IJBFC Chat - December 10, 2006
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
Apologies that this is only a partial transcript due to some technical issues. Many thanks to yhtapmys who provided the capture of a significant portion of the discussion.
[Maxwell] They had the afternoon bulletins, Gildersleeve and Jack from that evening....
[Kay Lhota] Yip Yip
[yhtapmys] Greetings, Kay
[Maxwell] Hey sympathy (yhtapmys spelled backwards).
[Kay Lhota] Greetings yhtapmys
[yhtapmys] Have some soothing syrup, all.
[yhtapmys] Where's Laura?
[Kay Lhota] might do my throat some good, there
User Laura Leff has entered this room.
[Kay Lhota] Hi Laura
[yhtapmys] Well!
[Laura Leff] Hi folks...
[Maxwell] Fibber and Molly from the next night, and then Roosevelt's address to Congress and his fireside chat.
[Maxwell] Hey LL!
[Laura Leff] How's everyone doing tonight?
[Maxwell] Doon' good.
[Kay Lhota] tired and pretty good. I've missed you all.
[yhtapmys] Taking it easy after a week of Xmas parties.
[Laura Leff] I need a volunteer to do the cut-and-paste of the chat again tonight
[Maxwell] I'm hanging in there for my last 8 days of teaching before Christmas.
[Kay Lhota] I've been helping out on an independent digital tape feature.
User Barbara has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] I think I need to download an updated JRE version, but having trouble doing that
[Maxwell] Hi Barbara.
[Laura Leff] Hi Barbara!
[yhtapmys] You'll have to get that fixed,
[Barbara] Hi everyone!
[Kay Lhota] Hi Barbara
[Maxwell] I'd like to but my mouse is loused up.
[Laura Leff] a lousy mouse...go figure
[Laura Leff] Is everyone ready for your respective holidays?
[Barbara] I thought this was a pretty good show this week.
[Kay Lhota] no where near ready
User steve shimp has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] Hey Steve
[Maxwell] I definitely am. Shopping is finished, except for the wife.
[Kay Lhota] it was a really funny episode
[Maxwell] Hey steve.
[Kay Lhota] Hi Steve
[Laura Leff] Hey Steve, can you cut-and-paste for me again tonight?
[Barbara] Hi Steve.
[steve shimp] Hey folks. I had forgotten about chat! Did it come early this month?
[Maxwell] Second Sunday of the month.
[Laura Leff] No, it came late. I had something I was doing last week on Saturday, so I pushed it off.
[steve shimp] The room seems to be working better than last time.
[yhtapmys] Laura, let me try.
[yhtapmys] I was able to do it last month.
[steve shimp] OK, LL, let's give yht a shot, I may have to duck out early.
User Brad from Georgia has entered this room.
[Kay Lhota] Barbara
[Laura Leff] Hi Brad!
[Maxwell] Hey Brad!
[Kay Lhota] Hi Brad
[steve shimp] Hi Brad!
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, all!
[Laura Leff] Check out the warm welcome on Brad...
[yhtapmys] I like the way Speed Riggs' voice cracks.
[Maxwell] Mel Blanc's entrance was hilarious.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Yes, that doesn't happen often!
[Laura Leff] At some point I listened to this with the script just to find out what he's saying
[Laura Leff] he = Mel Blanc
[yhtapmys] Hey, that's a question, Laura...
[yhtapmys] In the script, are they any words for the English butler?
[Laura Leff] Yht - Oh yes, the lines are absolutely appropriate. Mel's just destroying them with the accent
[Laura Leff] If you have the script in front of you, you can make out what he's saying.
[Brad from Georgia] The "English" accent reminded me of Mel's English horse.
[Maxwell] I think I caught one thing.
[Laura Leff] Kind of like subtitles on TV
[Maxwell] Something like "That will do," when Jack decided to call him Nottingham.
[Laura Leff] Let's see if I can at least find his name...
[yhtapmys] My favourite line involves the butler, then Colman says "Oh, you must be the fellow who sells the tobacco!"
[Brad from Georgia] I think I made out one "Yes, sir," too.
[Maxwell] There was so much good in this show. Loved Colman's description of Jack's shoe.
[Barbara] I had to miss a little of it. What was it, Maxwell?
[Brad from Georgia] The Christmas tree gag was very well planted, and no pun intended.
[yhtapmys] Oh, and Kenny Delmar telling us "Suggestion - a carton of cigarettes for Christmas."
[Laura Leff] Give the gift of cancer!
[Kay Lhota] yeesh
[Maxwell] Lets see...lots of pouches, a place to wiggle his toes to make change....
[Laura Leff] The gift that keeps on giving.
[Maxwell] And ads for them on TV.
[yhtapmys] Delmar - "No gift offers so much for so little."
[Laura Leff] OK, here's Mel's first line:
[steve shimp] There are a couple of Jack's TV programs with decorated Luckies cartons for Xmas
[Laura Leff] I was sent over from the Employment Agency on Wilshire Boulevard to help out this evening...They said you were having some special guests.
