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Phil Silvers
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The Phil Silvers Show is all the testament either men will ever need to reflect their combined genius and the most crystal clear example of a perfect partnership. The show is surely the most repeated, most continually watched comedy ever made and remains funny and true after nearly 50 years. It ... stands as the refutation of the lazy journalistic cliché that sitcoms, such as Fawlty Towers, should have short runs. John Cleese's greatest moment may have stretched to 12 great episodes but Hiken and Silver's runs rampant with inventive, wondrous comedy across 143 beautiful half-hours.
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Running for four seasons, "The Phil Silvers Show" (originally titled, "You'll Never Get Rich") was a hit on CBS-TV. It was cancelled while still at the top. It has been reported that 22 regular cast member salaries was just too big of a drain on the network and so they pulled the plug in order to get it into syndication while the show was "still hot" and the going price high.
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Growing up in the squalid Brownsville section of Brooklyn, "Phil Silvers" used his excellent tenor voice and facility for cracking jokes to escape a life of poverty. He was discovered as a young teen by vaudevillian "Gus Edwards" who hired him to perform in his schoolroom act. Silvers' singing career ended when his voice changed at 16, whereupon he took acting jobs in various touring vaudeville sketches. During his subsequent years in burlesque, he befriended fellow comic "Herbie Faye", with whom he would work off and on for the rest of his career. While headlining in burlesque, Silvers was signed to star in the 1939 Broadway musical comedy Yokel Boy. This led to film work, first in minor roles, then as comedy relief in such splashy 1940s musicals as "Coney Island" (1943) and "Cover Girl" (1944).
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The Phil Silvers Show was initially recorded live on film using a three camera set-up. Post-production was minimal, giving the final program a spontaneous, no-frills appeal despite its celluloid status. As the series developed, the storylines often incorporated outside characters who were portrayed by guest celebrities. Mike Todd appeared in one 1958 episode, insisting that it be shot using a movie-style, one camera production process. Cast and crew found appealing the more relaxed shooting schedule this engendered, and the show subsequently adopted this filming technique permanently. This meant that the scenes would be shot throughout the week and later edited together in order.
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In 2003, The Phil Silvers Show was voted Best Sitcom in the BBC guide to television comedy. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted #42 on the list of the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Dick Van Dyke, who made his TV debut on "Bilko", says he "was always fascinated with Phil's sense of timing. Incredible."
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The Phil Silvers Show was premiered on the 20th of September 1955 and lasted on the 11th of September 1959. The series was written by Nat Hiken and it has four (4) seasons with 142 episodes. It follows the exploits of a motor pool sergeant in the U.S. Army.
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Phil Silvers