''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
which ran on the
CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-an-hour long except for a 1959 one-hour live special. The series starred
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...
as
Master Sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries.
Israel Defense Forces
The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...
Ernest G. Bilko of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
.
The series was created by
Nat Hiken and won three consecutive
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s for Best Comedy Series. The show is sometimes titled ''Sergeant Bilko'' or simply ''Bilko'' in
reruns, and it is very often referred to by these names, both on-screen and by viewers. The show's success transformed Silvers from a journeyman comedian into a star; and writer-producer Hiken from a highly regarded behind-the-scenes comedy writer into a publicly recognized creator.
Production
By 1955, the American television business was already moving westward to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, but Nat Hiken insisted on filming the series in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He believed this location was more conducive to comedic creativity and the show's humor. Early episodes were filmed at Dumont's television center in New York City – now home to
WNYW-TV – with later episodes shot at the
CBS "Hi Brown" Studios in
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side (Manhattan), West Side of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. The area's boundaries are roughly 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the south, the Hudson River an ...
.
Most of the series was filmed to simulate a live performance. The actors memorized their lines and performed the scenes in sequence before a studio audience. Thus, there are occasional flubs and awkward pauses. Actor
Paul Ford
Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor and comedian, comedic actor who came to specialize in portraying authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notabl ...
, playing Bilko's commanding officer, was notorious for forgetting his lines; when he would get a blank expression on his face, Silvers and the rest of the cast would improvise something to save the scene, like "Oh, you remember, Colonel, the top brass is coming..." At that point, Ford would pick up where he left off.
Creator Nat Hiken wrote or co-wrote 70 of the first 71 episodes, missing only episode 70 (the second-season finale.) He left the show after that season. In the fourth season, the writing staff included
Neil Simon
Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...
, who wrote or co-wrote 20 episodes, including the series finale. Future Columbia Pictures VP and theatrical agent Harvey Orkin, later known as a regular on ''
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life'', was among the writers who were recognized with the Emmy Award for Best Comedy Writing in 1956.
Later episodes were filmed in California. Producer
Mike Todd
Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1907 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, celebrated for his 1956 ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy ...
, making a guest appearance, insisted that his show should be filmed like a movie, out of sequence. The cast and crew tried it and soon found that Todd's way was easier. Production continued in this manner until the series ended in 1959.
The fact that Silvers and Hiken were both sports fans inspired some of the character names. Bilko was named after
Steve Bilko, a minor league baseball player (it also had the connotation, to ''
bilk'' someone). Cpl Barbella was named after middleweight boxing champion
Rocky Graziano
Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing ...
(whose birth name was Rocco Barbella). Pvt Paparelli was named after the baseball umpire
Joe Paparella. According to Silvers, Pvt Doberman was so named because actor
Maurice Gosfield resembled a
doberman pinscher.
Premise

The series was originally set in Fort Baxter, a sleepy, unremarkable
U.S. Army post in the fictional town of Roseville,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. It was centered on the soldiers of the Fort Baxter motor pool under Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko. Bilko and his men seemed to spend little time performing their duties: Bilko in particular spent most of his time trying to wheedle money through various get-rich-quick scams and promotions, or to find ways to get others to do his work for him.
While Bilko's soldiers regularly helped him with his schemes, they were just as likely to become "pigeons" in one. Nevertheless, Bilko exhibited an odd paternalism toward his victims, and he would doggedly shield them from all outside antagonists. The sergeant's attitude toward his men has been described thus: "They were ''his'' men and if anyone was going to take them, it was going to be him and only him."
Through it all, the platoon was generally loyal to Bilko, despite their wariness of his crafty nature, and they would depend on him to get them out of any military misfortune. If one of his boys was treated unfairly or was cheated in any way, Bilko always helped the injured party, using the same psychological guile and chicanery he used to outwit his suckers. This benevolent side of Bilko was toned down in the series's later seasons (with scripts, significantly, by different writers); Bilko became strictly mercenary, willing to swindle ''anyone'' for a fast buck.
