RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Although I was too young to have seen these shows live the poor video quality re-runs on PBS give one a taste for a program that was excellent by live television standards. Wish I could have seen it live or someone would have had the good sense to film the shows.

Excellent and funny program. Caesar and Coca were great. Skits were incredibly witty. I liked Caesar's Hour best which came out of that.

Silly, senseless, foolish.

Live to air sketch comedy that was pretty good, pretty consistently. While it was very good, and had the better staying power, my personal preference for this kind of series was The Ernie Kovacs Show which, although a little inconsistent was uproariously funny at its best.

This is where the major conventions of TV sketch comedy were codified and developed, and executed with a panache that was well ahead of its time. SNL, Second City TV and MadTV all owe a debt to this predecessor, and the TV sitcom also derives from this early model. Of course, much of the material seems dated now, and the performances are over the top when viewed from a contemporary perspective, but some of it is genuinely funny, and as such, has aged well. Sid Caesar is one of the great comic geniuses of the 20th century, a pure natural. Well supported by Coca, Reiner and the inimitable Howard Morris, and fueled by a stable of great writers.

This show established a standard of excellence for live broadcasting that was never surpassed.

This was one of the first shows I ever saw on TV. It was incredibly funny and they are just starting to show some of the old episodes on TVLand. Sid Caesar was amazing and I also loved "Caesar's Hour." After Imogene left, he hooked up with Nanette Fabray who was brilliant too.

Caesar, Coca, and company did 90 minutes of superior sketch comedy, broadcast live every week.

There is no contemporary equivalent to the comedic genius of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.

The standard of excellence against which all other variety/comedy shows were measured in the early & mid-50s.

This 90-minute show was at the pinacle of the "golden age of television" - starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris.

This was a great comedy program starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. They performed excellent, hilarious skits and did all kinds of funny "live" schtick. When this show ended, it became "Caesar's Hour" which in my opinion was even better.