[Maxwell] You'd never know that's what he said.
[Laura Leff] His name is Bertram Frothingworth
[Barbara] I suppose he had pretty free reign with the lines.
[Laura Leff] And the line after Jack says he's going to call him Nottingham is "Very good, sir."
[Brad from Georgia] What a Wodehousian name
[Laura Leff] You've got to listen to the show with the lines.
User Fred F. Trumble Floogle has entered this room.
[Brad from Georgia] Hello, Fred
[Maxwell] Hello Fred.
[yhtapmys] Blanc is playing Nottingham? I never would have known.
[Laura Leff] Hi Fred
[Laura Leff] Yht - Yup
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Hello
[Maxwell] He had three parts in the show.
[Kay Lhota] Hello Fred
[Maxwell] They guy who blows in, Nottingham, and Polly.
[Laura Leff] His line to Colman is "Oh come in sir, come in sir, may I have your hat and coat sir, they're waiting for you in the drawing room."
[Maxwell] I actually caught some of that. I caught hat and coat and drawing room.
[Brad from Georgia] I've heard that "Is this Wembley" gag before somewhere.
[Laura Leff] Brad - On the Benny show or elsewhere?
[Laura Leff] You can tell at points that Jack's cracking up over Mel's accent
[Barbara] Benita seems to tolerate Jack better than Ronnie does.
[yhtapmys] Colman does a good job on this show.
[Brad from Georgia] Elsewhere, I think, but I can't recall where. Actually, I think it's in a Jeeves and Wooster book.
[Maxwell] Benita seems on the verge of cracking up at several points.
[Laura Leff] This is only the second show where they appeared (Colmans)
[Brad from Georgia] Yes, it is in a Jeeves and Wooster, actually--"Aunts Aren't Gentlemen." Bertie keeps trying to tell it and flubs it.
[Laura Leff] So the bit about not being able to tell it is actually part of the gag.
[Brad from Georgia] Hmmm...I wonder if it's an old joke or if Wodehouse heard the Benny show!
[Laura Leff] I'm fond of Ronnie's toast at the end
[Brad from Georgia] Yes, got a little misty thinking of how the kind wishes haven't come true, unfortunately.
[Barbara] Yes, he did a good job on it. I suspect it was written for him, tho.
[Maxwell] Ditto...first Christmas after the war...very appropriate...and as Brad said, sadly it didn't come to pass.
[Laura Leff] Barbara - Oh definitely. In these shows the writers were doing that for a few weeks
[Brad from Georgia] I do like the optimism of those just-post WWII Benny shows.
[Laura Leff] Remember that "It's Been a Long, Long Time" was popular post-war
[yhtapmys] Ronnie didnt' like it.
[Maxwell] Yup. Especially the Harry James version.
[Laura Leff] Brad - I feel exactly the same. People don't tend to look at these shows much, perhaps because
[Barbara] England was hit so hard, it must have been even more meaningful to the Colmans.
[Laura Leff] Dennis isn't on them, but there are some really good ones in here
[Laura Leff] I like the Bundles for Britain joke
[yhtapmys] Agreed, Laura.
[Laura Leff] Hi Fred, you still with us?
[Maxwell] That's another one I laughed at just as hard the third time as the first.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] What was the deal about the canoe
[Laura Leff] Fred - That's a good question...I'm not sure I know the answer. May be a rain joke
[yhtapmys] Benny - "The Colmans are really high class people. They don't go out just to eat." is another good line.
[Laura Leff] That they would have paddled from next door
[Barbara] I think it was a rain joke, sort of an inside one for the studio audience.
[Brad from Georgia] Ah, that liquid California sunshine....
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] OK, the audience seemed to laugh loudly but after a short delay
[Maxwell] Probably took a second to sink in.
[Barbara] It may have taken them a minute to get it.
[Laura Leff] We've been having plenty of that liquid sunshine this weekend
[Brad from Georgia] Sink in...canoe...Maxwell, you almost had a joke, Ah say a joke there, son!
[Laura Leff] Like a moose needs a hatrack
[Barbara] We've had a little too.
User Ellis M. Efty has entered this room.
[Maxwell] Hello LS
[Brad from Georgia] Hiya, Ellis
[Laura Leff] Hey Ellis
[Ellis M. Efty] Hello, you all
[Kay Lhota] Hi LS
[Brad from Georgia] 'Sbeen incredibly cold here. Nineteen degrees this morning.
[Kay Lhota] gee that is cold.
[Laura Leff] Brad - I didn't know it got that cold in your neck of the woods
[Maxwell] We had that through Friday. It warmed up for the weekend.
[Ellis M. Efty] Darn it, how do I float this thing again?
[Laura Leff] Brad - Except in centigrade
[Maxwell] Where I work had a foot of snow last week.
