Three to Get Ready

"Three to Get Ready" was originally on from 7:30 am to 9 am, Monday thru Friday. Eventually, it expanded to two full hours starting at 7 am. The show premiered on November 27, 1950 and is reported to have been the very first early morning wake-up television show anywhere in the country. The show was a combination of news, music, and weather. It was very ad lib by the host, comic-genius Ernie Kovacs. Ernie would show up only about ten minutes before air time and was known for doing all kinds of stuff live on Walnut Street in Center City Philadelphia. One problem. They just couldn't get a mike easily out on the street so the talent would hold up cards with dialogue printed on them. It was like a silent movie. Each show would end with the phrase "It's Been Real" superimposed over some weird shot.

One gimmick that Ernie had on this show was "The Early Eyeball Fraternal & Marching Society," or the E.E.F.M.S. The "organization" had a membership card. The password for the club was "It's Been Real." Members had numbers. EEFM-1 was Ernie Kovacs. The flip of the membership card said:

1. An EEFM is A) male or a female; B) or interested in either political party 2. An EEFM never sleeps later than 8:03 A) Unless he or she is deathly ill, B) Unless he or she is deathly...er...dead, that is unless the EEFM is sleepy 3. An EEFM makes less that $987,648,001.23 per annum. (Slightly higher in the South and South West) 4. An EEFM may not raise ostriches or parsley without written permission of EEFM-1.

On "Three to Get Ready," Ernie had a character called "Uncle Gruesome." Ernie played the role. He wore a black cape, a wig and fake fangs. He would use this same character on his later CBS show, "Kovacs Unlimited." Just like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck had three nephews, so did Uncle Gruesome. They were Loathsome, Cumbersome and Unwholesome.

Percy Dovetonsils, a character portrayed by Kovacs on this show, had his glasses purchased at a Philadelphia novelty store for ten cents. The character was based on real-life poet, Ted Malone.

One morning Ernie mentioned on the air that they had only $15 for props per week. Half kidding he quipped, "if you have anything around the house, you don't want send it to Channel 3." The lobby by day's end was filled with items including a life sized doll that Kovacs called "Gertrude." She became a regular on the show.