ussdixonjones I've been watching this show every time it gets on TV for another go 'round and now that it's not on TV where I'm at, I'm watching it on youTube! Phil Silver's Sgt. Bilko is one of the absolute genius comic persona of a fictitious character of all time! Actually, I don't know if the director or the writers had anything to do with the way he portrays the character. But I am assuming he did all the phony smiling, and facial expressions with just the material he was given. And boy, did he translate it into an unforgettable character. Sort of like what Ed O'Neill did with Al Bundy, except Sgt. Bilko is more defined, what a genius of a character!!!

rmestl2 "Bilko" remains one of the funniest shows ever aired on TV. Other reviewers have nicely captured the essence of the show, with one exception. Bilko pokes fun at every human foible, but without malice and nastiness. The show has a respect and love for us humans, warts and all.I have to agree that the "monkey joins the Army show" is the best, but my favorite remains the episode that commences with COL Hall being passed over for promotion to Brigadier again. After he receives the notice he places a call to Washington to complain, and as he waits for his call to go through he practices a tough response to the superior officer with whom he will speak. However, when the call is finally placed all Hall can say is "COL Hall speaking, sir" in the meekest of subordinate tones.Angry at himself for his meekness Hall roars off to Washington to complain in person, and a worried Mrs. Hall and the base chaplain send Bilko after Hall to rescue him.The next scene will resonate with anyone who has served in the military. Hall arrives at the general's office (which is filled with people waiting to see the general), and a rude secretary tells Hall he will have to wait a few days to get in.Bilko arrives, sizes up the situation, and through his usual fast talking wangles a golf game for "Jack Hall, the tiger of New Guinea" with pro Jimmy Demaret and, unknown to Hall, President Eisenhower.After the game, Hall, totally beatified, enters the clubhouse, sees Bilko (who asks about his game) and can only reply: "he called me Jack." In the next scene, Hall returns to the general's office and, Ike obviously having phoned ahead, the general rushes out of his office, embraces Hall while yelling "it's Jack Hall" a the top of his lungs.Hall returns home to Ft. Baxter with his star, but then he removes it, telling his crew that accepting the star would have meant leaving the base for another, and he couldn't face leaving his team, so he remained a colonel.All this in the space of 25 minutes! Truly a wondrous show. Enjoy.

policy134 Phil Silvers was a great comedian and by that I mean his characters were for the most part snidely, largely unsympathetic characters who had very little scruples. Here are all those traits wrapped into one person, Sgt. Bilko.Forget the 90's movie version with Steve Martin. The real Bilko is Phil Silvers and to think that this show came out in the 50's is a little astonishing. 50's sitcom were mostly about families and happy families at that. Bilko is not a happy fella even though he tries very hard to be. He is a con man who worries that he will get caught every minute of the day. That was the essence of the show. Bilko comes up with a grand scheme but there are always something that comes up to prevent him getting the thing he wants the most of all: All the money in the world.What makes this show so different from other 50's sitcoms is that Bilko is not a hero and he knows it. He is not self confident and he doesn't seem to have any real friends, just the ass kissers that follow him around all the time to get in on one of his schemes.When you look at sitcoms today, they have been sliding towards the level they had with the bad ones of the 50's. Family shows with a moral. That's too bad but this one is surprisingly fresh even after so many years. Too bad that you can't find an actor who would be able to play the character. Phil Silvers is the one and only Bilko. Bravo!

frankhartry Like everyone else in those days in the 1950s, i never ever missed the weekly episode of the 'Phil Silvers Show' on television. I recently purchased the 3 disc -18 episodes- set of the 5Oth anniversary of the show, here in South Africa. It was as funny as ever. Sadly, most of that excellent cast have passed on now, but a youthful Dick Van Dyke is in one of the episodes and Alan Melvin -Corporal Henshaw- narrated throughout. It brought back so many memories and sheer joy to watch these episodes of Sgt Bilko, that i sent away to the United Kingdom via e bay, for the full 142 episodes. They have just arrived in the post. OK, some episodes are showing a little wear but overall they are going to provide me with a lot of enjoyment in the days ahead. The comedy of Phil Silvers will never age as far as i am concerned. One thing that i will never ever understand is why they canceled the show after only four seasons when it was top of the ratings. But, perhaps that is why it has remained a classic for fifty years and will continue to do so for the next fifty and more.