On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 6:12 PM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote:
> Milton Berle was a bigger star in the 1950s, but would anyone argue that > Sid Caeser had a greater impact? > > Look at who he had working on the show: Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil > Simon. Even Woody Allen contributed jokes. > > > http://www.rgj.com/viewart/20140212/ENT/302120114/Sid-Caesar-comic-genius-1950s-television-dies > Was Berle really the bigger star? Today we have ways to quantify these assertions - box office receipts, Nielsen ratings, magazine cover appearances. But to go back 60 years we usually rely on what reporters tell us about the era and I don't think this should go by unquestioned. In the early years of TV Berle was the bigger name. He had a couple of decades of experience touring in vaudeville shows and doing radio. From what I can tell, Berle did his vaudeville gags for his TV show. Caesar, on the other hand, created specifically for the new medium and had more influence on TV. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