[Brad from Georgia] Coldest it's been since Jan 2005. Coldest I remember is back when I was in college, five below zero.
[Barbara] It's interesting that jack sticks with the Merry Christmas bit. No Happy Holidays then.
[Laura Leff] Ellis - We were just talking about a rain joke in the show, and it diverged to weather discussion
[yhtapmys] Have you tried Benita Hume?
[steve shimp] Ah, went to wikipedia first.
[Kay Lhota] she married George Sanders and died in the late 1960's of bone cancer
[Laura Leff] Barbara - He was a cultural Jew, not a religious one. Despite his Orthodox parents.
[yhtapmys] George Sanders!
[steve shimp] Ah, interesting. She's not buried with Ronald.
[Barbara] It sould be easy to look up on IMDB, Steve.
[Laura Leff] Steve - Did you do findagrave?
[steve shimp] So I wondered if she had remarried.
User Frev has entered this room.
[Laura Leff] Hi Frev!
[Maxwell] Hello Frev
[steve shimp] Yeah, they linked from wikipedia.
[Ellis M. Efty] Laura - in case nobody's asked this yet, what was the Heathcliff joke about? I didn't get it
[Laura Leff] Ellis - Probably a reference to Wuthering Heights, I'd guess
[Laura Leff] I haven't seen that movie or read the book, though.
[Frev] Hi all, anyone in NY? WBAI FM played a Jack Benny Christmas show earlier, the Watercolors show
[Ellis M. Efty] Ah, no wonder I didn't get it :-)
[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Frev
[Frev] hi
[Laura Leff] Say, here's an extremely general question, not relating to the show for this month
[Maxwell] Okay....
[Brad from Georgia] Heathcliff-a cliff=a bluff....
[Ellis M. Efty] The capital of Iowa is...Des Moines
[Laura Leff] So there's often discussion about modern comedy in relation to Jack.
[Laura Leff] And there was a recent discussion of Kevin Smith on the Forum
[Laura Leff] So often in video stores, the vast majority of the comedy section looks very stupid to me.
[Laura Leff] Or just overtly sexual
[Maxwell] That's because it is...on both counts.
[Ellis M. Efty] Amen on both counts
[Laura Leff] Which doesn't bother me, I just don't get a lot out of most sex comedies
[Frev] I agree, there's very little in modern comedy I enjoy
[Frev] a lot of it I find adolescent
[Ellis M. Efty] Looking at the comedy section in a video store makes me doubt evolution
[Laura Leff] So for Jack Benny fans, what more modern comedies do you rent?
[Laura Leff] Which doesn't bother me, I just don't get a lot out of most sex comedies
[Frev] I agree, there's very little in modern comedy I enjoy
[Frev] a lot of it I find adolescent
[Ellis M. Efty] Looking at the comedy section in a video store makes me doubt evolution
[Laura Leff] So for Jack Benny fans, what more modern comedies do you rent?
[Kay Lhota] Frankly, I don't.
[Laura Leff] Or comedians you prefer
[Maxwell] Hmmm...I don't. I watch reruns of Jack and Burns and Allen on the weekend.
[Frev] one of my favorite movies is My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole, a modern classic
[yhtapmys] Me, neither.
[Brad from Georgia] Very few, actually--mostly romantic comedies, which my wife likes. I don't like most TV comedies these days.
[steve shimp] I JUST watched the "Strangers with Candy" movie. Not as great as the TV show, but the TV show is pretty darn great.
[Maxwell] Great movie Frev.
[yhtapmys] I watch cartoons, though.
[Barbara] I don't rent any, but I loved national Lampoon's Christmas vacation show with Chevy Chase.
[Maxwell] I like Big.
[Brad from Georgia] Now, "Angels with Angles"....nah, can't comment, haven't seen it.
[Frev] I love older comedies, I enjoy listening to old radio shows than watch any of the current sitcoms
[Barbara] We don't have reruns of Jack or Burns & Allen.
[Laura Leff] Dan and I have been watching the Sopranos series, and we needed a break from this heavy, dark stuff by the end of season 4
[Laura Leff] Brad - Don't go there...
[Maxwell] That's the good thing about living near Chicago, Barbara.
[steve shimp] And, I thought Jackass Number Two was hysterical. But I agree most of the scripted standard studio comedies are pretty lousy.
[Laura Leff] Why is there no comedy any more, except for mostly the adolescent stuff?
[Ellis M. Efty] My favorite comedy DVDs in recent years are Welcome Back Mr. McDonald (1998) and Man of the Century (1999)
[Barbara] You're right, Max. Now if you could just get rid of the snow.
[Laura Leff] I (Heart) Huckabees was pretty amusing though
[Frev] My Cousin Vinny was pretty good, Fred Gwynn's character was great and Joe Pesci gave a great performance
[Maxwell] Because mostly adolescents go to comedies?
[Brad from Georgia] What gets me about TV sitcoms is they're mean--in a way that Jack's show never was.
