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Fall In!! We'd love to hear your comments and thoughts on this tribute to Phil Silvers. Please feel free to leave a message. All you have to do is click the 'Add Comment' tab (above right)! It's that easy!

 

 
Have been watching Bilko since the age of 11, over 30 years. Have seen almost every episode. Its great to see such a website paying tribute to just the most fantastic show. Look forward to looking at more updates.

Thank you so much Matt for your comments. We also take great pride in helping promote/perpetuate Phil's amazing legacy by featuring his outstanding body of work, something Phil was fiercely proud of!
Love Bilko for years since I was sixteen Joined the BPSAS years ago still got all the mags and still collect memorabillia concerned with Sgt Bilko and Phil. Got quite a bit of stuff...
To Phil Silvers,
I thought you were a great actor. You did a great job as Sgt. Bilko on the series You'll never get rich. I wish that you were still alive to make me laugh all over again. My thoughts and prayers go out tou your family. Lisa Weiner
They're showing Sgt. Bilko over here in the US on ME-TV. I'd forgotten how funny the old Sarge was. Great to see this classic show again. Love the website....
Your website is a wonderful resource for all Phil Silvers fans - thanks very much!
Hey, nice job on a cool site!
Having been a lifelong fan of the great Mr. Silvers I would like to offer my thanks to everyone involved with this wonderful website.
My favourite Bilko show is the one where he convinces Ritzik he's a vampire. Pure genius....I once read that Joe E Ross was a nightmare to work with yet he comes across as a great performer to me!

Have to agree with you Mark - Joe E Ross created two of comedy's greatest characters in Rupert Ritzik and Gunther Toody!
what a great site got all bilkos on dvd just love them
Thanks Mick for keeping Phil's light burning bright. 'Bilko' is still as funny today as it was when first made. Shame they never made a movie. Regards, Joe.

Thanks Joe. And a shame they did make that movie in 1996! We're sure Steve Martin agrees!
I love your website..this is a wonderful tribute to one of tv comedy's funnest and most
beloved characters.

I grew up watching"Sgt.Ernie Bilko"in NYC back in the late 1950's..when the shows
were rerunned on WNBC TV Ch.4 in NYC.

Phil was a connving character..but he also had a heart of gold..which made it
possible for everyone to accept his skullduggery.

We can't thank you enough for your wonderful comments Kevin - Mick and Steve!
New to the web and just found your site. Excellent work - marvellous tribute to Phil Silvers.
Great website, keep up the fantastic work!
Phil truly deserves this fitting tribute!
Stunning tribute to Mr.Silvers! Kudos!!
Great site! Well done. I plan to be a frequent visitor!
Superb site....full of great info and interviews on Phil and thee gang. Great stuff..
Dear all, this website is a delight. Not only a lot on Master Sargent Bilko, but a ton of interesting info/ anecdotes about his fellow comedians. The time, care and love that has clearly gone into this website has paid great dividends. Very well done and I hope this website gets the wide audience it so clearly deserves. Regards, risgby.
I was looking through some old videos yesterday and found episodes of Phil's (Bilko) I've had for 20+ years, even though I had watched them a few months ago I started watching them again, I laughed just as much as before. Phil is a genius and I must credit the rest of the cast of Bilko who supported him so well, its without doubt comedy brilliance, every episode is so so funny. I can't believe it's Phil's 100th Aniversary, his comedy timing seems so fresh and everlasting.

I visited your site a while back and must thank you for the incredible amount of time dedicated to create and maintain it. I don't think words can express how much I have enjoyed reading all the interesting stories and looking at the many memorable photo's of one of my comedy Hero's

Hail to the King of Comedy
Still watch these Brilliant Bilko shows and the humour never dates _ how unique is that ?
Your site brings back such great memories of the many laughs I had over the years because of Phil and the wonderful folks who worked with him.
keep up the good work mick
Brilliant site and such a compliment to Phil Silvers. The 100th anniversary had me digging out my Bilko collection. I still have the old video recorder to play them on.
Phil Silvers, an everlasting monument to comedy the whole family could enjoy together. As Bilko, his performances were just sheer class, and his constant plotting and planning in the ever-continuing struggle for supremacy over Colonel Hall was hilarious. Who'll ever forget Colonel Hall's facial expressions and near panic on the realization that Bilko's latest plan is fully in operation? Great, great memories for so many people, and of times when their whole family would be roaring with laughter. Thanks to Phil Silvers, and all those who complemented his talent so well. I'm one of countless millions who'll never forget this class act of comedy acting. Happy 100th Phil!
Happy Birthday Mr.Silvers - you gave so much laughter to people the world over.
100 today its a great honour sir!
100 years old today and the comedy genius still stand above all OTHERS!
Happy birthday Ernie... 100 today as still as funny as ever....

Ged Francis

Manchester UK
A brilliant job Steve and Mick on creating this wonderful, informative and thoroughly comprehensive tribute website on one of the greatest comic actors of the 20th century (and there have been quite a few of these legends of that era). Such supreme talent and wit of Mr Silvers deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
I enjoyed many laughs back in the 1950's watching Sgt. Bilko.
In the words of our beloved PS...."Hello Fellows!!".....Felt it was time to add my voice to the other fans here. Beautiful, informative site!

