Heroes of Comedy No 6 - Phil Silvers

Despite it's age, Bilko still seems incredibly fresh. The scripts were wickedly funny, sophisticated and clever, the ensembel cast a joy to watch and it's all topped off by the truly great Phil Silvers. Until I stumbled across Bilko some years back, consigned to a graveyard slot on Channel 4 or something, Phil Silvers was really only familiar to me through one Carry On movie and 'It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'. Bilko was his greatest creation and one only has to see how badly a talented comedy actor like Steve Martin failed when he took on the role, to understand that there would only ever be one Sargeant Bilko.