[Kay Lhota] Laura, because the target audience is a young audience
[Frev] I agree Brad
[Brad from Georgia] Hey, "My Cousin Vinny" was partly filmed in my home town.
[Laura Leff] So I'll float a theory...
[Maxwell] Groundhog day is another one I like...but not so recent anymore.
[Barbara] They calleld Jack mean in England, but it didn't mean that.
[Frev] even a show like Seinfeld I could never get into, I gound the main characters pretty unlikeable
[Laura Leff] At some point, people found it was easier to get laughter by shocking rather than by being funny.
[Frev] found the characters that is
[Maxwell] Blame All in the Family.
[Brad from Georgia] Groundhog day. Don't talk to me about that movie. I wrote a short story with that same idea in it, and did I get a penny?
[Maxwell] Was the story published?
[Brad from Georgia] No, I did not, though my story predated the film by at least ten years....
[Brad from Georgia] Yes, it was published and also dramatized as a radio play.
[Frev] WBAI-FM 99.5 in NYC is now playing a You Bet Your Life show
[Maxwell] Hmmm...sounds like you should have seen a lawyer.
[Frev] they also stream online
[Brad from Georgia] Nah, you can't copyright an idea.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Did you write "Big" too
[Maxwell] True. Didn't they just do a TV series with that plot?
[Laura Leff] You could probably get something if you had published...
[steve shimp] Well, you can be shocking AND insightful I think.
pants were stolen
[Laura Leff] Frev - Also a very good point
[Barbara] He never did shock humor, but he did have a few choice words away from the mike occasionally.
[Laura Leff] And notice that those two were tremendously long laughs
[steve shimp] But I think Jack realized he couldn't sustain that - it had to be once in a while.
[Frev] thanks
[steve shimp] At best.
[Barbara] He often used the word "Christ" which isn't too shocking.
[Laura Leff] If you shock too often, it wears off and you need to push the envelope further
[steve shimp] Right.
[yhtapmys] I don't know if the pants humour was really supposed to be shocking or just visual.
[Laura Leff] Barbara - Jack had much colorful, naughty-boy language off stage
[Ellis M. Efty] Is anything left of the envelope now?
[Maxwell] Oh, you also have to give "credit" to Lenny Bruce and a ****load of a whole lot less talented wannabes.
[yhtapmys] Sure, LS.
[Brad from Georgia] "The Simpsons" is running low on gas..but it's still funnier to me than "Family Guy," which is just dumb and gross.
[yhtapmys] Can't use racial humour now. Ask Michael Richards
[Maxwell] That wasn't humor.
[Laura Leff] Yht - I don't think he was trying to be funny when he did that
[Frev] I don't think I'd credit Lenny Bruce too much
[Barbara] You can't serve dog food either.
[yhtapmys] Sigh. No one gets the joke.
[Maxwell] He's an idol to those who think they're funny by being in bad taste.
[Frev] even Richard Pryor towards the end of his life regretted using the 'n' word in his stand-up
[Maxwell] Most sequels are much less funny.
[Laura Leff] British and French films tend to be a lot funnier these days, I think.
[yhtapmys] I know, Laura, but not all the chat is here. The older stuff disappears, so I'm copying and pasting as I go along.
[Barbara] They used all the good stuff the first time.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Got it.
[Brad from Georgia] Presidents today are funnier, too. Or at least weirder.
[Frev] I think it reveals a lack of creativity
[Maxwell] That's because they imitate Jerry Lewis rather than Lenny Bruce.
[Kay Lhota] I have been out of touch really with recent humor. It just doesn't hold much appeal.
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Well, consider someone like Jacques Tati. Definitely not Jerry Lewis-like.
[Barbara] You got any trivia questions, Laura? don't mean to put you on the spot.
[Ellis M. Efty] Me too, I'd rather watch Dick Van Dyke...
[Maxwell] That was a joke.
[Laura Leff] Barbara - OK, let's see...
[Maxwell] Or MTM.
[Frev] I have a friend who did a stand-up routine who didn't use one foul word or crude references and got lots of laughs
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Understood...
[Maxwell] Actually I meant to say, "That's a joke, son."
[Laura Leff] What year did the Jack Benny television show go into syndication?
[Ellis M. Efty] Frev - he should be put in the Smithsonian
[Maxwell] Cosby always worked clean when he did standup.
[Kay Lhota] The first time I saw it in syndication was in 1974.
[Maxwell] I've seen him about 4 times over a 30 year period.
[Laura Leff] There's an agency in LA called "Clean Comedians" that only handles non-blue stuff
[Laura Leff] Kay - Earlier than that
[steve shimp] I am picturing the Maytag repairman...
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Yes, I even saw him at the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan.
[Kay Lhota] I'm not surprised, Laura. We just didn't have it in the Boston area before then.