Many Thanks Richard!
Just bought my copy of Car 54 on DVD. Superb. Hiken was a genius who gave us two of the greatest shows in TV history. Having seen their solo stuff it strikes me that Hiken and Silvers brought out the best in each other. Such a shame they never re-teamed after Bilko.
Superb tribute to the legendary Phil Silvers. Brought back some wonderful memories for me.
One of a kind, leader of a crack comedy ensemble (including the writers)and decades ahead of there time we were lucky to have them
Hi from across the pond. Just to let you know Phil has a lot of fans over here. Me and a few of the guys have regular screenings of Sgt. Bilko....the greatest ever sit-com!
Great tribute to a superlative comedian. Any plans to feature Nat Hiken's other great show Car 54 Where Are You?

Thanks for your comments Archie. Yes we are currently working on a Car 54 feature. Season one of Nat's brilliant show is just about to be released on DVD.
As a new fan of Sgt Bilko and Phil Silvers I wanted to say a big thanks to everyone concerned with this site. I bought the DVD of season one and was blown away. This show is fast, furious and funny and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Keep up the stunning work!
What a Great Site, and a fantastic tribute to Phil and the people he worked with. Keep up the good work

Thank you so much for your very kind words Derick.
A phenomenal tribute to a superb comedian and actor.
Truly miss the wonderful cast of The Phil Silvers Show... Every episode was always a treat to see and left one wanting more.. I have quite a few episodes and cherish them all..
Hi. Am I the only one who recalls an alternate title sequence for some "Bilko" episodes? I am NOT referring to the pilot/audition show, but I do remember seeing several shows with the title "you'll never get rich" in the opening animation sequence. Oddly, this does not appear in the complete season one DVD set. Can anyone direct me to a link to see one of these alternate opening sequences? Cheers, CW.

Thanks for your comment Charly. We don't remember an alternative title sequence although one episode did have a slightly different musical arrangement courtesy of the late John Strauss. Can anyone else shed any light?
Just to say Phil, a million million thanks genius. I was always told I was a bit dodgy doing deals and that at school and later into adult life, but with nothing nasty etc just like Ernie, and if that is true, then you were my true mentor - who could possibly be better to learn from.
My dad always used to say the Ernie line about hooking people into playing cards - WHAT FOR MONEY YOU MEAN !!!!!! OH NO I'D NEVER DO THAT!!!!
Hi folks. A friend solved the mystery of my previous post. The uncredited actor in the 1956 episode "war games" is the late Jack Mullaney. Here is the link to his IMDB bio, where he is not yet credited for the Bilko appearance: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611955/bio Thanks to the great Phil Silvers for such a great comedy legacy. Cheers
Have been a fan since i was a kid, just found your site and think its fantastic
Signed the petiton, joined the facebook group and now want the t shirt.
Keep up the great work.
Phil silvers.....GEM
I became a Sgt. Bilko fan when I was in the RAF back in '57. Saw it in the camp TV room when it came out and it was so like the things we got up to. To this day I rate it the best TV series of all time. I've got all the episodes on DVD, and watch some now and again. My family and friends know that I am and always be a Bilko nut.
My introduction to Phil Silvers was in the film The Boatniks. I was 6 years old and on holiday in the Isle of Man with my parents. It started raining so my Dad said let's go and see that Phil Silvers' film The Boatniks. It was probably the smallest cinema I have ever been in with only about 10 people in the screening. I enjoyed the film but my Dad was in hysterics. It got quite embarrassing at times. When the film finished my Dad said 'You'll have to see Phil Silvers in Sgt Bilko. Now THAT'S really funny'. I was scared that if we watched an episode that my Dad would have a heart attack with laughter!

My Dad was right. The Phil Silvers show WAS funny and is still my favourite TV show of all time.
Hi everyone. I just completed reviewing The entire first season on DVD, the most episodes I have seen since the early 1970's. I was thrilled that the comedy is still sharp today, the "timeless" cliche is appropriate for once. Can anyone help me identify an uncredited actor in the episode "war games" ? He is one of the new recruits, he has only 2 or 3 lines in the second half of the episode. He is seen operating the walkie talkie. He has black hair and fairly prominent eyebrows. When in formation in the barracks, he is to Bilko's left. I'm convinced he became a well known, but never lead actor, in 1960's U.S. TV situation comedy shows. He may have even been in some Elvis movies as a side kick. If anyone can offer a name, or link to a bio, I would be grateful. Thanks in advance, CW
Any leads on Beatrice Pons, love to see picture of her with hitchiker taken 20rs ago, stumbled across terrific article on Joe E Ross (warts & all) King of The Slobs webpage, check it out.
Read Paul Reed bio, its short but a good read.
IHadnt picked up Phil would be getting his telegram from the Queen this year, we need to arrange a moot in the UK in May to celebrate and watch old Phil flicks, I love Carry On Camel, he was on fire in that and Seeing Ernie Bilko in the desert with the carry on cast was a blast, the look on his face when Joan Simms asks him if he thinks she has a good ass whilst walking her donkey is a sight to behold, all hail the King of the half hour comedy,up there on a par with Sid Caesar and Groucho
What a great informative site! Let's hope the recent release of the 1st season of "Bilko" gets a whole new generation hooked!