Bilko's swindles were usually directed toward (or behind the back of) Col. John T. Hall, the overmatched and beleaguered post commander who had early in his career been nicknamed "Melon Head". Despite his flaws and weaknesses, Col. Hall would get the best of Bilko just often enough to establish his credentials as a wary and vigilant adversary. The colonel would frequently be shown looking out his window, worried without explanation or evidence, simply because he knew that Bilko was out there ''somewhere'', planning something. The colonel's wife, Nell (Hope Sansberry), had only the kindest thoughts toward Bilko, who would shamelessly flatter her whenever he met her.
Bilko and Hall were not always adversaries. In an episode entitled "The Court Martial" (1956), Bilko tries to assist the colonel in setting a speed record for inducting new recruits, which accidentally results in a private's pet chimpanzee being enrolled. The animal's failure to answer when addressed by the phrase "Hurry! Speak Up!" is soon misheard and interpreted as being his name, "Harry Speakup", continuing the error and the imposture. Harry passes the medical and psychiatric exams, receives a uniform, and is formally sworn in. With the superior officers in a panic, Bilko saves the day by orchestrating an honorable discharge for the chimpanzee.
The show's setting changed with the fourth season, when the men of Fort Baxter were reassigned to
Camp Fremont in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. This mass transfer was explained in storyline as being orchestrated by Bilko, who had discovered a map showing a gold deposit near the abandoned army post. One reason for the change from Kansas was so that the series could more plausibly bring in guest stars from nearby Hollywood, such as
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...
,
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...
,
Diana Dors
Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.
Dors came to public notice as a Bombshell (slang), blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van ...
and
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...
. Silvers played himself in one hourlong episode.
Cast

Bilko's right-hand men were Cpl. Rocco Barbella (
Harvey Lembeck
Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on '' The Phil Silvers Show'' (a.k.a. ''Sgt. Bilko'', a.k.a. ''You'll Never Get Rich'') in the late 1950s, and ...
) and Cpl. Steve Henshaw (
Allan Melvin
Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of ...
), and his long-suffering superior was Col. John T. Hall (
Paul Ford
Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor and comedian, comedic actor who came to specialize in portraying authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notabl ...
). Bilko's motorpool platoon included
Herbie Faye (a former burlesque crony of Silvers) as Cpl. Sam Fender,
Maurice Gosfield as Pvt. Duane Doberman,
Billy Sands as Pvt. Dino Paparelli,
Mickey Freeman as diminutive Pvt. Fielding Zimmerman,
Tige Andrews
Tige Andrews (born Tiger Androwas; March 19, 1920 – January 27, 2007) was an American character actor. He is best remembered for his law-enforcement roles as Captain Adam Greer and Lieutenant Johnny Russo in two ABC crime drama television seri ...
(billed under his given name, Tiger Andrews) as Pvt. Gander,
Jack Healy as the tough-talking Pvt. Mullen,
Maurice Brenner as Pvt. Irving Fleischman,
Karl Lukas as Pvt. Stash Kadowski, former middleweight boxer
Walter Cartier as botany fiend Pvt. Claude Dillingham (in season one),
Bernie Fein as Pvt. Gomez,
P.Jay Sidney as Pvt. Palmer and
Terry Carter
John Everett DeCoste (December 16, 1928 – April 23, 2024), known professionally as Terry Carter, was a pioneering black American actor and filmmaker, known for his roles as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst on the television series '' McCloud''[Billie Allen
Billie Allen (January 13, 1925 – December 29, 2015) was an American actress, theater director, dancer and entertainer. Allen was one of the first black actors and performers to appear on television and stage in the United States, at a time when ...]
, who played WAC Billie) were African American and regularly appeared in the series at a time when American society (and television) was largely segregated. The Army was desegregated under President Harry Truman.
Other recurring characters included Hope Sansberry as Mrs. Hall,
Harry Clark as camp cook Sgt. Stanley Sowici; after Clark's death the role of cook was played by burlesque comic
Joe E. Ross as Sgt. Rupert Ritzik;
Beatrice Pons
Beatrice Pons ( Posner; January 28, 1906 – June 17, 1991) was an American stage, radio, television and film character actress. She is best known for her recurring television roles on ''The Phil Silvers Show'' and ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' She a ...
as loud-mouthed Mrs. Ritzik,
Ned Glass
Nusyn "Ned" Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was a Polish-born American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly, or deceitful characters. ...
as quartermaster Sgt. Andy Pendleton, Jimmy Little as Sgt. Francis Grover,
Nicholas Saunders as Hall's adjutant Captain Barker, and
John Gibson as an unnamed Chaplain that Sgt. Bilko addressed as "Padre". Some episodes gave Bilko a romantic interest,
Elisabeth Fraser
Elisabeth Fraser (born Elisabeth Fraser Jonker, January 8, 1920 – May 5, 2005) was an American actress, best known for playing brassy blondes.
