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The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show, originally titled You'll Never Get Rich, was a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army. The series was created and largely written by Nat Hiken, and won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series. The show is sometimes titled Sergeant Bilko or simply Bilko in reruns, and is very often referred to by these names, both on-screen and by viewers. The show's success transformed Silvers from a journeyman comedian into a star, and writer-producer Hiken from a highly-regarded behind-the-scenes comedy writer into a publicly recognized creator.
- Created by:
- Nat Hiken
- Cast:
- Phil Silvers, Harvey Lembeck, Paul Ford, Allan Melvin
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- CBS
Episode guide
Seasons
Season 1
Episodes
E01
Episode 1
★ 7.0New Recruits
1955-09-20 · 30mDuring a poker game the other sergeant's cheat and clean Bilko out of his bankroll so he has to look around for some more money. Just when it looks like he will miss out a new squad of rookies arrive for basic training. With a new source of cash the platoon think he can get back into the game but Bilko's conscience will not let him.
Current episode
E02
Episode 2
★ 7.0The Empty Store
1955-09-27 · 30mBilko is still broke and can't find a way back into the big poker game. When the three sergeant's win again, by beating one of the new recruits, Bilko decides to get even by renting an empty store and getting the sergeant's to invest in it
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E03
Episode 3
★ 7.0The WAC
1955-10-04 · 30mA job comes up for a sergeant that has a jeep allocated Bilko applies for it only to find that he is beaten by a Sgt Joan Hogan. (1st appearance by Elisabeth Fraser As Joan Hogan)
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E04
Episode 4
★ 7.0The Horse
1955-10-11 · 30mBilko loses the platoon welfare money on a horse only to find out that it is suffering from a minor leg injury, with the last of the platoon's money he buys the horse and has to keep it on the post until it is fit to run Then a visiting general comes on a surprise visit
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E05
Episode 5
★ 8.0AWOL
1955-10-18 · 30mPvt Steve Nagy goes awol so Bilko has to go and fetch him back only to find himself caught up in the middle of a family feud
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E06
Episode 6
★ 8.0The Boxer
1955-10-25 · 30mBilko discovers that one of the platoon Claude Dillingham is a boxing champ so Bilko enters him for the interplatoon championship only to learn that Dillingham refuses to fight
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E07
Episode 7
★ 8.0The Hoodlum
1955-11-01 · 30mAfter several transfers a young tough guy is moved to the motor pool platoon and it is left to the Bilko to cut him down to size. Meanwhile Bilko is after the ' Soldier of the Month' competition. Little does he know that the tough guy will spring a surprise.
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E08
Episode 8
★ 8.0Mardi Gras
1955-11-08 · 30mWhen the platoon ask local socialite Miss Joy Landers to be their Mardi Gras queen she laughs and turns them down flat, so Bilko finds a way to change her mind.
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E09
Episode 9
★ 8.0The Eating Contest
1955-11-15 · 30mIn an eating contest between the platoons Bilko puts his money on a new member of the platoon nicknamed 'The Stomach' only to find that he can only eat when he is depressed
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E10
Episode 10
★ 7.0The Centennial
1955-11-22 · 30mBilko organises a pageant to celebrate 100 years of Camp Baxter but after some investigation finds that it does not show the camp in a very good light
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E11
Episode 11
★ 8.0Bivouac
1955-11-29 · 30mWhen maneuvers come round again the Colonel is interested in which illness Bilko has in order to miss out on the joys of marching through the countryside. In order to make him go the colonel uses reverse psychology
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E12
Episode 12
★ 8.0The Singing Contest
1955-12-06 · 30mBilko hears of a singing contest in Miami and to get away from the bitterly cold weather he enters the platoon but on hearing them sing he puts a bet on for them to lose. While he is putting on the bet a new platoon member is found to have a beautiful singing voice
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E13
Episode 13
★ 8.0The Twitch
1955-12-13 · 30mColonel Hall tells Bilko to provide an audience for a lecture on music. He finds that nobody wants to come until they learn that the lecture will be given by a friend of the Colonel's wife and they can bet on the number of ' twitches' that she will give during the lecture
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E14
Episode 14
★ 8.0The Reunion
1955-12-20 · 30mWhen Bilko meets up with his old army buddies, he thinks that they are going to be so short of money, that he is going to have to help them out , but it turns out that they have all been very successful.
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E15
Episode 15
★ 7.0The Rich Kid
1955-12-27 · 30mBilko gets an idea to buy the local bar and grill, but he is stumped for cash, until he learns that one of the platoon's new recruits, is heir to a steel fortune. So they play up to him in order to get him to invest in their scheme, but Bilko's conscience wins out in the end.
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E16
Episode 16
★ 8.0Hollywood
1956-01-03 · 30mHollywood plans a film of the ' Battle of Kabuchi' and they hire Bilko as the technical adviser, but after a couple of days he has taken over the whole production, and the film people want shot of him.