[Brad from Georgia] I'd guess 1959
[Frev] I was working in a theater where there were black stand-up comics, and I almost got physically ill from what was passing for 'humor' at the show, the routines were vulgar and mystongistic (forgive the mispelling) what distressed me was that the woman were
[Maxwell] I'm guessing shortly after he was cancelled in '65.
[Frev] laughing as hard as the men
[Laura Leff] I was actually scanning some Oakland television listings and picked up the regular series on some nights and the syndication on others
[Laura Leff] Brad - later
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Nope
[Maxwell] Oh, well....
[Ellis M. Efty] I remember as a kid watching syndicated Benny shows on local TV in the afternoons around '63 or '64
[Brad from Georgia] I got to help out once when Bill Cosby did a show at the University of Georgia--back in the sixties.
[Laura Leff] Ellis - Good call...
[Brad from Georgia] He was a really nice guy and chatted with the student crew for quite a while.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Oh that must have been a PIP. His comedy records were so fantastic then.
[Maxwell] I'm just glad I can watch it every week now.
[Barbara] What is a cubit?
[Frev] I liked Woody Allen
[Kay Lhota] I remember seeing Jack Benny rerun on CBS on Sunday afternoons, but not Syndicated.
[Laura Leff] Jack Benny and Bill Cosby...I don't know if they ever crossed paths...
[Laura Leff] Frev - Second that emotion
[Barbara] I don't know as they ever did.
[Frev] Woody Allen's earlier stand-up and movie comedies
[Laura Leff] Barbara - Ding NOAH...
[Brad from Georgia] Yes--he gingerly asked us before the show about racial attitudes at the University. He was pleased to know his records were popular.
[Brad from Georgia] Yes--he gingerly asked us before the show about racial attitudes at the University. He was pleased to know his records were popular.
[Ellis M. Efty] You mean the early, funny ones?
[Barbara] You're right. "Get that thing out of my driveway."
[Frev] I don't watch any of Allen's current movies today, you'd be hard press to find anything funny in them today
[Brad from Georgia] "Hey you, almost-a-doctor: When do I get my ice cream?"
[Laura Leff] Frev - He's recycling too much of his material. The one in England was just "Crimes and Misdemeanors" in England.
[Laura Leff] The chicken heart that ate up New York City...
[Kay Lhota] oh that was inspired!
[Laura Leff] da DOOM da DOOM da DOOM da DOOM
[Brad from Georgia] The snakes that Dad put on the floor to keep Russell and Bill in bed.
[Maxwell] Ever hear the actual Lights Out episode?
[Frev] I liked his comedies up to Broadway Danny Rose and Radio Days
[Maxwell] Make the Cosby routine twice as funny.
[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--I actually have!
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - No, I really should
[Kay Lhota] the part that survived, Maxwell. on a website
[Frev] I still think Zelig is a brillianty creative film
[Ellis M. Efty] I love the trickery in Zelig
[Frev] in the pre-digital effects days, makes it all the more brilliant
[Laura Leff] Frev - Yes, although my historical picayune sense always gets bothered by some anachronistic clips
[Frev] uh huh
[Maxwell] That bugs me in any movie.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] I think it was "Take The Money And Run" where he was a cellest in a marching band. That was pretty funny
[Brad from Georgia] How about the middle-period Mel Brooks?
[Maxwell] Yup, that was Take the Money and Run.
[Ellis M. Efty] "Kiss me once and kiss me twice, and kiss me once again..."
[Laura Leff] The image of Jack in that fat suit doing Ralph Kramden will never leave me.
[Frev] He was brave to hang upside down from the window, he had nerve
[yhtapmys] And da da da da DA. (Colman)
[Brad from Georgia] Dennis did a great Frank Fontaine, too...on one show Benny did Gleason as Joe the Bartender, and Dennis did Crazy Guggenheim brilliantly.
[yhtapmys] Which show was this?
[yhtapmys] I've never seen it.
[Brad from Georgia] Don't remember, one of the TV shows.
[Laura Leff] I don't think I've seen that one
[Maxwell] I don't remember it either.
[Frev] I love his vocalizations in the Johnny Appleseed Disney cartoon
[Barbara] My Subway sandwich is here, so I'm going to leave you. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
[Frev] a classic
[Laura Leff] Take care, Barbara!
[yhtapmys] Same to you, Barbara.
[Brad from Georgia] I remember Jack saying at the end, "Folks, I do a LOUSY Gleason, but isn't Dennis a GREAT Crazy Guggenheim!"
[Ellis M. Efty] Merry Christmas, Barabara!
[Maxwell] Happy merry everything!
[Ellis M. Efty] Barbara, even
User Barbara has logged out.
[Laura Leff] Jack's character was so different than Gleason...it needs someone who's got BIG energy, not just body
[Brad from Georgia] Oh, I recently heard Dennis on "Frosty's Winter Wonderland," one of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials.
[Maxwell] I love how Harpo Marx appears anytime somebody leaves here....
[Laura Leff] Brad - I'll be darned, I had forgotten about that.