Life and career
Born Elisabeth Fraser Jonker on January 8, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York, she was ...
as Sgt. Joan Hogan.
The series frequently featured so many secondary cast members, with so many speaking parts, that the show ultimately became too expensive to sustain. It was this factor more than any significant decline in ratings that led to the show's demise in 1959. The show was nominated for
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s for both Comedy Writing and Best Series in all four of its seasons, winning both awards in 1956, 1957, and 1958. The series received nine other nominations during its run, with Silvers winning one individual Emmy for his performance and Nat Hiken winning one for direction. As Silvers later recalled, "We went out at our height."
Guest stars included
Alan Alda
Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...
,
Bea Arthur
Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress, comedienne and singer. She began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving worldwide recognition for her work o ...
,
Orson Bean
Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor and comedian. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small theater scene." He ...
,
Peggy Cass
Mary Margaret "Peggy" Cass (May 21, 1924 – March 8, 1999) was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.
As an actress, Cass is best known for originating the role of Agnes Gooch in the 1956 stage and 1958 film ver ...
,
Dick Cavett
Richard Alva Cavett (; born November 19, 1936) is an American television personality and former talk show host. He appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States from the 1960s through the 2000s.
In later years, Cave ...
,
Arthur Duncan
Arthur Chester Duncan (September 25, 1925 – January 4, 2023) was an American tap dancer, also called an "Entertainer's Entertainer,"“About the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame: Biographies,” American Tap Dance Foundation, accessed Apr ...
,
Constance Ford
Constance Ford (born Cornelia M. Ford; July 1, 1923 – February 26, 1993) was an American actress and Model (person), model. She portrayed Ada Lucas Hobson on the long-running daytime soap opera ''Another World (TV series), Another World'', f ...
,
Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming (born Edward Heddy Jr.; July 4, 1925 – September 28, 1966) was an American actor known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long-running CBS Western television series ''Rawhide''.
Early life
Fleming was born as Edward Hed ...
,
Dodie Goodman,
Fred Gwynne
Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was an American actor, artist and author, who is widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms '' Car 54, Where Are You?'' (as Francis Muldoon) and '' The Munsters'' (as Herm ...
,
Bob Hastings
Robert Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on ''McHale's Navy'' and voicing Jim Gordon (character), Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Un ...
,
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and game-show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well know ...
,
Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer; August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate Business magnate, mogul. ...
,
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon Poston (October 17, 1921 – April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played ...
,
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American character actress and singer whose career spanned sixty-six years.
Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and its spin-o ...
,
Paul Reed,
Darryl Richard,
Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer and actor. He has directed several Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated films including ''The Fox (1967 film), The Fox'' (1967), ''The Reivers (film) ...
,
Suzanne Storrs
Suzanne Storrs (April 13, 1934 – January 25, 1995), born Suzanne Storrs Poulton and later known by her married name Suzanne Pincus, was a former Miss Utah and an American television actress, who appeared in 16 television series between 1954 a ...
and
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. Dick Van Dyke on screen and stage, His work spans screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Dick Van Dyke, his awards includ ...
, then near the beginning of their careers. Later episodes used a wealth of veteran Hollywood character actors, including
Harold Huber
Harold Huber (born Harold Joseph Huberman, December 5, 1909September 29, 1959) was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television.
Early life
Huber was born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Imperial Russia, who had arrived in ...
,
Margaret Hamilton,
Marjorie Gateson
Marjorie Augusta Gateson (January 17, 1891 – April 17, 1977) was an American stage and film actress.
Biography
Gateson was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Augusta and Daniel Gateson. Her maternal grandfather and brother were clergymen; Some s ...
,
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom '' Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967).
Early life and career
Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, ...
and
Frank Albertson
Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as '' It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and '' Psycho'' (1960).
Early life
Albertson was a native of Fergus Fall ...
.
