Wednesday, September 02, 2009

NAT HIKEN

I just finished reading NAT HIKEN: KING OF THE HALF HOUR and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nat Hiken was a true comic genius and brought us two of the funniest sitcoms of all-time: THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW and CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? He worked with writers like NEIL SIMON, LARRY GELBART, ARRON RUEBEN, LEONARD STEIN etc. etc. They all went on to write and Produce some of the BEST comedy in television. It was especially interesting to read how fame went to the heads of Maurice Gosfield (Private Doberman on BILKO and later Benny the ball on TOP CAT) and Joe E. Ross (Gunther Toody in CAR 54). Nat actually tried to fire Ross, but Ross pleaded to keep him on the show. Both actors could barely remember their lines and caused many problems on the set. They are two of the most lovable characters and that is why this was so interesting.

CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?

Francis Muldoon and Gunther Toody



What a cast! The cast of YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH or THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW or later just BILKO. I watched them every night on ME TV

No comments: