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DTSTAMP:20260408T230118Z
SUMMARY:Ernie Kovacs in Philly
DESCRIPTION:Ernie Kovacs had his own show in Philly starting in Novem
 ber of 1950\r\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Kovacs\r\n\r\nArriv
 ing at NBC's Philadelphia affiliate, WPTZ, for an audition wearing a b
 arrel and shorts got Kovacs his first television job in January 1950. 
 His first show was Pick Your Ideal, a fashion and promotional program 
 for the Ideal Manufacturing Company.\r\nBefore long, Kovacs was also t
 he host of Deadline For Dinner and Now You're Cooking, shows featuring
  advice from local chefs. When Kovacs's guest chef did not arrive in t
 ime for the show, he offered a recipe for \"Eggs Scavok\" (Kovacs spel
 led backward). Kovacs seasoned the egg dish with ashes from his cigar.
  The sponsor was a local propane company. Hosting these shows soon res
 ulted in his becoming host of a program named Three to Get Ready, name
 d for WPTZ's channel 3 spot on television dials.\r\nPremiering in Nove
 mber 1950, Three to Get Ready was innovative because it was the first 
 regularly scheduled early morning (7–9am) show in a major television
  market, predating NBC's Today by more than a year. Prior to this, it 
 had been assumed that few people would watch television at such an ear
 ly hour. While the show was advertised as early morning news and weath
 er, Kovacs provided this and more in an original manner. When rain was
  in the weather forecast, Kovacs would get on a ladder and pour water 
 down on the staff member reading the report. Goats were auditioned for
  a local theater performance and tiny women appeared to walk up his ar
 m. Kovacs also went outside of the studio for some of his skits, runni
 ng through a downtown Philadelphia restaurant in a gorilla suit in one
 ; in another, he looked into a construction pit, saying it was deep en
 ough to see to China, when a man in Chinese clothing popped up, said a
  few words in the language, and ran off.[33] Despite its popularity, t
 he weekly prop budget for the show was just $15. Kovacs once asked his
  viewers to send unwanted items to Channel 3; they filled the station'
 s lobby.\r\nThe only character no one ever saw inspired more gifts; he
  was Howard, the World's Strongest Ant. From the time of his WPTZ debu
 t, Howard received more than 30,000 gifts from Kovacs's viewers, inclu
 ding a mink-lined swimming pool. Kovacs began his Early Eyeball Frater
 nal & Marching Society (EEFMS) while doing Three to Get Ready. There w
 ere membership cards with by-laws and ties; the password was a favorit
 e phrase of Kovacs's: \"It's Been Real\". Kovacs continued the EEFMS o
 n his morning show when he moved to WCBS in New York in 1952. The succ
 ess of Three to Get Ready proved that people did indeed watch early-mo
 rning television, and it was one of the factors that caused NBC to cre
 ate The Today Show. WPTZ did not begin broadcasting Today when it prem
 iered on January 14, 1952; network influence caused the station to end
  Three to Get Ready at the end of March of that year.\r\nDuring early 
 1952, Kovacs was also doing a late morning show for WPTZ named Kovacs 
 on the Corner. Kovacs would walk through an imaginary neighborhood, ta
 lking with various characters such as Pete the Cop and Luigi the Barbe
 r. As with Three to Get Ready, there were some special segments. \"Swa
 p Time\" was one of them: Viewers could bring their unwanted items to 
 the WPTZ studios to trade them live on the air with Kovacs. The show m
 ade its debut on January 4, 1952, with Kovacs losing creative control 
 of the program soon after it was begun. Kovacs on the Corner was short
 -lived; it ended on March 28, 1952, along with Three to Get Ready.Kova
 cs then began work for WCBS-TV in New York with a local morning show a
 nd a later network one. Both programs were canceled; Kovacs lost the l
 ocal morning program for the same reason as Three to Get Ready—the b
 roadcasting time was confiscated by the station's network in 1954.\n\n
 For more information visit https://agilephilly.ning.com/events/ernie-k
 ovacs-in-philly
DTSTART;TZID=America/Anguilla:20201101T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/Anguilla:20201101T235900
CATEGORIES:historical
LOCATION:WPTZ TV
WEBSITE:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Kovacs
URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Kovacs
CONTACT:
ORGANIZER:\"back of the head\" humor
ATTACH;FMTTYPE="image/jpeg":https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0
 /file/get/4540841207?profile=original
ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;RSVP=TRUE;CN="John Vor
 is, Lead Coordinator":https://agilephilly.ning.com/profile/JohnVoris
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