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supp ...
was the show's
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
technical adviser
In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the film director, director on the convincing portrayal of a subject. The advisor's expertise adds realism both to the acting and to the setting of a movie.
Nipo T. Strongheart was a n ...
; he had roles as a military policeman in several episodes.
Finale
In the
series finale
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...
, "Weekend Colonel", Bilko discovers a short-order cook named Charlie Clusterman who is the exact double of Colonel Hall. Bilko hires the cook to impersonate the colonel, so he can cheat the other officers in a bogus charity effort. The real Colonel Hall learns of the scam, and Bilko, Henshaw, and Barbella end up being locked in the guardhouse. As Colonel Hall looks at his prisoners on a newly installed
closed-circuit TV system, he quips: "It's a wonderful show, and as long as I'm the sponsor, it will never be cancelled." The camera cuts to Bilko and his henchmen finally behind bars. Bilko waves to the camera and says, "
Th-th-that's all, folks!"
Episodes
Aftermath
Following the show's cancellation,
CBS shortsightedly sold the rights to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
: the rival network immediately aired reruns five days a week to great financial returns. Some of the show's other actors were recruited by "Bilko" producer Edward J. Montagne to appear in Nat Hiken's follow-up sitcom ''
Car 54, Where Are You?
''Car 54, Where Are You?'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City Po ...
'' and in ''
McHale's Navy
''McHale's Navy'' is an American sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. The series was filmed i ...
''.
Silvers was able to parody, or play off, his enduring Bilko persona for the rest of his career. In 1963–1964, he starred in ''
The New Phil Silvers Show
''The New Phil Silvers Show'' is an American sitcom television series starring Phil Silvers which centers around a factory foreman who is always involved in get-rich-quick schemes. Original episodes aired from September 28, 1963, until April 25, 1 ...
'', which attempted to transplant his mercenary character to a factory setting, but the result proved unpopular. Silvers frequently guest-starred on ''
The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...
'' as a character called Honest John. He also played unscrupulous Broadway producer Harold Hecuba on an episode of ''
Gilligan's Island
''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...
'', stealing the castaways' concept for a musical version of ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''. In an episode of ''
The Lucy Show
''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...
'', Silvers was a demanding efficiency expert; at one point, Lucy's boss Mr. Mooney (
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J ...
), remarks that Silvers reminds him of a sergeant he used to know. Silvers also portrayed greedy connivers in various movies, such as ''
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...
'' (1963), in which Paul Ford had a supporting role as a colonel, though they shared no scenes, and ''
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.
Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specif ...
'' (1966). The British film ''
Follow That Camel'' (1967) cast him as a scheming sergeant, this time in the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...
.
The original ''You'll Never Get Rich'' program, which was filmed in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
, was widely rerun into the 1970s. The increasing prevalence of
color television
Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...
rendered it and many similar programs less marketable than they had been previously. The series reemerged in the late 1980s on the fledgling cable channel
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
, then again on
Nick at Nite
Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...
for a short time during the 1990s (serving as charter programming for
TV Land
TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...
in 1996), and
MeTV
MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...
. In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
the show enjoyed intermittent showings for many years, finally being broadcast on the
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
channel in 2004. Currently, it can be seen on
Decades TV (a network broadcast on secondary television channels in many markets, and a sister channel to Me-TV, with
CBS Television Stations
CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of United States, American television stations along with CBS News. , the division owns 28 stations: 15 are the core stati ...
owning the network with the owner of Me-TV,
Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown, Chicago, Greektown neighborhood. It cur ...
).
Legacy
The Bilko persona was borrowed by the
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
animation studio for its television cartoon series ''
Top Cat
''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season ...
'', which drew on elements from ''The Phil Silvers Show''.
Maurice Gosfield from the original platoon voiced
Benny the Ball
''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1 ...
. ''
Hokey Wolf
''Hokey Wolf'' is one of the three segments of ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, this show details the adventures of Hokey Wolf, a con-artist wolf who is always trying to cheat his way into the simple life. H ...
'' was another Hanna-Barbera production that borrowed heavily from ''The Phil Silvers Show''. The episode of ''
The Flintstones
''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...