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E17
Episode 17
★ 8.0The Investigation
1956-01-10 · 30mA Congressional committee visit Fort Baxter to investigate waste and high living but Bilko has other ideas, he wants a pay rise instead
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E18
Episode 18
★ 7.0Kids In the Trailer
1956-01-17 · 30mWhile babysitting for a member of the platoon Bilko panics when he finds that he can't change the baby's nappy
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E19
Episode 19
★ 7.0The Revolutionary War
1956-01-24 · 30mBilko's aunt sends him a diary showing him that his great uncle Joshua was on the staff of George Washington so Bilko applies to become an officer but on reading the diary he discovers that Joshua was a traitor so Bilko keeps quiet and withdraws his application
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E20
Episode 20
★ 8.0The Transfer
1956-01-31 · 30mWhen the Colonel makes life difficult Bilko decides to bluff and puts in a transfer, but the Colonel calls the bluff and Bilko is on his way, but at his new camp life is to easy and Bilko hopes he can find a way to get back to Camp Baxter
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E21
Episode 21
★ 8.0The Rest Cure
1956-02-07 · 30mDuring a heat wave Bilko discovers that the army have a rest centre in the Rockies but the trick is trying to persuade the doctors and the Colonel to let him go there
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E22
Episode 22
★ 8.0Dinner at Sowici's
1956-02-14 · 30mWhen Bilko thinks that Joan is trying to trap him into marriage, he takes her to dinner at Sgt Sowici's to see how bad marriage can be, but they are in for a surprise.
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E23
Episode 23
★ 7.0Army Memoirs
1956-02-21 · 30mWhen Sgt's Pendleton,Grover, and Sowici get Bilko busted to private, he gets his own back by pretending to write a book on his army life
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E24
Episode 24
★ 7.0Miss America
1956-02-28 · 30mWhen Bilko asks for pictures of the platoons girlfriends Pvt Honnagar shows them a photo of a beautiful girl taken years ago. they think it is his girl but they have a surprise in store
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E25
Episode 25
★ 9.0The Court Martial
1956-03-06 · 30mWhen Zippo the ape is accidently inducted into the army the only way to get the army off the hook is to get Bilko as defense council and court martial the ape before anybody finds out
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E26
Episode 26
★ 7.0Furlough in New York
1956-03-13 · 30mBilko and Joan Hogan go separately to New York and keep missing each other but when they meet up again at Fort Baxter they find that they have somehow ended up with each others dog tags
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E27
Episode 27
★ 8.0The Big Uranium Strike
1956-03-20 · 30mBilko suspects that there are large deposits of uranium underneath Fort Baxter but he has to get rid of the Colonel before he can start digging
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E28
Episode 28
★ 8.0Bilko and the Beast
1956-03-27 · 30mWhen a new drill sergeant known as ' The Beast ' takes over at Fort Baxter Bilko and the platoon come up with a scheme to get rid of him
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E29
Episode 29
★ 8.0The Physical Check Up
1956-04-10 · 30mWhen Bilko tries to get out of a 20 mile hike the Colonel preempts him and allows him to miss the hike Bilko is so shocked that he thinks the Colonel might be trying to get rid of him
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E30
Episode 30
★ 8.0The Recruiting Sergeant
1956-04-17 · 30mWhen Bilko gets a tip from a jockey on a horse he persuades the Colonel to take him on a recruiting drive to Topeka so he can get to a bookie and get a bet on
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E31
Episode 31
★ 8.0Hair
1956-04-24 · 30mBilko's head is constantly being used by his barber to find a cure for baldness. The other three sergeants know this and while Bilko is asleep decide to play a trick on him, but Bilko has the last laugh
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E32
Episode 32
★ 7.0The Con Men
1956-05-01 · 30mWhen Doberman gets a $500 windfall from an insurance policy, he loses it in a poker game with three con men. Bilko gets it back by conning the con men, but then Doberman loses it again by being conned into buying the hotel from another con man
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E33
Episode 33
★ 7.0War Games
1956-05-08 · 30mBilko is asked to be best man at a friends wedding but it coincides with a war game battle between the army and the national guard
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E34
Episode 34
★ 8.0Bilko on Wall Street
1956-05-15 · 30mThinking his friend is a big man on Wall Street Bilko goes to stay but when he discovers that his friend is just a clerk, Bilko sets out to get him a better job.
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Phil Silvers
Ernest Bilko
Harvey Lembeck
Rocco Barbella
Paul Ford
John Hall
Allan Melvin
Steve Henshaw
Billy Sands
Dino Paparelli
Maurice Gosfield
Duane Doberman
Herbie Faye
Sam Fender
Terry Carter
Private 'Sugie' Sugarman