“Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery” was written by Charles Caleb Cotton in 1820. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” is a quotation that has been credited to radio comedian Fred Allen (1894-1956). “Imitation is becoming the sincerest form of television” was printed in Walter Winchell’s syndicated newspaper column in 1954.
 
“Imitation is the sincerest form of television” was credited to Fred Allen in 1961 by Erskine Johnson, a syndicated Hollywood reporter. “Television is the sincerest form of imitation” is sometimes given as the quotation.
 
   
Wikiquote: Fred Allen
Fred Allen (31 May 1894 – 17 March 1956), born John Florence Sullivan, was an American comedian and radio host.
 
Sourced
Imitation is the sincerest form of television.
. Attributed in Newsweek, 14 January 1980
 
15 December 1954, The Phaos-Tribune (Logansport, IN), “Broadway and Elsewhere” by Walter Winchell, pg. 4, col. 7:
Imitation is becoming the sincerest form of television.
 
26 December 1957, Salina (KS) Journal, “TV Key Mailbag,” pg. 7, col. 5:
In television, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The success of a few good westerns has led to a flood of cowboy yarns.
 
20 September 1961. The Bakersfield Californian (Bakersfield, CA), “‘Ben Hur’ Put New Roar in MGM’s Leo” by Erskine Johnson (NEA), pg. 37, col. 3:
The late Fred Allen’s words, which have returned to haunt this year’s crop of television shows:
 
“Imitation is the sincerest form of television.”
 
Google News Archive
8 July 1962, Lakeland (FL) Ledger, “Hollywood Notes,” pg. 4-A, col. 1:
HOLLYWOOD (NEA)—To quote again the late Fred Allen:
 
“Television is the sincerest form of imitation.”
 
Google Books
1,911 Best Things Anybody Ever Said
By Robert Byrne
New York, NY: Fawcett, Columbine
1988
Pg. 359:
435
Imitation is the sincerest form of television.
Fred Allen (1894-1956)
 
Google Books
Terminal Identity:
The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction
By Scott Bukatman
Durham, NC: Duke University Press
1993
Pg. ?:
Television is the sincerest form of imitation.— Fred Allen
 
CBC Books
The hixsploitation of Honey Boo Boo
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
(...)
“Television is the sincerest form of imitation, as they say, and so a show that does well is going to spawn a lot of imitators,” Eric Deggans, a culture and TV critic for the Tampa Bay Times, told CBC’s Day 6.