IJBFC Chat

IJBFC Chat - January 6, 2008

(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)

Fair warning: This turned into free-association night, so please don't expect a lot of hard-hitting Benny talk but a whole lot of surreal fun...

[Laura Leff] Yikes

[KayLhota] hi Laura

[Frank J. Lhota] Farewell to Java

[Dreerson the Pooh] WB Laura

[steve-shimp-] Hi LL

[yhtapmys] Brad, isn't that a vaudeville joke?

[Maxwell] I thought maybe you had to go to a wedding in Pasadena.

[Laura Leff] Sorry folks, ongoing network problems connected to the long power outage

[Laura Leff] What did I miss?

[steve-shimp-] Maxwell.

[Brad from Georgia] Yht--no, it's what Jack once said to Mary!

[KayLhota] whoa, I'm glad that you made it

[Dreerson the Pooh] Were you blacked out for a while, Laura?

[yhtapmys] Close enough, Brad.

[Maxwell] We've been waiting for you.

[Brad from Georgia] LL--not much. We were all just complaining of being sick.

[Maxwell] Right now I'm listeing to Kenny Baker.

[KayLhota] yeah the holiday colds and medical woes

[Dreerson the Pooh] I've got the flu, too

[Laura Leff] hello

[Laura Leff] gads

[steve-shimp-] (rubs screen with Purell)

[Laura Leff] I've been typing away, but my coputer decided to dump it all

[Brad from Georgia] Yeah, I have to start teachng tomorrow, and I break out in coughing fits about once very quarter hour.

[Maxwell] Pass that over here when you're done Steve.

[Dreerson the Pooh] <--- runs to Western Union office, sends Laura a telegram

[steve-shimp-] (passes Max the Purell)

[Laura Leff] You ought to use a neti pot....I'm fine

[Laura Leff] my computer isn't, but I am

[Maxwell] Thanks.

[Mike Amo] Remind me how to copy stuff and I'll send you an attachment

[Brad from Georgia] I do use a neti pot, and it doesn't seem to keep me from upper-respiratory infections.

[steve-shimp-] What's a neti pot?

[Maxwell] I think your computer just has a case of the hiccups.

[Brad from Georgia] It's a gadget for washing out your nose and sinuses with salt water.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Brad -

[Laura Leff] Dang

[Laura Leff] I hate my computer at the moment

[steve-shimp-] Shoot, I've got a hose and I live close enough to the chesapeake bay.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Try putting a dropper of colloidal silver in your nostrils for the infections

[Brad from Georgia] Fred Newman ASSURED me that if I used a neti pot, I'd never get a cold again. Pfui. I have three or four a year, regularly, regardless.

[Laura Leff] Or adding sesame oil to the neti pot

[Dreerson the Pooh] I recommend ungodly amounts of orange juice

[Laura Leff] Brad - Do you use it daily?

[Brad from Georgia] LL--I wouldn't use silver; one of my friends swore by it and got silver poisoning. He's blue--no kidding.

[Brad from Georgia] I use the neti pot twice daily, morning and evening.

[KayLhota] I do believe you, Brad

[Frank J. Lhota] Laura, call a PC troubleshooter, tell him that your PC is trouble, and ask him to shoot it.

[Dreerson the Pooh]

[Laura Leff] they seem to have fixed it now

[Maxwell] They only do that if the computer has a broken leg.

[Laura Leff] I'm not talking about huge amounts, just one dropper per nostril

[Laura Leff] fixed it = silver

yhtapmys still trying to think of Neti pot joke

[Laura Leff] Unfortunately, I'm the PC troubleshooter here

[Maxwell] Or for the science minded: Ag.

[Brad from Georgia] I'm also allergic to echinacea....

[Laura Leff] CoQ10 is not a bad substitute

[Laura Leff] OK, so this is all not very Benny-related

[Brad from Georgia] I take CoQ10.

[yhtapmys] Brad, the solution.. try a Lucky Strike.

[steve-shimp-] Let's talk about Jack's nose polyps again.

[Brad from Georgia] Right, let's talk about the show and not symptoms!

[KayLhota] no, so let's discuss tonight's episode

[Laura Leff] But I don't know how much I'll be able to moderate if my computer periodically doesn't let me type

[Laura Leff] I couldn't listen to the episode, since the power was out

[yhtapmys] For years, you've heard talk. Double talk. Words about noses. Words about throats.

[Laura Leff] But please, discuss away!

[Brad from Georgia] Classic flub on the ep--single breaded tuxedo!

[Maxwell] I hope it was whole grain bread.

[yhtapmys] Rye.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I want butter on my tuxedo, please

[Brad from Georgia] I liked Don's pique during the Jell-O commercial, too.

[KayLhota] that was very cute

[steve-shimp-] The first "New Tenant" was pretty primordial. Not as sappy as they later became.

[Mike Amo] I'm finally getting to all the DVDs of the TV show...my mom is enjoying them when I visit home

[steve-shimp-] But you could see it a-comin'.

[KayLhota] I've liked some New Tenant episodes better than others

[Dreerson the Pooh] I'm not sure I understood what Mary's line, "Goodbye Broadway, Hello France" was all about

[KayLhota] that's a WW1 song

[Brad from Georgia] Refs were fun--"War of the Worlds," Howard Hughes' around-the-world flight, Corrigan's flight from NY to Ireland.

[Mike Amo] I saw the 1954 TV "New Tenant" show, in which they reenacted the radio show...it was pretty good!

[KayLhota] very sweet

[Dreerson the Pooh] Aha, thanks, Kay

[Brad from Georgia] Hughes' flight, by the way, tested the first really practical autopilot. After 4 1/2 days, it was off by only 6 miles.

[Dreerson the Pooh] And, more poignantly, the Spanish Civil War and the China "Incident," Brad

[Laura Leff] How ya Gonna Keep Em Down on the Farm After They've Seen Paree

[KayLhota] How ya gonna keep away from Broadway, gathrin' around, paintin' the town

[Laura Leff] Remind me...the China "incident"?

[Brad from Georgia] "Wrong-Way" Corrigan never admitted he deliberately flew to Ireland (his flight plan was from NY to CA). He died only ten-twelve years ago.

[Dreerson the Pooh] That's what the Japanese government called their war against China

[KayLhota] Japan, invaded and beat China like crazy

[Maxwell] LL Japan had been fighting in China for a few years by then.

[yhtapmys] That's when the china fell when Jack gave money to John L.C. Sivoney.

[Mike Amo] I remember him from Gilligan's Island

[Laura Leff] Right, thanks

[Dreerson the Pooh] They called it in "Incident" to avoid U.S. sanctions

[yhtapmys] Wasn't that Hans Conried?

[Maxwell] And of course the Spanish shawl....

[Mike Amo] yes

[KayLhota] don't get me started on Hans Conried. Dangerous.

[Mike Amo]

[Maxwell] "The inevitable Hans Conried."

[Maxwell] As my brother used to call him.

[KayLhota] Now, I'm trying to be good tonight and stick on topic. Don't tempt me.

[Brad from Georgia] Mary seems extra-perky on this episode.

[steve-shimp-] Phil seemed to be laughing a lot too.

[KayLhota] Phil's orchestra played a song that I recognized.

[steve-shimp-] Maybe his New Years Eve celebration hadn't ended yet?

[Brad from Georgia] Is the Wilshire Bowl still in existence?

[KayLhota] "Say It With a Kiss"

[Maxwell] BTW: USC beat Duke 7-3.

[Maxwell] I looked it up.

[KayLhota] wow

[KayLhota] that's amazing that you found that.

[Brad from Georgia] So Jack won the bet....

[KayLhota] cool beans!

[Maxwell] I just googled "Rose Bowl" "1939"

[Maxwell] I've only been stumped a handful of times with google.

[KayLhota] Oh, I do have something to share, although it is a little off topic

[Maxwell] And most of that has been really arcane stuff.

[Brad from Georgia] Every time Barbara and I have been to LA, it's been a two or three day visit at most. I'd really like to sight-see sometime.

[KayLhota] Our son Daniel had to write a paper for his History class, and among the listed topic names, he chose "Fred Allen"

[Maxwell] I haven't been to SoCal since 1964.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Kay, that was a listed topic name??

[KayLhota] yes

[yhtapmys] !

[Dreerson the Pooh] Wow

[Maxwell] Wow!

[Maxwell] Hip history teacher.

[Laura Leff] Who picked them?

[KayLhota] he didn't know the other names: Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Lillian Gish

[Brad from Georgia] Our library has a great book called "Vanishing Hollywood" that talks about odd little corners where old movie sites can still be recognized.

[Laura Leff] Go figure

[Brad from Georgia] Like the steps from Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box," for example.

[yhtapmys] Laura, we just let go our mid-day announcer. She didn't know what Grauman's Chinese Theatre was.

[KayLhota] oh no

[KayLhota] that is sad

[Mike Amo] By the way, I saw Steve Martin here in DC a month ago...asked him who his favorite comic influences were growing up...Laurel and Hardy, a couple others, and Jack

[Maxwell] Well, isn't it somebody else's Chinese Theater now?

[Laura Leff] Yht - And THAT still exists!

[Brad from Georgia] Now, the Chinese Theater we've been to--I stood in Jack's footsteps!

[yhtapmys] Well, she's 20 something from the middle of nowhere in Canada.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - It changed back. Was Mann's for a while, but now back to Grauman's

[Mike Amo] Mentioned, of those he'd have liked to have met, he most regretted not meeting Jack

[Brad from Georgia] Strange things happen in the middle of Nowhere.

[Laura Leff] Yht - I bet she knows the rules of Curling.

[Maxwell] LL Thanks. I hadn't heard that. Good to hear.

[Mike Amo] Afterwards I asked him about Fred Allen...he said he never understood him

[yhtapmys] I don't know. She's originally from India.

[Laura Leff] Mike - He's not alone with that.

[Brad from Georgia] Ah, Fred Allen was too hip for Steve Martin.

[Laura Leff] Yht - Ah, no Grauman's for Bollywood

[Laura Leff] Brad - Or he just didn't have the historical context

[Maxwell] Fred did a lot of topical stuff, so you really have to know the history of the times.

[Laura Leff] I find it interesting that Steve Martin's love for Jack is now coming out.

[Brad from Georgia] True--Fred faded from the scene fairly early on.

[Maxwell] Fortunately for me, history is one of my favorite subjects.

[KayLhota] yes, I've noticed that

[Dreerson the Pooh] I think in Fred's case, you sort of "had to be there"

[Laura Leff] I just don't associate "The Jerk" or The Wild and Crazy Guy with an arrow through his head with Jack.

[steve-shimp-] You mentioned that in the new TIMES, Laura - good issue, BTW, though I haven't read it all the way through yet!

[Laura Leff] Steve - Thanks!

[Brad from Georgia] Maxwell--Have you read "Lies My Teacher Told Me," about the sad state of high school history?

[yhtapmys] But Laura, I think anyone who knows comedy MUST appreciate Jack's timing.

User Scott in KC has entered this room.

[Brad from Georgia] Hi, Scott!

[Maxwell] I teach in a high school. I don't need to read about it.

[KayLhota] Hi Scott

[Maxwell] Actually our U.S. history teacher is very good.

[yhtapmys] Greetings, Scott.

[Laura Leff] Hi Scott

[Maxwell] A young guy, too. Maybe 30.

[Mike Amo] Hi Scott

[Maxwell] (If that0

[Maxwell] )

[Scott in KC] Happy New Year all! How 'bout them Missouri Tigers?

[Maxwell] Hi Scott

[Brad from Georgia] Loewen--he's the writer of the book--mainly has a bone to pick with the six main textbooks. He doesn't like any of them.

[Maxwell] How 'bout them Fighting Illini.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Regards from Oklahoma :-)

[Laura Leff] Yht - True, although I've heard a lot of standups sort of claim that Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor "invented" standup.

[KayLhota] well, they never heard anybody before them, I suppose.

[Maxwell] LL Same type of people who think Miles Davis invented jazz in 1960.

[KayLhota] They ought to teach American entertainment history

[Brad from Georgia] Lot of people around here seem to believe that Ronald Reagan invented the Presidency.

[yhtapmys] Well, in a way, they did.. but it was more or less what monologuists were doing in vaudeville.

[KayLhota] yes, yip.

[Laura Leff] Everyone knows Frank Fay invented standup.

[Maxwell] At least PBS is showing a series that goes all the way back to the '50s.

[yhtapmys] Frank invented everything.

[Maxwell] (Pioneers of Television)

[Frank J. Lhota] Frank Fay invented Disco?

[yhtapmys] Though Jack invented the single-breaded tuxedos.

[KayLhota] I'm curious about that show, but I've seen so many documentaries about 50's tv

[Brad from Georgia] Frank Fay invented the Frankfurter. He called it the Frankfayter, though.

[steve-shimp-] Egads, Brad, just did a little googling on the Wilshire Bowl. Apparently now an Office Depot. (at least, that's what's at that address now)

[Maxwell] KayLhota They focused on four sitcoms as representative of the genre in this week's episode (first I've seen).

[Laura Leff] How is that PBS series? Haven't seen it yet.

[KayLhota] The Wilshire Bowl is now an Office Depot

[Dreerson the Pooh] Figures

[Laura Leff] Pioneers of Prime Time rocked.

[Maxwell] Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, Danny Thomas/Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke.

[Brad from Georgia] Ken Burns's "The TV Comics."

[Laura Leff] There's got to be a joke in there about Wilshire Bowl -> Office Depot

[Scott in KC] What about the Brown Derby?

[Mike Amo] It's okay, kind of nice to see some of the material outside of a museum!

User Brad has logged out.

[Laura Leff] Sammy's now playing drums on cartons of paper

[Maxwell] LL It was okay, I guess.

[Laura Leff] So not much Jack, I take it.

[yhtapmys] Lord, they loved those George Bernard Shaw jokes.

[Maxwell] LL I really liked Pioneers of Prime Time.

[Laura Leff] Yht - Harry Conn was big on those

[Mike Amo] I missed the much of the first part...looked like they had some with Jack and Carson somewhere

[Brad from Georgia] "George Bernard Shaw. No one can understand him. The man can't speak above a whisker." Ba-dum.

[yhtapmys] Well, Harry was gone by this point and they've done another one.

[KayLhota] so, Harry Conn was still writing for Jack Benny then?

[KayLhota] Oh, okay

[yhtapmys] I've seen him parodied on cartoons of the 30s, too.

[KayLhota] I figured when Ed Beloin popped in

[Laura Leff] He might have given Jack a bit or two...he did for years afterwards.

[Maxwell] Shaw was a major celebrity in the '30s.

[Laura Leff] The early 30s shows almost always include gags on Shaw and Garbo's shoes.

[Brad from Georgia] Conn didn't prosper in later years, did he?

[Laura Leff] Separate gags

[Maxwell] The Britney Spears of his day.

[yhtapmys] I thought he had sued Jack.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Nope, ended up a doorman in a theatre.

[KayLhota] ouch

[Laura Leff] Yht - Over what?

[yhtapmys] Laura, didn't he sue Jack after he left?

[Brad from Georgia] Harpo Marx, upon meeting Shaw, lifted his beard and said, "You're not wearing a tie!" Shaw said, "That's why I have the beard, you moron!"

[Laura Leff] Yht - I'd have to go pull some books for a refresher, but Conn was the one who walked out and left Jack with no show.

[Frank J. Lhota] One of Brittany's first hits, "Ops I did it again" was first performed by Louis Armstrong in 1932.

[Brad from Georgia] But Louis wore underwear....

[Laura Leff] So if Conn threatened to sue, Jack would have had more than grounds for contract violation.

[KayLhota] Good one, Brad!

[Maxwell] Except Armstrong called it "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You."

[steve-shimp-]

[Maxwell] I wouldn't bet on Armstrong wearing underwear. Swiss Kris was powerful stuff.

[Laura Leff] I prefer Louis' interpretation

[Brad from Georgia] I heard Elmer Fudd's cover of that: "I'll Be Gwad When You're Dead, You Wascal, You. Hehheh heh."

[Dreerson the Pooh]

[Maxwell] Swiss Kriss

[Maxwell] Stupid S key.

[Laura Leff] Since Steve mentioned it, any feedback on the Times issue?

[KayLhota] I haven't seen it yet

[Laura Leff] Not looking to glom compliments, just want to see what folks thought.

[Mike Amo] Great issue!

[yhtapmys] Brad, wasn't it Waymond Wadcwiffe?

[Laura Leff] Since it was mostly member contributions.

[Maxwell] I've been busy during this vacation, so I haven't read much of it.

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, my wife resubbed for me via Pay Pal. I use Pay Pal so infrequently I forgot my password!

[steve-shimp-] I keep looking at the cover shot and it really makes me laugh.

[Mike Amo] Read it on a flight

[steve-shimp-] I'm kinda yawning about 2008 myself.

[KayLhota] oops, Frank did we renew for 2008, yet?

[Maxwell] You can read it on a flight. You can read it in the night.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Don't feel bad. I've been multitasking and trying to hack into the interface for our router. I've got the password but don't know the user name.

[Maxwell] You can read it in a chair. You can read it anywhere.

[Laura Leff] Steve - When I went to pick the photo, it was one of those times when everything looked good.

[Laura Leff] But that one finally jumped out at me.

[Maxwell] Sorry. Somehow I started chanelling Dr. Suess.

[Brad from Georgia] We need that like a Suess needs a hatrack.

[Maxwell] LL Good choice of photo. I love it.

[steve-shimp-] Good call, I love it.

[Mike Amo] I was going to join in, but my rhymes were blue

[Maxwell]

[Laura Leff] There was a young girl from Nantucket

[Laura Leff] But anyway

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm not sure if we renewed. Can we renew with PayPal?

[steve-shimp-] So has anyone else bought/read "Well!"? Brad, I know you mentioned it.

[Maxwell] Not I.

[Laura Leff] Frank - Yes. I can't remember off the top of my head if you did or not...I think you did...

[Brad from Georgia] I bought and read it, unfortunately did not buy it through the IJBFC site, though!

[Laura Leff] BRB, let me check.

[steve-shimp-] I bought it through the link and hopefully Laura got the nickel or whatever.

[KayLhota] I thought we had renewed, but I couldn't remember how far that renewal went

[Brad from Georgia] "Well" is a mixed bag--fun stuff to read, but a little uneven.

[steve-shimp-] I agree. There are a few gems, but uneven is what I'd call it too.

[Laura Leff] Kay - All subscriptions run out in November.

[Brad from Georgia] I'm a big cartoon fan, so I liked the piece on cartoons, though the writer seemed to have a grudge on against Mel Blanc.

[KayLhota] oops, Frank. We have to renew.

[steve-shimp-] I thought the vaudeville piece was really good.

[Maxwell] I renewed!

[Brad from Georgia] Steve--Me, too. One of the best pieces in the book.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Do you remember who the writer was?

User NotBrad has entered this room.

[Brad from Georgia] LL-Not off the top of my head, and I don't have the book handy.

[steve-shimp-] Pam Munter

[Laura Leff] Hi NotBrad!

[KayLhota] Hello, not Brad.

[Brad from Georgia] Hi, NotBrad!

[Mike Amo] Hi NotBrad

[NotBrad] I got blasted out of the chat room...

[Maxwell] Hi NotBrad (formerly Brad?)

[Dreerson the Pooh] Hello NotBrad

[Scott in KC] HNY Not Brad!

[Maxwell] NotBrad That's been known to happen.

[Maxwell] I think it's a Java thing.

[NotBrad] It seems I'm not talking enough....

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm not Brad either.

[Maxwell] Neither am I.

[KayLhota] Funny, Frank

[Brad from Georgia] Something I can't claim.

[Laura Leff] Kay/Frank - Looks like not. Sorry!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Uh-oh, I'm not talking enough either...

[Brad from Georgia] I'm Spartacus.

[steve-shimp-] Clarifying: Pam Munter on the vaudeville piece, Derek Tague and Michael J. Hayde on the cartoon piece.

[Laura Leff] NotBrad - Not by me!

[Laura Leff] I'm Spartacus

[KayLhota] Laura, I'll remind Frank to renew.

[Maxwell] I'm Kirk Douglas!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Now is the time for all good men...

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, I'm Brad. I knew I was somebody, I thought it was Spartacus.

[Mike Amo] I'm Mike...Frank, remember to renew

[Frank J. Lhota] Johnny Mercer: "That was Laura, but she was only a dream"

[Maxwell] Or as Ted Night once said, "Goodbye Mr. Massey!"

[Maxwell] Knight

[Dreerson the Pooh] I like Spike Jones' version

[Laura Leff] Oh, Derek most definitely does NOT have a grudge on Mel Blanc.

[Laura Leff] Michael I don't know.

[Laura Leff] Kay - Sounds good

[Maxwell] Dreerson, So do I.

[Laura Leff] And now, Hoobert Heever

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Duh...let me see..."

[Maxwell] LL Harry Von Zell!

[NotBrad] Spangler Arlington Brugh named names, I didn't know that.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Yup!

[NotBrad] Or a name, at least.

[steve-shimp-] You know the story behind that blooper?

[Scott in KC] Harry Von Wilson

[Laura Leff] Steve - I used to, but I can't remember now.

[Laura Leff] I'm not Lisa...my name is Laura...

[steve-shimp-] Apparently HVZ did NOT do the blooper introducing Hoover. He said it in some other context.

[Laura Leff] Spartacus left you years ago

[Scott in KC] or Von Wilson (for short).

[steve-shimp-] But, "recreated" it for Kermit Schaefer's album and the rest is urban legend.

[Laura Leff] or Von Stroheim when he was directing

[KayLhota] oh

[Laura Leff] Steve - Seems typical of Schaeffer.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Kermit Schaefer sure spead a lot of misinformation with his records...

[steve-shimp-] very typical!

[Laura Leff] Like the urban legend of Uncle Don.

[yhtapmys] That's what U was going to say, Laura.

[steve-shimp-] yep.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Yeah, that above all

[KayLhota] that was Harry Von Zell's voice in the clip, but it makes sense that it was recreated

[Laura Leff] Impressive that Von Zell would do that.

[Maxwell] Just checked up on the snopes site: http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/radio/vonzell.asp

[Brad from Georgia] So is that really Abe Lincoln when he says "Score four and--d@#$ Sorry, sorry, four SCORE and ...."

[KayLhota] geesh

User yhtapmys has logged out.

[KayLhota] oops, we lost yip

[Laura Leff] And Bell saying, "Watson, $#&@*$(#@( it, come here!"

[Scott in KC] "Other than that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?"

[Brad from Georgia] I never did understand the title of "Yip, Yip Yaphank."

User yhtapmys has entered this room.

[KayLhota] hi Yip

[Laura Leff] That's an Irving Berlin WWI musical, IIRC

[yhtapmys] Forgot, I can't click on URLs here.