'' that introduced
Dino Dino may refer to:
Prefix
* dino-, a common prefix in taxonomy, meaning "terrible", "formidable"
**Dinosaur
** Dinosaurus
People
* Dino (given name), a masculine given name and a nickname
* Dino (surname), a surname found in Albania and Turkey
...
gave the pet dinosaur a Sgt. Bilko-styled voice and character. After this atypical debut, Dino never spoke again. Another episode recruited
Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...
and
Barney Rubble
Barney Rubble is a fictional character who appears in the television animated series ''The Flintstones''. He is the diminutive, blond-haired caveman husband of Betty Rubble and adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. His best friend is his next ...
into the army, where they were conned by an unnamed Bilko-like character into becoming astronaut test pilots.
The film ''
The Manchurian Candidate
''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a communist conspiracy. T ...
'' (1962) used the names of several people associated with ''Sgt Bilko'' for the members of a Korean War patrol – Cpl Allan Melvin, Pvt Silvers, Pvt Hiken, and Pvt Lembeck. The characters also appear in the novel ''
The Manchurian Candidate
''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a communist conspiracy. T ...
'', which has been plagued with multiple assertions of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
.
In 1987, a British tourist visited
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
wearing a Phil Silvers "Sgt Bilko" T-shirt. Chinese soldiers attempted to rip it off her because they thought the picture was the
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
.
Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...
, creator and star of ''
Curb Your Enthusiasm
''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...
'', has called ''The Phil Silvers Show'' his favorite television show.
From June 1957 to April 1960,
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
published a Sergeant Bilko
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
which lasted 18 issues and a Sergeant Bilko's Private Doberman series that lasted 11 issues. Most of the covers and inside artwork were by
Bob Oksner
Bob Oksner (October 14, 1916 – February 18, 2007) was an Americans, American comics artist known for both adventure comic strips and for superhero and humor comic books, primarily at DC Comics.
Biography
Oksner's early work includes creatin ...
.
Broadcast history
* September 1955-October 1955 – Tuesdays at 8:30-9:00 pm on CBS
* November 1955-January 1958 – Tuesdays at 8:00-8:30 pm on CBS
* February 1958-September 1959 – Fridays at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS
Reception
Broadcast ratings
Primetime Emmy Award nominations and wins
1955 (presented March 17, 1956)
* Best Comedy Series – Won
* Best Actor (Continuing Performance): Phil Silvers – Won
* Best Comedy Writing: Nat Hiken, Barry Blitzer, Arnold Auerbach, Harvey Orkin, Vincent Bogert, Arnold Rosen, Coleman Jacoby, Tony Webster and Terry Ryan – Won
* Best Producer (Film Series): Nat Hiken – Nominated (Winner:
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
, ''Disneyland'')
* Best Director (Film Series) Nat Hiken – Won
1956 (presented March 16, 1957)
* Best Series (Half Hour or Less) – Won
* Best Continuing Performance by a Comedian in a Series: Phil Silvers – Nominated (Winner:
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...
, ''
Caesar's Hour
''Caesar's Hour'' is a live, hour-long American sketch-comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair, and Milt Kamen ...
'')
* Best Supporting Performance by an Actor: Paul Ford – Nominated (Winner:
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the List of awards and nominations received by Carl Reiner, recipient of many awards and ...
, ''Caesar's Hour'')
* Best Comedy Writing (Variety or Situation Comedy): Nat Hiken,
Billy Friedberg
William Friedberg (April 22, 1915 - April 7, 1965) was an American producer and screenwriter.
Friedberg started his career in 1950 writing for ''All Star Revue''. In 1951 he appeared in the broadway play ''Two on the Aisle''. He also wrote an ...
, Tony Webster, Leonard Stern, Arnold Rosen and Coleman Jacoby – Won
1957 (presented April 15, 1958)
* Best Comedy Series – Won
* Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Phil Silvers – Nominated (Winner:
Robert Young, ''
Father Knows Best
''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young (actor), Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray (actor), Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six ...
'')
* Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Paul Ford – Nominated (Winner: Carl Reiner, ''Caesar's Hour'')
* Best Comedy Writing: Nat Hiken, Billy Friedberg, Phil Sharp, Terry Ryan, Coleman Jacoby, Arnold Rosen, Sydney Zelinka, A.J. Russell and Tony Webster – Won
1958–1959 (presented May 6, 1959)
* Best Comedy Series – Nominated (Winner: ''
The Jack Benny Show
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 and 19 ...
