Now Out On DVD: Here's Edie - The Edie Adams Television Collection

After 50+ years, one of the great television variety shows, Here's Edie has been released today on DVD and digital formats.



First and foremost, Edie Adams was a gifted and expressive singer. If one is unaffected by Edie's performance of That's All on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. . . well, that individual doesn't have a heart and needs to be checked for vital signs immediately!



As fate would have it, Edie Adams, the star of Wonderful Town, one of the greatest musical gals of Broadway just happened to fall in love with. . . maverick comedian, raconteur, director, writer, sight gag genius and television innovator Ernie Kovacs.



Ernie and Edie ended up working on recordings and television shows together through the 1950's.





As an intrepid troupe member on The Ernie Kovacs Show, she proved herself as outstanding as a comedienne as she was as a vocalist.



To this day, nobody has topped Edie's Marilyn Monroe impersonation.



One of Edie's greatest celluloid moments was her performance in the Kovacs On Music special.





Back to the Here's Edie and Edie Adams Show series, neither show has been seen in any format since their original broadcast in the 1960's.



Musical guest stars include Andre Previn, Lauritz Melchior, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Laurindo Almeida, Spike Jones, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin, Johnny Mathis. Comedians include Bob Hope, Rowan & Martin, Soupy Sales along with her co-stars in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Buddy Hackett, Dick Shawn and Terry-Thomas.



Inevitably, there will be classic Muriel Cigars commercials throughout.



Here's a classic Muriel Cigars commercial from a few years after Here's Edie and The Edie Adams Show.



Most noteworthy of all are the performances of Edie, a remarkable performer who nails everything from standards to Broadway with warmth, sensitivity and the skill of a classically trained singer.

Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog directs an extended tip of the Fred Astaire/Jimmie Hatlo top hat to Josh Mills (Edie's son, who has worked on preserving her television legacy much as she rescued tapes of the Ernie Kovacs Shows un the 1960's) for getting Here's Edie: The Edie Adams Television Collection over the goal line. Here's the lineup:

DISC ONE
Here's Edie Pilot
Airdates: April 9, 1962, May 26, 1963 (as Special #7). Guests: Dick Shawn, André Previn

Special #1 - "New York"
Airdate: October 23, 1962.
Guests: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Peter Falk, the Claremont String Quartet

Special #2 - "London"
Airdate: December 13, 1962
Guests: Sir Michael Redgrave, the Piccadilly Buskers, the Grenadier Guards, the Third Air Force Band, and the children of London.

Special #3 - "Bossa Nova"
Airdate: January 20, 1963
Guests: Stan Getz, Laurindo Almeida, the Roger Wagner Chorale, Jerry Fielding and His Orchestra (plus cameos by Don Rickles and Cesar Romero)

*Special #4 - "Las Vegas"
Airdate: February 26, 1963
Guests: Charlie Barnet, The Eligibles, the Earl Barton Dancers, Jerry Fielding and His Orchestra, Eddie Fisher

Special #5 - "Western"
Airdate: March 16, 1963
Guests: Hoagy Carmichael, Rowan & Martin, Hank Henry, the Homer Garrett Dancers, The Eligibles, Jerry Fielding and His Orchestra.



DISC TWO
*Special #6 - "Love"
Airdate: April 19, 1963
Guests: Buddy Hackett, The United Nations Children's Choir, Jerry Fielding and His Orchestra

Special #8 - "Bob Hope"
Airdate: June 18, 1963
Guests: Bob Hope, Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra, The United Nations Children's Choir, Jerry Fielding and His Orchestra

The Edie Adams Show (after the show returned from a summer break, it was given a new title.)

Special #1
Airdate: September 26, 1963
Guests: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eddie Sauter, Stan Getz

Special #2
Airdate: October 10, 1963
Guests: Louis Nye, Maury Wills

Special #3 Airdate: October 24, 1963
Guests: Al Hirt, Nancy Wilson

EXTRAS
Sid Caesar and Edie Adams promos

Song performances from Ernie Kovacs shows:

• "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)"- Ernie in Kovacsland, July 6, 1951


• "My Funny Valentine" - Ernie in Kovacsland, August 23, 1951


• " 'S Wonderful" - Kovacs on the Corner, January 1952


• "I Feel a Song Coming On" - Kovacs Unlimited, May 28, 1952


• "Mississippi Mud" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, January 4, 1956


• Marilyn sings "Ballad of Davy Crockett" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, January 4, 1956


• "Paradise" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, January 23, 1956


• "Get Happy" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, January 26, 1956


• "A Sunday Kind of Love" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, January 30, 1956

DISC THREE
The Edie Adams Show (contd.)
Special #4
Airdate: November 7, 1963
Guests: Allan Sherman, The United Nations Children's Choir; plus regulars George Furth, Don Chastain, Peter Hanley

Special #5
Airdate: November 21, 1963 Guests: Don Chastain, John Hendricks, Lauritz Melchior, Count Basie and His Band; plus George Furth

Special #6
Airdate: December 5, 1963
Guests: Sammy Davis Jr., Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill; plus Don Chastain, Peter Hanley

Special #7
Airdate: December 19, 1963
Guests: Rowan & Martin, André Previn; plus Don Chastain, Peter Hanley

Special #8
Airdate: January 2, 1964
Guests: Pete Fountain, Cliff Norton; plus Don Chastain, Peter Hanley

EXTRAS
Song performances from Ernie Kovacs shows:

"Everything I Have Is Yours" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, April 12, 1956

"Dancing On The Ceiling" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, April 17, 1956

"Chicago" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, April 20, 1956

"I Could Have Danced All Night" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, April 26, 1956

"Moritat" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, May 8, 1956

"Honey Bun" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, May 17, 1956

"Summertime" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, June 12, 1956

DISC FOUR
The Edie Adams Show (contd.)
Special #9
Airdate: January 16, 1964
Guests: Terry-Thomas, Spike Jones,

Special #10
Airdate: February 6, 1964
Guest: Bobby Darin

Special #11
Airdate: February 20, 1964
Guests: Woody Herman and His Band, Jack Sheldon, Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill

Special #12
Airdate: March 5, 1964
Guests: John Raitt, Louis Nye, Charlie Byrd, Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill

Special #13
Airdate: March 18, 1964 Guests: Johnny Mathis, Soupy Sales, Alan Sues

EXTRAS

Muriel promotional film (1965)

Song performances from Ernie Kovacs shows:

• "To Keep My Love Alive" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, June 27, 1956


• "Take Me in Your Arms" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, July 24, 1956


• Medley: "Lullaby of Broadway" & "42nd Street" - The Ernie Kovacs Show, August 27, 1956