[Frev] Folksies, I'm glad I was able to log on tonight, thanks Laura for changing the chat program, see everyone again soon
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - You have no idea how much that cost me...
[Brad from Georgia] Dennis plaed Parson Brown and the Snowman based on him.
[Laura Leff] Have fun, Frev!
[Brad from Georgia] So long, Frev!
[Maxwell] So long Frev
[Kay Lhota] bye Frev
[Frev] Goodnight Folks!
[Ellis M. Efty] Merry Christmas, Frev!
[Laura Leff] Oh, now I'm trying to remember the comedian who played Frosty...Jackie....
[Maxwell] Vernon
[Kay Lhota] Jackie Vernon
[Laura Leff] Thanks
[Frev] Happy Yuletide to Yule!
[Laura Leff] I knew it wasn't Jackie Mason
[yhtapmys] I loved Billy De Wolfe in that.
[Brad from Georgia] Busy, busy, busy!
[Maxwell] Who used to make jokes about Chicago radio personality Sig Sackowitz.
[Laura Leff] Must think nasty...nasty nasty nasty nast
User Frev has logged out.
<material missing>
[yhtapmys] That's when I remember I.
[Kay Lhota] I heard him do the voice on an episode of Great Gildersleeve
[yhtapmys] it.
[Brad from Georgia] Gee, he and Mel could have had quite a bit of fun..."Hey, dis ain't de big carrot festival!" "Got you, Wabbit!"
[Maxwell] D'oh! I meant Gildersleeve. Listened to both today and messed it up.
[Laura Leff] I wonder what the restrictions were around that character voice...I'd think WB would "own" it
[yhtapmys] None, apparently.
[Kay Lhota] But Arthur Q. Bryan did do Fibber McGee shows, so you could have heard him on it
[Maxwell] Well, Mel did Bugs Bunny on Jack's show.
[Laura Leff] Bryan is in an item in our video library doing the Fudd voice on camera
[Brad from Georgia] Heh...when I played the Rabbi in "Fiddler on the Roof," I did the Fudd voice in a rehearsal. The director asked "What are you doing?"
[yhtapmys] Blanc used his Woody voice on Benny.
[Laura Leff] He looks like Fudd
[Brad from Georgia] I said I was the wascally wabbi.
[Ellis M. Efty] Nobody's ever done that voice near as well, either...Blanc couldn't really handle it himself
[Maxwell] No, it was Gildersleeve.
[Laura Leff] Yht - Mel Blanc did Woody Allen?
[Maxwell] Hal Smith (Otis Campbell on Andy Griffith) also tried doing Elmer Fudd.
[yhtapmys] Keep that up and I'll stop transcribing.
[Brad from Georgia] "There iw a bwessing for evweything...God bwess and keep the Tsar...far away from us! Heh heh heh heh..."
[Ellis M. Efty] "W-w-w-w-hat we have here is a dead shark"
[Laura Leff] :D
[yhtapmys] Max, one of the new guys doesn't do a bad job.
[Laura Leff] Brad - I can just imagine it
[Maxwell] I've heard that guy. Not bad.
[Laura Leff] Are they still generating new WB stuff?
[Brad from Georgia] Billy West, who does Fry on Futurama, has done Fudd a couple of times.
[Laura Leff] Like more Bugs Bunny, etc.?
[yhtapmys] Well, they shouldn't, Laura.
[Brad from Georgia] There were some spectacularly awful WB cartoons just on the Web.
[yhtapmys] They can't match the old cartoons.
[Maxwell] They did that mess with Michael Jordan a few years ago...plus some of the TV stuff Spielberg produced, like Tiny Toons.
[Laura Leff] They also shouldn't be continuing the Peanuts strip...
[yhtapmys] I thought the Peanuts strip was all reruns.
[Laura Leff] Directly against Charles Schulz's wishes
[Brad from Georgia] They're just rerunning old strips, Laura.
[steve shimp] They aren't continuing Peanuts.
[Maxwell] Well, they are still syndicating it.
[Brad from Georgia] No, actually I know the lady who is in charge of the Peanuts reruns, and she worked with Schultz. He okayed the reruns when he quit.
[Laura Leff] OK. I had heard that Schulz wanted it to stop when he did
[Laura Leff] Brad - OK, I take it all back then.
[Maxwell] I'd heard the same thing.
[Ellis M. Efty] If they were re-running the prime strips, from the 50s and 60s, that would be okay...
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] THey were re-running before he died, I thought
[yhtapmys] I think he didn't want the syndicator to get someone else doing the strip.
[Brad from Georgia] Schulz did want it to stop in the sense that he didn't want other artists cntinuing it.
[Laura Leff] No Gasoline Alley here
[Maxwell] Ah...okay.
[Maxwell] Are they still doing Dick Tracy?
[Maxwell] That really went downhill.
