Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, to celebrate the release of my first book, Great American Sitcoms of the 1950s, which you can purchase here (or on Amazon here), I’ve got another fifties rerun. As usual, I’ve provided a link to a piece that I first published many seasons ago, followed by a bit of updated commentary with current relevance.
Today, let’s revisit… The Ten Best THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW Episodes of Season One: https://jacksonupperco.com/2020/02/25/the-ten-best-the-phil-silvers-show-episodes-of-season-one/
The Phil Silvers Show is one of the most important sitcoms of the 1950s in terms of influencing the genre’s trajectory, as creator Nat Hiken’s comedic and narrative sensibilities would come to inspire so many great shows in the decades thereafter (like the works of Larry David — Hiken’s closest analog in the present day), creating the first primo example of what I call an idea-driven situation comedy — the aesthetic rival to the more character-driven school of sitcommery represented best in the 1950s by I Love Lucy. Indeed, one of my favorite chapters from my new book is the eighth (covering the 1955-1956 season for sitcoms), in which I introduce my thesis about the difference between character-driven vs. idea-driven perspectives, using Lucy and Phil Silvers (plus The Honeymooners) as the primary ambassadors to compare and contrast these two competing understandings of the sitcom, both existing alongside each other since the 1950s and consequently mixed and mingled ever since. Now, I first wrote about this here in 2020 ahead of my Phil Silvers lists — I consider that essay to be foundational to my work in the book — but I’ve refined and updated my thoughts, having seen more shows and gotten more time to reflect. So, you don’t want to miss it… Additionally, you’ll also find in my book updated picks for The Phil Silvers Show’s best half hours, and — spoiler alert — I can tell you now that it’s the series with the second-most entries on my “Top 50 Sitcom Episodes of the 1950s” list, behind only I Love Lucy (which not only ran longer but is, simply, the decade’s most foundational sample — the first great sitcom on television, period). In fact, Phil Silvers’ first season is its most gem-laden, with Nat Hiken’s personal ethos best on display — a dynamite season of a dynamite show, and a seminal collection not just for the 1950s, but for the entire sitcom genre. Fittingly, Phil Silvers even makes the cover of my book — his show is a staple of the decade, and celebrating it here, in my first officially published study of TV sitcoms, has only enhanced my appreciation.
Come back next week for another 1950s rerun! And buy my book if you haven’t already!