The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show
TV ShowEnded

The Phil Silvers Show

7.0 / 10
1955
4 seasons
144 episodes
Comedy

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.

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Cast

Seasons

  • New Recruits

    1.New Recruits

    7.0
    20-09-195530m

    During 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 sq...

  • The Empty Store

    2.The Empty Store

    7.0
    27-09-195530m

    Bilko 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 rentin...

  • The WAC

    3.The WAC

    7.0
    04-10-195530m

    A 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)

  • The Horse

    4.The Horse

    7.0
    11-10-195530m

    Bilko 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 ke...

  • AWOL

    5.AWOL

    8.0
    18-10-195530m

    Pvt 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

  • The Boxer

    6.The Boxer

    8.0
    25-10-195530m

    Bilko 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

  • The Hoodlum

    7.The Hoodlum

    8.0
    01-11-195530m

    After 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 Mont...

  • Mardi Gras

    8.Mardi Gras

    8.0
    08-11-195530m

    When 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.

  • The Eating Contest

    9.The Eating Contest

    8.0
    15-11-195530m

    In 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

  • The Centennial

    10.The Centennial

    7.0
    22-11-195530m

    Bilko 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

  • Bivouac

    11.Bivouac

    8.0
    29-11-195530m

    When 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 t...

  • The Singing Contest

    12.The Singing Contest

    8.0
    06-12-195530m

    Bilko 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...

  • The Twitch

    13.The Twitch

    8.0
    13-12-195530m

    Colonel 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 Colone...

  • The Reunion

    14.The Reunion

    8.0
    20-12-195530m

    When 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 al...

  • The Rich Kid

    15.The Rich Kid

    7.0
    27-12-195530m

    Bilko 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 t...

  • Hollywood

    16.Hollywood

    8.0
    03-01-195630m

    Hollywood 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 peo...

  • The Investigation

    17.The Investigation

    8.0
    10-01-195630m

    A Congressional committee visit Fort Baxter to investigate waste and high living but Bilko has other ideas, he wants a pay rise instead

  • Kids In the Trailer

    18.Kids In the Trailer

    7.0
    17-01-195630m

    While babysitting for a member of the platoon Bilko panics when he finds that he can't change the baby's nappy

  • The Revolutionary War

    19.The Revolutionary War

    7.0
    24-01-195630m

    Bilko'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 disco...

  • The Transfer

    20.The Transfer

    8.0
    31-01-195630m

    When 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 an...

  • The Rest Cure

    21.The Rest Cure

    8.0
    07-02-195630m

    During 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

  • Dinner at Sowici's

    22.Dinner at Sowici's

    8.0
    14-02-195630m

    When 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.

  • Army Memoirs

    23.Army Memoirs

    7.0
    21-02-195630m

    When 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

  • Miss America

    24.Miss America

    7.0
    28-02-195630m

    When 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...

  • The Court Martial

    25.The Court Martial

    9.0
    06-03-195630m

    When 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...

  • Furlough in New York

    26.Furlough in New York

    7.0
    13-03-195630m

    Bilko 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...

  • The Big Uranium Strike

    27.The Big Uranium Strike

    8.0
    20-03-195630m

    Bilko 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

  • Bilko and the Beast

    28.Bilko and the Beast

    8.0
    27-03-195630m

    When 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

  • The Physical Check Up

    29.The Physical Check Up

    8.0
    10-04-195630m

    When 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...

  • The Recruiting Sergeant

    30.The Recruiting Sergeant

    8.0
    17-04-195630m

    When 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

  • Hair

    31.Hair

    8.0
    24-04-195630m

    Bilko'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 Bi...

  • The Con Men

    32.The Con Men

    7.0
    01-05-195630m

    When 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 a...

  • War Games

    33.War Games

    7.0
    08-05-195630m

    Bilko 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

  • Bilko on Wall Street

    34.Bilko on Wall Street

    8.0
    15-05-195630m

    Thinking 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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