King of the Half Hour : Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy

by Everitt, David

• ISBN13: 9780815606765
• ISBN10: 0815606761
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr

Summary

Regarded by his contemporaries as one of television's premier comedy creators, Nat Hiken was the driving creative force behind the classic 1950s and 1960s series Sgt. Bilko and the hilarius Car 54, Where Are You?

King of the Half Hour, the first biography of Hiken, draws extensively on exclusive first-hand interviews with some of the well-known TV personalities who worked with him, such as Carol Burnett, Fred Gwynne, Alan King, Al Lewis, and Herbert Ross. The book focuses on Hiken's immense talent and remarkable career, from his early days in radio as Fred Allen's head writer to his multiple Emmy-winning years as writer-producer-director on television.

In addition to re-establishing Hiken's place in broadcast history, biographer, David Everitt places him in the larger story of early New York broadcasting. Hiken's career paralleled the rise and fall of television's Golden Age. He embodied the era's best qualities -- craftsmanship, a commitment to excellence and a distinctive, uproariously funny and quirky sense of humor. At the same time, his uncompromising

Author Biography

David Everitt is a free-lance writer who lives in Huntington, New York. He has also contributed to such publications as Entertainment Weekly, Television Quarterly, and the New York Times

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Milwaukee Boy	1	(10)
The Grouchmaster	11	(11)
Fred Allen Writes His Own Material	22	(22)
Not Quite Mr. Television	44	(17)
Book Shows	61	(17)
Clown Queen	78	(20)
You'll Never Get Rich	98	(26)
Burnout	124	(12)
Between Engagements	136	(14)
The Last Stand	150	(27)
Content Is Out	177	(14)
Hollywood Bound	191	(24)
Appendixes:
A. The Nat Hiken Shows	209	(4)
B. Emmy Awards Won by Nat Hiken	213	(2)
Notes	215	(18)
Bibliography	233	(6)
Index	239