SID CAESAR: Midnight Snack [THE HICKENLOOPERS] (YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS - VERY rare sketch)

[@RSEFX]

I think it'd be nice to see a posting celebrating the contributions of Howie Morris, who always seems pushed to the back burner in all the discussions about Sid and gang. Maybe some kind of edit of "best" or "most extreme" bits and some kind of acknowledgement of how committed he was---physically as well as timing etc---to what was required of him. Everyone knows about the fantastic Reiner and Coca, but I think it's time "the little guy" gets to have a "little light" shine on him. ;-) Thanks!

[@ramongonzalez2112]

These two are funny before they even open their mouths.👍Brilliant.😃

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Thanks for posting. I find his later shows even better.

[@famousoriginal7971]

Sid’s got some real Tony Soprano energy.

[@gailjarvis2592]

I'm gonna try one of those cornflake sandwiches.

[@firefly1933]

'Love the "little matters really matter" vibe of "The Hickenloopers" and this sketch in particular. (Decades later, SEINFELD mined the same territory unabashedly.) Sid and Imogene play off each other so wonderfully--him going broad while she plays it calm. I am surprised that, with the overwhelming success of I LOVE LUCY, a show that pioneered its mix of personality and domestic comedy, NBC didn't pushed for a Hickenloopers series. Perhaps what worked in short sketches might have strained over a series of weekly half-hours and maybe neither performer wished to be pigeonholed, but I still wonder if it was ever seriously considered. Now, excuse me, but the cheese in my oven is calling...

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

Just so long as it isn't Limhoffer :) Totally agree with the "little things matter" take--you took the words right off the page I was writing. The quotidian was made hilarious, and "small" things escalated into arias of argument (just as they do in real life--although few real life couples argued as well). I've never heard of any push for a Hickenlooper series, which doesn't mean there wasn't one. But I think you're right: I doubt either Sid or Imogene, especially Sid, would have wanted to do the same kind of sketch repeatedly, given their talents for a range of things. Incidentally, when Imogene got a show of her own, it turned into a sitcom, which lasted only one season. As a measure of its desperation, the show got Hal March to be a kind of Sid stand-in! Thanks for your comment! --kjh

[@daniellack3559]

Just a guess, but the appearance of this kinescope seems to suggest it might have been from the first season of YSOS...I would imagine some serious research might reveal when The Hickenloopers sketches first appeared...this sure looks like one of the very early shows

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

Actually, the poor quality of the kinescope is misleading. This is probably from '52 or so. Sid was a lot heavier in 50-51. I have a lot more dates now that I've got to attach to many of these videos--just have to sit down and make a list! I *can* tell you, however, that the Hickenloopers did make their appearance in 1950. And if you thought some of the later sketches were edgy, you should see some of the earliest! --kjh

[@daniellack3559]

Sid Caesar: Your Show of Shows / Caesar's Hour / Admiral Broadway Revue k kjh...Thanks...in watching a legends interview with Lucille Kallen, she seemed to confirm that the Hickenloopers didn't start till YSOS in '50 and was not on Admiral...Because Lucille did not go on to superstardom like Mel and Doc Simon and Larry Gelbart etc, I fear she is not well known enuf except for Sid fanatics...but from my reading, both Lucille and the wonderful Mel Tolkin really carried the burden in the earliest days until they got some help from Mel Brooks first, then the others came on board ...but people talk about Woody Allen, and the knowledgable fans know Woody was only around briefly towards the very end and only for several Sid specials, nothing at all to do with Admiral, YSOS or Caesars Hour...

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

You're absolutely right about Kallen and Tolkin. Their association with Max Liebman went way back, and they were the workhorses of not only the ABR, but YSOS as well. Mel didn't do all that much in the beginning, because Max couldn't stand him. He got his position basically through his friendship with Sid, who even supplemented his salary in the first year from his own pocket. It's interesting that Kallen and Brooks did not get along, at all! Yeah, the Woody Allen thing always bugs me, too. OTOH, lots of people think Larry Gelbart wrote for YSOS, while he didn't come on board the writing staff until Caesar's Hour. --kjh

[@daniellack3559]

Sid Caesar: Your Show of Shows / Caesar's Hour / Admiral Broadway Revue I did not realize that Max disliked Mel...Sid must have been quite a loyal guy..btw..finally researched the Imogene Coca Show...what a mess it turned out to be for its one and only season..started as a sit-com, switched after 3 episodes to variety, and switched back yet again to sit-com towards the end...what a disservice to Imogene...a question: Was YSOS starting to run out of gas (ratings down etc) towards the end of the run, and is that why Max decided to shake things up and split Coca off on her own and go in a slightly different direction with C/H...or was it a greedy move to increase revenues...and in fact YSOS could have continued on relatively successfully for several more seasons ..Thanks..

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

Ratings were down from what they had been, but they certainly weren't in the basement--and some of the classic YSOS sketches came from that last year. There are many different explanations of why it ended: NBC greed, Imogene's agent wanting her to have her own show, etc., etc. I have a letter from a TV writer to Max Liebman and his response that I haven't really had a chance to look in detail. I hope to get Max's take on things from it. Stay tuned. --kjh