On January 13, 1962, groundbreaking comedian Ernie Kovacs died at the age of 42 in a car crash. His Chevrolet Covair crashed into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California.
Some authorities surmised that he was lighting one of his trademark cigars when he lost control of his vehicle. His tombstone at Forest Lawn Cemetery is inscribed, “Ernie Kovacs 1919 – 1962 — Nothing In Moderation.”
The unique style of comedy that Kovacs brought to television and several movies is often cited as inspiring a number of later classic shows. You can see Kovacs in shows ranging from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In to Saturday Night Live to children’s shows like Sesame Street. And anytime you see the madcap antics of late night TV hosts like David Letterman or Conan O’Brien, you are seeing a little bit of the visual and surreal humor of Kovacs.
You may read more about the career of Ernie Kovacs on the Ernie Kovacs website, or you may watch an episode of The Ernie Kovacs Show from around 1962 below.
The car that Kovacs was driving, the Chevrolet Corvair, would go on to further fame when Ralph Nader crusaded to reveal safety problems with the car. What is your favorite clip of Ernie Kovacs? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Chuck Cunningham was Richie’s older brother on Happy Days who famously ate sandwiches, dribbled basketballs, and then disappeared, never to be heard from again. The way his character vanished and was never mentioned again by this TV family eventually led to the name Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
What you may not remember about Chuck, though, is that he was played by two different actors. Gavan O’Herlihy initially played the character in the series, followed by Randolph Roberts. According to IMDb, O’Herlihy appeared as Chuck during the first season in seven episodes from January to March 1974. Later in the year, during the second season, Randolph Roberts appeared in two episodes as Chuck. [Update: The clip of a show with Chuck is no longer on YouTube, but if you find the series debut episode, “All the Way,” at around the 7:40 mark you may see O’Herlihy enjoying dinner with the Cunninghams. A brief part of the clip also appears in the TMZ video below.]
Reportedly, the reason the show eventually got rid of Chuck was that he was never a big character and the producers realized that Fonzie (Henry Winkler) had become the “big brother” to Richie (Ron Howard). Several websites note that Gary Marshall, the series creator, humorously stated that his response to the question about what happened to Chuck was that the character got a basketball scholarship in Outer Mongolia.
But why were there two Chucks in the series? In the following video, O’Herlihy, who had been a champion Irish tennis player, explains at around the 4:04 mark how Happy Days gave him his big break in acting. But after he realized that they expected his character to have a limited role, dropping in from college occasionally, he wanted to go on to other work. So apparently, the producers then brought in Roberts briefly before deciding to dump the character all together.
O’Herlihy went on to appear in a number of roles in films like Willow (1988), often playing a villain such as in a standout performance in Lonesome Dove (1989). By contrast, Roberts continued in some acting roles for a little more than a decade before leaving acting and, according to Wikipedia, becoming an education supervisor for ITT Technical Institute in San Diego.
On an additional note, technically, there were three Chuck Cunninghams. In the original Happy Days pilot version that appeared as a segment of Love, American Style (discussed in another post), Chuck was played by actor Ric Carrott. As in the Happy Days series, Chuck only appeared briefly in the Love, American Style episode (eating dinner). Carrott went on to appear in a number of TV shows during the 1970s as well as in small parts in a number of films before leaving acting. He may be best known for his work as Captain Chris Gentry on the Saturday morning kid’s show Space Academy.
Regarding the TV series Happy Days, it is interesting to speculate whether or not the show would have abandoned Chuck Cunningham had O’Herlihy stuck around, as it seems likely that the loss of the first actor hastened the character’s demise. One might image that if O’Herlihy had not left the character, the writers might have kept Chuck in the family, occasionally dropping by while he was at college and then off living somewhere else. Or maybe the series occasionally would have covered him playing basketball in Mongolia. 2015 Update: After this article was posted TMZ did a short segment on the Chuck Cunningham mystery where they caught Ron Howard with the question about what happened to Chuck. Check it out.
Christopher Olivieri has put together a video of In Memoriam: T.V. Shows That Ended In 2013. The video compiles photos of TV shows that ended their run this year, accompanied by sad music, of course. I was surprised to see that some of these shows ended, even as I never got around to watching them. Some of these series ended by choice, and others were canceled. But we will never see their likes again . . . at least until 2014. Check out the video.
What show did you hate to see end in 2013? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I caught Turner Classic Movies‘ moving “Remembers” video of some of the entertainers and artists we lost in 2013. While most of us remember the big name losses like Peter O’Toole, what stands out in the video are all of the familiar faces of less-famous stars. I forgot or did not know the names of some of these folks, but I do remember their wonderful work. Seeing so many recognizable folks who passed on reminds us how fragile life is.
The powerful song in the video is “In the Embers” by Sleeping At Last, which is a project of a musician named Ryan O’Neal. The song is from the album Atlas: Light (2013). The lyrics “We live and we die/ Like fireworks; / Our legacies hide/ In the embers” are haunting, as is the music. Have a safe and happy new year.
What is your favorite part of the year ending? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Check out this video for the 1977 broadcast of The Johnny Cash Christmas Show. The show features June Carter Cash, the Carter Family, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, and “special guest star” Hee-Haw‘s Roy Clark. On the TV special, Cash recounts some of his past Christmases, including recalling his stint in the military and learning to play the guitar.
One of the most touching moments is when Cash, Lewis, and Perkins pay tribute to the fourth member of the Million Dollar Quartet, Elvis Presley. The three men and Roy Orbison play “This Train is Bound for Glory” for Elvis (31:40), who had died in August of that year.
Several of the artists sing non-holiday former hits. Carl Perkins sings “Blue Suede Shoes” (20:35) for example, and Jerry Lee Lewis rocks out on “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (27:30). Somewhat surprisingly, Roy Orbison sings “Pretty Woman” (24:05) instead of his 1963 holiday hit, “Pretty Paper.” Lewis calms down for “White Christmas” (30:00).
This special is one of four Johnny Cash Christmas specials that CBS broadcast from 1976 to 1979. You may watch the other ones collected on Dangerous Minds. Also, check out our earlier discussion of the connections between the song “This Train,” the past, and the present.
What is your favorite variety show Christmas special? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(2013). The lyrics “We live and we die/ Like fireworks; / Our legacies hide/ In the embers” are haunting, as is the music. Have a safe and happy new year.