[Brad from Georgia] Yeah, Ed Dodd who "drew" Mark Trail actually bowed out of drawing it about the second or third year. For a while, Jack
[Brad from Georgia] Davis was the artist.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Gasoline Alley runs in Houston paper
[Laura Leff] Gasoline Alley still makes mention of Jack now and again
[Kay Lhota] Well gang, I guess it's time for me to say goodnight. Hope to see you all in January.
[Brad from Georgia] Ed sort of oversaw the strip, but didn't even actually write it after a while.
[yhtapmys] This is so damned annoying.
[Maxwell] Good night Kay.
[yhtapmys] OK Kay.
[Laura Leff] Take care, Kay!
[Kay Lhota] Tha nks Laura
[Ellis M. Efty] Night, Kay..Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
[Laura Leff] Yht - What's annoying?
[Kay Lhota] Thanks and likewise, Ellie
[Laura Leff] That we're off topic?
User Kay Lhota has logged out.
[yhtapmys] My window keeps deleting text.
[Laura Leff] OIC
[yhtapmys] So I've missed some stuff.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] I had trouble getting the chat to start at all until I loaded the newest version of Java runtime
[Maxwell] Darn, I wanted to sing, "Every kiss begins with Kay."
[Brad from Georgia] I guess I'd better go, too. Got a final exam to give at 7:45 tomorrow morning. Gahhh!
[Laura Leff] Fred - There you go...I was trying to do that too
[yhtapmys] And I just copied about a minute ago.
[Maxwell] G'night Brad.
[Brad from Georgia] Merry Chrsitmas and a great New Year to all!
[Laura Leff] STay warm, Brad!
[yhtapmys] OK Brad
[Ellis M. Efty] "K-k-k-Katie...beautiful Katie...you're the o-o-o-only one that I adore..."
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[Ellis M. Efty] Night, Brad...darn it
[Laura Leff] Tied in with the modern comedy discussion, does it seem like the comics have also gone downhill?
[Maxwell] A Benny Note: Chuck Schaden will be playing Jack's last NBC show and first CBS show on Dec. 23 and 30.
[Laura Leff] Just not as funny as they used to be?
[Ellis M. Efty] Thank you, Max
[Maxwell] I tend to agree with that.
[Laura Leff] Maybe I'll post the first CBS show for discussion next month
[Ellis M. Efty] Laura - I don't know any modern comics
[steve shimp] I dunno, I don't read them anymore!
[Ellis M. Efty] I've just tuned out all the recent stuff
[Laura Leff] Exactly my point.
[Laura Leff] I used to read the Sunday funnies religiously (they were on Sunday, after all)
[Maxwell] I don't even get a paper anymore.
[Laura Leff] but I haven't done that in years. At some point, there was no reason to do so.
[steve shimp] I guess Calvin and Hobbes was the last good one for me.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Blondie's still good
[Ellis M. Efty] I don't think there's been really anything great since Calvin & Hobbes
[Maxwell] I miss Far Side.
[Laura Leff] Calvin and Hobbes was great.
[Ellis M. Efty] And it's a dying medium, anyway
[steve shimp] But there was always a lotta junk on the funny pages as well.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] I see Steve
[Ellis M. Efty] Talking about what's great in comics now is like talking about great radio programs of 1961...
[yhtapmys] Yeah, Laura, the CBS show sounds like a good idea.
[Maxwell] Kudzu was another pretty funny one, too.
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Steve's a Shimp and not a Shrimp tonight
[Laura Leff] I don't even read Dilbert any more
[steve shimp] Who the hell had the patience to follow Rex Morgan MD?
[Maxwell] Steve's always a shimp.
[Maxwell] Or Mary Worth.
[Laura Leff] Steve's always a shimp
[Laura Leff] There's an echo in here
[Maxwell] Oleo.
[Laura Leff] Prince Valiant
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] I guess I need to see my eyedoctor, I've always mis-read it
[steve shimp] There was a funny line I recall - from "Golden Girls" of all things....
[Maxwell] shimp scrampi.
[yhtapmys] *I* cant hear an echo.
[Laura Leff] *Singing like the Wicked Witch of the West's guards* Oleo yo-ho...oleo yo-ho
[yhtapmys] Who do you think I am? Dr. Nelson?
[steve shimp] About the "soap" comics. One of them says, Oh, Rex Morgan, I haven't read that in 30 years!
[Ellis M. Efty] Prince Valiant was quite beautiful looking back when it filled up an entire page...
[steve shimp] And the other says. Oh, well, I'll catch you up. It's later, that same day...
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] The guards are singing "We all love... the old one"
[Laura Leff] steve - That sounds like a joke about the 15-minute radio soaps
[Maxwell] Somebody I know says it's "O, we loathe the old one."
[steve shimp] Could be!
[Laura Leff] Fred - Is that true?
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Yes
[Maxwell] And this guy is right about almost everything...at least when it comes to the three stooges and Chicago sports.
[Laura Leff] I'll be...guess that ties back to Nottingham's lines.
