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COMIC SHOWMAN SID Caesar, a pioneer of American television sketch comedy as the star and creative force of Your Show of Shows, during the 1950s, died today aged 91, according to his friend and former collaborator, Carl Reiner.
Reiner told Reuters he learned of Caesar’s death from a mutual friend, actor and writer Rudy De Luca, who had recently been visiting with Caesar. He said the veteran entertainer had been ill for at least the past year.
While he enjoyed a lengthy, if uneven, career in TV and film spanning six decades, Caesar may be best remembered for his work with comedienne Imogene Coca on the landmark Your Show of Shows, which aired on NBC from February 1950 to June 1954.
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Pic: AP Photo
One of most ambitious and demanding of all TV enterprises, Your Show of Shows was 90 minutes of live, original sketch comedy airing every Saturday night, 39 weeks a year.
It is widely considered the prototype for every US TV sketch comedy series that followed, including Saturday Night Live.
The show and its successor series, Caesar’s Hour, became an incubator for some of the greatest comic minds in U.S. show business, with a roster of writers that included Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Reiner (who also co-starred on the show) and Larry Gelbart.
Some of Caesar’s most popular bits were built around pompous or outlandish characters – such as Professor von Votsisnehm – in which he spoke in a thick accent or mimicked foreign languages in comic but convincing gibberish.
“He was the ultimate, he was the very best sketch artist and comedian that ever existed,” Reiner said of his friend. “His ability to double talk every language known to man was impeccable.”
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, writing by Steve Gorman, editing by G Crosse)
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@scoop delivery: I’m happy. It suits me perfectly. But I know I am not the majority so I do think it needs more legislation so it’s not abused by employers but I certainly wouldn’t want it got rid of entirely.
What about those working 19 hours and getting dole to top them up. Employers are being subsidised by the taxpayer. Very common for retailers to pull this one.
Zero hour contracts are widespread in the private care companies Bluebird home instead etc. Its used by employers ruthlessly if you refuse to be called in at short notice then you will be punished over the following weeks with less hours. The Government are very happy to see this continue as they don’t have to pick up the extra hours and 3 people will be given contracts with only enough hours for 1 full time job. Heps massage the unemployment figures.
Worked on these zero hour contracts for over 3 years,The companies hire people via agencies some of these companies would be well known Irish and international firms. Working on a day to day basis can be stressful not knowing how many hours you would get for the week. One company I did work for would have me start at 5am and finish at 9am. There was no OT or shift allowance for working nights weekends etc.
These contracts are sickening. From weekly planning to getting a mortgage. Some of these contracts have evolved into minimum hour eg 30 hour contracts per month or minimum salary that is the equivalent of little hours per month.
Zero hour contracts are widespread in Ireland.
I won’t mention the airline but most pilots and cabin crew are on zero hour contracts.
Don’t work = No pay.
No pressure on a pilot then to work when he’s sick?
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