[Maxwell] Yaphank was the army camp Berlin was stationed at.

[Brad from Georgia] LL--I understood Bell's message was "Mr. Watson, come here! I need you. ....I want you....I've got to have you....."

[Laura Leff] Copy and open in a separate tab

[Laura Leff] Brad - Yes, I think that's how they recreated it in the current series of Doctor Who.

[KayLhota] oh gosh

[Scott in KC] Brad. The first obscene phone call?

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Aha!

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, did I help with the info about Patrick Troughton?

[Laura Leff] I don't think heavy breathing would have translated well with acoustical reproduction equipment

[Laura Leff] Would sound more like static

[Laura Leff] Brad - I dropped you a private message saying that I was interested in hearing more about what actually happened at the convention

[Laura Leff] Brad - But we can take that offline.

[Dreerson the Pooh] So, maybe all the static I'm hearing on those Edison cylinders is really...heavy breathing?

[Brad from Georgia] Oh--okay. Not much really happened, after the announcement.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Just curious how they'd break the news to the crowd.

[Frank J. Lhota] Edison cylinders would be great for rapping.

[Maxwell] Dreerson No doubt the guys in the band.

[Brad from Georgia] I'll email you and give you the story, LL.

[KayLhota] Good, Frank

[Laura Leff] Dreerson - Or Enrico Caruso singing after running to the studio

[Laura Leff] Brad - Thanks much!

[Brad from Georgia] But didn't Don Ameche invent the telephone?

[Laura Leff] tin foil wrapping

[steve-shimp-] Don Adams invented the shoephone.

[KayLhota] oh man

[Laura Leff] Jack invented the shoe safe

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Oh, how he sings...reggae music to his cattle as he swings..." That's what it sounds like, anyway

[KayLhota] Brilliant, Laura

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, yeah! the new GET SMART movie opens soon!!!!! I am SO not going!!!!!!

[KayLhota] I'm with you, Brad

[Dreerson the Pooh] Yes, I'm also not going to the remake of "The Women"

[Laura Leff] They remade Get Smart?

[Maxwell] Don Adams will always be Maxwell Smart to me.

[KayLhota] it's coming out in the movies, soon

[Brad from Georgia] Yes....due to be unleashed on the public any moment now.

[Laura Leff] Dreerson- I prefer Jack's version.

[Frank J. Lhota] I'll wait for the movie adaptation of "My Mother the Car"

[KayLhota] Laughing on that, Frank

[Laura Leff] Who could possibly play Don Adam's part? I think Rowan Atkison is the only possible one.

[Dreerson the Pooh] That's about what they're getting down to, Frank

[Scott in KC] Who will be 99?

[Brad from Georgia] Steve Carell is going to be Smart.

[Laura Leff] Who?

[Maxwell] Whoever he is.

[Brad from Georgia] Anne Hathaway is 99.

[Maxwell] Who?

[Laura Leff] William Shakespeare's wife?

[KayLhota] her, I know

[Maxwell] Any relation to Jane Hathaway?

[Scott in KC] Jane Hathaway?

[steve-shimp-] Nancy Kulp IS Maxwell Smart!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Alan Arkin is the Chief

[KayLhota] the movies, The Princess Diaries, Ell Enchanted

[Brad from Georgia] Carell was in whatever it was--Evan Almighty. Which I don't think anybody saw.

[Frank J. Lhota] But who will play Larabbe?

[Laura Leff] Or to borrow from Laugh-In, Annd Hathaway about her.

[Mike Amo] The guy from "The Office" and "Brad Almighty"

[Scott in KC] GMTA Max! ^5

[Mike Amo] Or Evan

[Brad from Georgia] David Koechener is Larrabee

[Maxwell] ^5 back atcha Scott

[Scott in KC] Sorry about that.

[Laura Leff] It's a wonder they don't remake Mr. Ed.

