Michael Palin pays tribute to comedy giant Phil Silvers, whose sizeable contributions to burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and Hollywood are eclipsed only by the TV classic The Phil Silvers Show (aka You'll Never Get Rich or Bilko). The frantically funny US army programme, which enjoyed respectable-only audience ratings but which won numerous Emmy awards during its four-year mid-50s run, is often cited as television's quintessential situation comedy. Contributors include Alan Ayckbourn, Betsy Blair, Angela Douglas, Herbert Kretzmer and Thelma Ruby, plus archive interviews with Phil Silvers, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and many others. Silvers died in November 1985, aged 74.
Producer Roy Oakshott