Speaking of guys who invented TV comedy in the fifties: Whatever Steve Allen didn't do, Ernie Kovacs probably did. There's a new boxed set out of Kovacs rarities and while I haven't received mine yet, I want it and I can't believe you won't. It's called The Ernie Kovacs Collection and it's six DVDs containing over fifteen hours of Ernie. How could that not be worth fifty bucks? I like the fact that while it does contain his famous half-hour silent show, it seems to have a lot of material where he was on camera and actually talking. I'm of the opinion that way too much emphasis has sometimes been placed on Kovacs as a visual comedian, doing things that he wasn't even in like props coming to life or surreal shots of paintings on the wall. All well and good…but I've always found him funny.
Now, I'm going to give you a link to order but don't click until you read all the way through. You can order from Amazon and get the 6-DVD set by clicking here. There's also a bonus seventh DVD that you get only when you order direct from the issuers of this set, Shout Factory. You'll probably want to do this since it contains whatever has survived (two episodes) from the brief period when Kovacs hosted The Tonight Show, plus there are other goodies.
In terms of the basic price, it's only five bucks more to order from Shout Factory but Amazon has free shipping for an item of that price, whereas Shout Factory will ding you for at least six and a half bucks for postage and handling. So it's more like eleven and a half bucks to get it with the bonus disc. Still sounds to me like it's worth it. (By way of Full Disclosure: This site receives a small commission when you order from Amazon through our links but not from Shout Factory.)
Anyway, here's the link to order from Shout Factory. I did.