'')
* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series: Phil Silvers – Nominated (Winner:
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
, ''The Jack Benny Show'')
* Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series: Maurice Gosfield – Nominated (Winner:
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon Poston (October 17, 1921 – April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played ...
, ''
The Steve Allen Show
''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, '')
* Best Writing of a Single Program of a Comedy Series: Billy Friedberg, Arnie Rosen and Coleman Jacoby for "Bilko's Vampire" - Nominated (Winner: Sam Perrin, George Balzer, Hal Goldman and Al Gordon for ''The Jack Benny Show'': "Jack Benny Show with Ernie Kovacs")
UK broadcasts
The series was shown weekly on
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
during its original run from 20 April 1957 onwards, in varying timeslots, with the final first-run episode "Weekend Colonel" airing on 15 January 1961.
The series returned in repeats on BBC Television (later
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
) from June 1961 to March 1967, after which it was absent from the screen until April 1973, when it returned in a late-night timeslot (although listed in ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' as ''Sergeant Bilko''/''Bilko''), becoming a staple of BBC1's post-11pm late-night schedule throughout the 1970s and 1980s, usually appearing immediately prior to the channel's signoff (before BBC One, as the channel was now rendered, became a 24-hour broadcaster in November 1997). The series was moved to an early evening timeslot on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
, beginning a repeat run of all four seasons in broadcast order from 7 November 1984. This repeat run continued through to 22 November 1991, at which point the BBC had aired all available episodes. Episodes continued to be shown, although no longer in their original broadcast order, from 1993 to 2004, with the BBC's last broadcast episode, "Bilko and the Flying Saucers", appearing on 5 November 2004.
The UK publication ''Radio Times Guide to Comedy'' ranked ''The Phil Silvers Show'' as its top TV sitcom in 2003.
Phil Silvers as Sergeant Bilko appeared on the B.B.C's
Tommy Trinder
Thomas Edward Trinder (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by Cultural history, cultural historian Matthew Sweet (writer), Matthew Sweet as "a cocky ...
series ''The Trinder Box'' during June 1959. The ''Radio Times'' of 12 June 1959 had a full cover photo of Phil Silvers as Bilko.
Home media
In May 2006,
CBS DVD released a 50th anniversary collection entitled ''The Phil Silvers Show: 50th Anniversary Edition''. The three-disc set features 18 episodes from the series.
On July 27, 2010,
CBS DVD (distributed by
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS.
**Paramount Picture ...
) released the first season of ''The Phil Silvers Show'' on DVD in Region 1 format. A region 2 release followed on September 6 of the same year.
On August 5, 2014, it was announced that
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...
had acquired the rights to the series in Region 1 and would release ''Sgt. Bilko -The Phil Silvers Show: The Complete Series'' on November 4, 2014.
In 2015, they began releasing individual season sets, season 2 was released on April 28, 2015 followed by season 3 on August 4, 2015. The fourth and final season was released on November 17, 2015.
In Region 2, Mediumrare Entertainment has acquired the rights in the UK and released ''Sgt. Bilko – The Phil Silvers Show: - Complete Collection'' on DVD on September 22, 2014.
In other media
Film
''The Phil Silvers Show'' was the basis of a critically and commercially unsuccessful movie, ''
Sgt. Bilko'' (1996), starring
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...
as Bilko,
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.
Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...
as Colonel Hall,
Max Casella as Paparelli, and Eric Edwards as Doberman, with Phil Silvers' daughter, Cathy Silvers, at Lt. Monday. The plot centers around an investigation into wrongdoings in Fort Baxter by Major Thorn (played by
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American comedian, actor, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, and his family moved to the United States when he w ...
), an old rival of Bilko's, who will stop at nothing to get the better of Bilko.
References
External links
*
The Phil Silvers Showat the
Museum of Broadcast Communications
The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum that showcases historic and contemporary radio and television content. It is headquartered in Chicago.
Museum locations (1987–present)
The Museum of Broadcast Communications wa ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phil Silvers Show, The
1950s American sitcoms
1955 American television series debuts
1959 American television series endings
Black-and-white American television shows
American English-language television shows
Military comedy television series
Jewish comedy and humor
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series winners
Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows filmed in New York City
Television shows set in California
Television shows set in Kansas
Television series about the United States Army
CBS sitcoms