No, I haven't seen the Jerry Lewis special, which was broadcast ion January 24, 1957. Jerry had split up from his pairing with Dean Martin and NBC heavily hyped this as his first solo show. He was given 90 minutes to dazzle the world but informed the network that his show would only go for 60 minutes, so they'd have to find something else to fill in the other 30 minutes. NBC asked Ernie Kovacs to put something together. What he presented is called "Eugene. It's on You-Tube and is discussed on Wikipedia under the title "The Silent Show" and it's all anybody remembers from that long-ago evening.
2 Reviews
Surprisingly Weak
DrPhilmreview31 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
You would think Jerry's first solo special after the split with Dean Martin would be full of energy, comedy and big name guests. But you would be wrong.
After a cold opening singing a portion of his current hit "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" the show begins with a lame parody of teen music dance shows hosted by Jan Murray. It ends in a moment of pathos as Jerry's poor snook fails to win the bike he so likes.
Then instead of a big name singer he introduces his musical "find" Judy Scott, who is okay at best.
The rest of the show plods along lifelessly only highlighted by Jerry's directing the Norman Luboff choir and later doing a number with both his house band and the Woody Herman band. You expect comedy chaos to ensue but nothing really does.
Although listed as a guest, Ernie Kovacs is NOT in this special though he is referenced to have a show that follows this.
Glad to say Jerry's next effort at a TV special was far, far better and kind of what you would have expected this one to be.
After a cold opening singing a portion of his current hit "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" the show begins with a lame parody of teen music dance shows hosted by Jan Murray. It ends in a moment of pathos as Jerry's poor snook fails to win the bike he so likes.
Then instead of a big name singer he introduces his musical "find" Judy Scott, who is okay at best.
The rest of the show plods along lifelessly only highlighted by Jerry's directing the Norman Luboff choir and later doing a number with both his house band and the Woody Herman band. You expect comedy chaos to ensue but nothing really does.
Although listed as a guest, Ernie Kovacs is NOT in this special though he is referenced to have a show that follows this.
Glad to say Jerry's next effort at a TV special was far, far better and kind of what you would have expected this one to be.
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