Ernie Kovacs was one of network television's most daring and innovative comedians. From 1950 to 1962, he used the small screen as his personal canvas, challenging all of the medium's early conventions and assumptions. A master of live television and a pioneer in the use of videotape, Kovacs realized the potentials of television as an unique art form and paved the way for future experimentation by David Letterman, MTV (Music Television), and artist Nam June Paik.

Kovacs was one of the first stars in television without a preceding career in vaudeville and theater. His sensibility was idiosyncratically attuned to experimenting with video technology and special effects. Although his various series rarely lasted a year, all his programs were marked with a surreal playfulness and inventive use of music. Kovacs was, in the words of critic William Henry III, "probably the best mind that has yet been...