeleteKovacs’ show was no different from the majority of early television shows in sense of the commercial format but he did it in such a way that one has to wonder if he really wanted to sell the product. He instead just makes it a part of his own personal brand of comedy. His commercial for Dutch Masters cigars is presented in a way that helps Kovacs more than it helps his advertisers. Instead of rambling on about why his viewers should buy a Dutch Masters cigar, Kovacs stands there awkwardly holding the product before dropping and ruining it in silence. It’s funny and very much his sense of style, but it has nothing to do with the product itself.
The genius of Kovacs' show was the way in which he opposed every norm in television predating him and turned them on their heads to create a successful television program and marketing tool. Watching a show like Kovacs' is a strange experience, with the lack of dialogue opposing other popular shows of the time, like “I Love Lucy” and the myriad others. Despite the difference, he still managed to make a humorous and successful show without the use of over the top loud characters. His show was quiet in execution, but very loud in effect. His characters spoke volumes without letting out a word, and accomplishing that was a work of art by Kovacs. The success of a man like Kovacs in television paved the way for a future of programming far different than the generation of shows before it.
ReplyDeleteThe other prominent thing about Kovacs can be seen in the above advertisement on his show. Obviously, television shows need marketing and commercial backing to continue running. This usually meant loud interruptions in the middle of airings to advertise a sponsors product. The interruptions ruined the flow of the show and were obviously thrown in and annoying. Most people just ignored them, as people do to commercials today. Kovacs, however, integrated his ads into the show in a way that made sense for his show. It was like another funny skit, but perhaps it caused some people to buy the product. I do not know the success of advertising on Kovacs' show compared to the typical advertisement at the time, but I do think Kovacs' way of advertising displayed the great ingenuity of the man.
During the 1950s television viewers and critics alike, had a strong distaste for the noisiness associated with commercials. Not only was there a clear difference in volume levels of television programs and the commercials that aired between them, there was also certain distaste for the entertainment and lightweight status TV brought. For the most part, television audiences were not happy with the increasingly obnoxious commercials complete with high-energy salesmen screaming their scripts, and this was vocalized so strongly that television networks and regulators had to take action. From this, there was a movement and introduction of the silent program in which Ernie Kovacs was the pioneer of his time. Compared to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Kovacs implored pantomime and sight gags in a way that experimented with sound and silence. Diverting from the ordinary television programming, Kovacs used visual tricks and sound paradoxes in his experimental program "Silent Show" in 1957. This show proved to be inventive in the sense that there was no spoken dialogue, just the inconsistency of sound and image. Kovacs's skit of Eugene, in "Silent Show," introduced an obnoxiously "loud" man dressed in a obnoxiously "loud," vibrantly colored jacket, who enters a silent club of gentlemen, all consumed in their own readings, whereupon Eugene's every move is complete with loud and obnoxious sounds that are paradoxical with the action of which they are connected. This juxtaposition between sound and image are key to Kovacs's craft in poking at reality as related to television, which is demonstrated through his humorous and unexpected silent programs. While Ernie Kovacs wanted to "speak" for the people, in that he wanted to cater to their concerns by eliminating the "loudness" in television, Kovacs did not all together dismiss commercialism, for he was noted as speaking highly of his sponsor, Dutch Masters Cigar (which let him be free in all aspects of production). The relationship Kovacs had with his sponsor led to the breakthrough of silent commercials, and after receiving great success, feedback and recognition for his work, other advertisers began imploring the silent commercial for their own products. The response to this new type of commercialism, was documented in the fan mail Kovacs received, in which viewers praised him for his work while welcoming his fresh ideas. This great level of following and imitation proved that Ernie Kovacs's innovative thinking and unusual programming was effective, as it garnered considerable attention and acclaim.
ReplyDeleteErnie Kovacs is clearly a mastermind when it comes to television commercialism. The commercial posted above is a prime example of how overly commercial and generic advertising on television actually is. Ernie is recreating a simple cigar advertisement in which an narrator says a few words of context for the cigars and then the subject of the commercial, in this case Kovacs, gives a tag line or a short speech on the cigars that he is showcasing. It is so simple and so overused that the audience knows exactly what to expect when watching it, but Kovacs uses comedy to completely turn it on its end.
ReplyDeleteKovacs, when prompted to talk, just stands there, the complete opposite of what the viewer is accustomed to. He fumbles around with the box of cigars and looks extremely clumsy, which is a complete departure from the structured perfection that almost all of the advertisements on television adhered to in that time. The fact that Kovacs isn’t speaking the entire time is plays on how “noisy” and in your face television commercials were. The entire time the viewer is bombarded with information about some product and is not given a rest until the minute or two minute advertisement is up. Kovacs’ silence plays on that by giving the viewer no information whatsoever. Kovacs knew the exact goal of television commercialism and played on it perfectly in this video.
This commercial kind of reminds me of a subdued version of the commercial that "Lonesome Rhodes" did in “A Face in the Crowd” for the mattress company, in the respect that they are kind of mocking the commercialism of television as well as consumerism. We are so used to seeing advertisements be extremely precise and thought-out while this one relies on simplistic comedy. The commercial relies on Kovacs’ likability as an entertainer, meaning that the consumers will like the product regardless because of his charismatic presence and comedic timing.
ReplyDeleteI think that the commercial works better as “silent” as opposed to “noisy”. This way we are really only taking in the product and Kovacs selling it to us; this way it does not seem so forced and gimmicky. It plays more as an addition to the show as opposed to a disruption and that’s why it works so well.