[Laura Leff] You can't pick up what they're saying unless you know what it is.
[Maxwell] One thing I know. It's not "O-E-O, Magglio."
[Laura Leff] So what other things to discuss?
[steve shimp] Oh weloatheoldonelady---hooooo!
[Maxwell] hahahahahahaha
[Laura Leff] Darn that yodel
[Laura Leff] One of the better knock-knock jokes...little old lady who
[Maxwell] I was just thinking of that.
[yhtapmys] I notice on tonight's show there was no applause after the song.
[Ellis M. Efty] Quiz question - what was the lead in show to Benny on radio in 1949-1951?
[Maxwell] You don't applaud hymns, I guess.
[Laura Leff] Ellis - I'd have to look it up
[steve shimp] AArgh. I've been asking about this on the forum!!!
[yhtapmys] Probably not, Max.
[Ellis M. Efty] Two words - school teacher...
[Maxwell] OUr Miss Brooks?
[Laura Leff] Our Miss Brooks?
[Ellis M. Efty] Yes!
[yhtapmys] Rom 222?
[Maxwell] Eve Arden and Jeff Chandler.
[Laura Leff] Mister Peepers
[Laura Leff] Romper Room
[Ellis M. Efty] And they always plugged Jack's show at the end of those episodes...
[yhtapmys] Welcome Back Kotter?
[yhtapmys] I didn't know that LS.
[Maxwell] Mr. Vickery's class...oh, wait, that's tomorrow morning.
[yhtapmys] I'll have to listen.
[Laura Leff] Horseshack, stop imitating Phil Harris...
[steve shimp] Nope, Miss Brooks was Jack's lead-in '51-'54... or was it '49 as well?
[Ellis M. Efty] It was the 49-50 season as well
[Laura Leff] They Call Me Mister Tibbs
[steve shimp] Cool, I will add that to my table!
[yhtapmys] Saved by the Bell?
[Maxwell] Hmmm...I'll have to work that into my class tomorrow: They call me MR. VICKERY.
[Maxwell] And of course, I'll be the only one who gets it.
[Maxwell] As usual.
[Laura Leff] Barney Miller?
[Ellis M. Efty] "They call me Mister Thackery"
[Laura Leff] Oh no, that doesn't fit...
[Laura Leff] They call me MISTER LEFF.
[Laura Leff] No, actually they call my husband that
[yhtapmys] Hmm.
[Maxwell] I was going to ask if you had surgery.
[Laura Leff] Maxwell - My husband would be pretty unhappy.
[Maxwell] I'll bet.
[steve shimp] So, serious question, what was Jack's lead in his first season on CBS in '48 then?
[Laura Leff] So anything else in this free association, or should we call it a wrap?
[Ellis M. Efty] Hmmm...
[steve shimp] (I don't know the answer!)
[Maxwell] Way to go, Steve...making us think again.
[Laura Leff] I hate it when that happens
[Ellis M. Efty] Thinking hurts my brain...
[Laura Leff] Again I'd have to look it up.
[Laura Leff] Which show did he supplant?
[steve shimp] Well, if I figure it out I'll post it on the forum.
[Ellis M. Efty] I could get out Dunning's encyclopedia and just start flipping through the pages...one after another...after another...
[Maxwell] After another...
[Laura Leff] After another...
[steve shimp] Yeah, that's the problem.
[yhtapmys] Either that or go to newspaperarchive.com
[Laura Leff] I have a wonderful book on radio ratings year over year
[Maxwell] There are no easy solutions.
[Maxwell] Just dilute ones.
[Laura Leff] I'd just have to scan for it, assuming it rated
[Maxwell] (Did I mention Mr. Vickery teaches chemistry?)
[Fred F. Trumble Floogle] Well, since no one wants to talk about Jack Benny, I think I'll leave. Maybe I can find a Fred Allen chat....
[Laura Leff] OK...let's call it good for this month
[Maxwell] Good.
[Ellis M. Efty] Good!
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[steve shimp] OK folks, see you all in the new year! Happy holidays all.
[Laura Leff] Thanks everyone for your participation, and thanks yhtapmys for copying the chat!
[Ellis M. Efty] (trims the tree)
[Laura Leff] TIMBER!
[yhtapmys] Well, we're missing some.
[Maxwell] Takes a little off the edges.
[yhtapmys] Got most of it.
[Laura Leff] Yht - That's OK...whatever you can get
[Ellis M. Efty] "Ring a merry bell at Christmas time..."
[Laura Leff] Take care folks...see you in the new year
[Maxwell] The less the better I always say.
User steve shimp has logged out.
[yhtapmys] I'll send it in Word format.
[Maxwell] Adios!
[Ellis M. Efty] Merry Crimble!
User Laura Leff has logged out.
User Maxwell has logged out.
[yhtapmys] Same to you, LS.
User Ellis M. Efty has logged out.
[yhtapmys] That's all.
[yhtapmys] We're a little late, folks, so good night.