King of the Half Hour: Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy (Television) [Hardcover]

David Everitt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A television pioneer is revived in David Everitt's King of the Half Hour: Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy. Formerly Fred Allen's radio writer, Hiken moved to TV in 1950 as a head writer for NBC's Four Star Revue and went on to create Sergeant Bilko and Car 54, Where Are You? Working with the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen throughout the '50s and early '60s, Hiken won eight Emmy Awards and wrote material for Milton Berle, Bette Davis, Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball. Everitt (For Reel) portrays Hiken in his New York and, later, Hollywood contexts, sketching the inception and early childhood of television.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Everitt (Film Tricks: Special Effects in the Movies and for Reel) delves into the early years of TV comedy, here writing a sensitive biography of writer-producer Nat Hiken, who died of a heart attack in 1968 as he was in the process of editing The Love of God. Hiken was the comedic genius behind television's You'll Never Get Rich with Phil Silvers and Car 54, Where Are You? He had a knack for creating hilarious situations and zany characters that had depth and feeling. He worked with the top stars of the day, even managing to turn boxer Rocky Graziano into a comedy star on The Martha Raye Show. Everitt has included anecdotes about stars Hiken wrote for and interviews with people who worked for this innovative Hollywood figure. Photos would have been a nice complement to the text. Still, this well-written biogaphy the first on Hiken nicely blends his professional career with a look at what television was like in the early years. Recommended for all libraries. Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press; 1st edition (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815606761
• ISBN-13: 978-0815606765
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,528,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "forgotton " king of comedy, October 2, 2005

By 

G. Mooney (Cambridge, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: King of the Half Hour: Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy (Television) (Hardcover)

As a child I watched Car 54 Where Are You ?, and then in later years I watched The Phil Silvers Show ( Sgt Bilko ) on the BBC - which they repeat regularly to this day. Perhaps one day they will show Car 54 again ?
It was strange to realise only recently ,that one man, Nat Hiken ,was responsible for both shows.
This excellent biography tells the story of how these shows came to be, and is a fascinating glimpse into the early days of TV. David Everitt gives great discriptions of the behind the scenes dramas, as well as analysing in an acessable way just why Hiken's work has stood the test of time.
If it is true that his work has largely been forgotton in America, then that is very sad. I notice that car 54 was released on video some years ago, and there is no authorised Bilko DVD . Shameful .
His attention to detail, and striving for perfection, created some outstanding comedy. However this was not without taking a toll on his health.
His premeture death, left us all the poorer.
I can't help but wonder what he would have made of today's sit-coms. All in all a great read .

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TV LEGEND and GREAT book!, August 23, 2003

By 

Richard J. Goldschmidt "Rick Goldschmidt" (Oak Lawn, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: King of the Half Hour: Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy (Television) (Hardcover)

THANKS so much to the Author for doing a book on one of the GREATEST people to grace the TELEVISION Screen! CAR 54, Where Are You? Is one of the BEST written and Expertly crafted TV Sitcoms to ever make it to the screen. I really feel sorry for people who have time to proof read sample pages on the internet and criticize mis-spelled words? From a GREAT book! Buy it!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Correction to Below, June 4, 2005

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The Critic - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Half Hour: Nat Hiken and the Golden Age of TV Comedy (Television) (Hardcover)

While I can sympathize with not buying a book if you believe it is sloppily written, jacket copy isn't written by the author but by some copy writer at the publishing company. It shouldn't have gone out like that (why didn't spellcheck catch it? probably it was written in the layout program and not the word processing one), but neither the author nor the editor are on the hook for this one.