[Mike Amo] Missed it by that much

[Laura Leff] Or I Dream of Jeannie

[steve-shimp-] I would love a Francis remake.

[Laura Leff] Barbara Eden could still play her part.

[Maxwell] Well, they did Bewitched.

[KayLhota] it's a wonder that they don't remake "What's Happening"

[Laura Leff] They did?

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Yep, they surely did.

[Maxwell] Yeah, Barbara Eden was on that PBS sitcom thing. Looks pretty good for a lady in her 70s.

[Frank J. Lhota] A "Mr Ed" movie was in development.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I'm not surprised...

[Laura Leff] You know, I was talking with a member of the club about movies, since he's in the industry

[KayLhota] yeesh

[Maxwell] Alan Young is still alive.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Any plans for doing "Camp Runamuck"?

[Laura Leff] and he explained to me that they just won't sink any money into new ideas

[steve-shimp-] George Burns produced Mr. Ed, btw.

[Brad from Georgia] But Young is old.

[Frank J. Lhota] When is "Turn On" coming out on DVD?

[KayLhota] 87 years old, I think

[Scott in KC] Who would be Mr. Ed's voice? James Earl Jones?

[Maxwell] Frank Shortest DVD in the world.

[yhtapmys] Frank, they wouldn't run Turn On here.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Hopefully there'd be some bonus features with that, Frank

[Maxwell] Kay: And still working.

[Laura Leff] The Partridge Family

[Maxwell] At least as of a year or two ago.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I saw it! But our local station pulled it the next day

[Laura Leff] If they start remaking 80s comedies, I'm going to have to leave the country.

[Frank J. Lhota] "Turn On: Season One"

[steve-shimp-] Who's the Boss: The Motion Picture

[KayLhota] episode 1

[Laura Leff] What is Turn On?

[Dreerson the Pooh] Laura, I'll join you...maybe we could get a group rate?

[Brad from Georgia] I think Hugh Laurie should be the voice of Mr. Ed.

[Maxwell] LL A show that lasted one episode.

[Laura Leff] You're in big trouble, Mister...

[steve-shimp-] Urkel, starring Will Smith

[Dreerson the Pooh] ABC's notorious answer to Laugh-In

[Brad from Georgia] And Bobcat Goldthwaite should play Wilbur.

[Maxwell] Produced by George Schlatter on the heels of Laugh-In.

[KayLhota] Laura, Turn on was produced by the same folks that gave us Laugh In

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Shouldn't have had The Clapper as a sponsor

[Maxwell] Hosted by Tim Conway that first episode.

[Scott in KC] Leave It to Beaver.....Jack Benny and the Beavers?

[Frank J. Lhota] and last episode

[Dreerson the Pooh] It ran one episode in early 1969

[Maxwell] How did the name Beaver Cleaver ever make it past the network censors?

[Laura Leff] Turn on *clap clap* Turn off *clap clap*

[Dreerson the Pooh] The reaction was so negative that ABC cancelled it before a second episode could air

[Brad from Georgia] Sounds like Jackie Gleason's miserable "You're in the Picture."

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - You know, I never noticed that until now.

[Maxwell] It takes a filthy mind to recognize that stuff.

[Laura Leff] BRB

[steve-shimp-] Those Petticoat Junction girls living in Hooterville too...who knew?

[yhtapmys] Laura, Turn On was apparently so low brow, some ABC affiliates wouldn't run it. KOMO in Seattle didn't.

[Dreerson the Pooh] As Tom Lehrer once said, "When correctly viewed, everything is lewd"

[Frank J. Lhota] "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver"

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, the darndest thing--we were just channel-surfing and passed "The Andy Griffith Show" on TVLand, and there was Eddie Carroll!

[steve-shimp-] Excuse me, stewardess...I speak jive.

[Scott in KC] You guys crack me up!

[Frank J. Lhota] Jive 1.5 or Jive 2.0?

[yhtapmys] Steve, when I was at the library today, looking over old newspaper columns, the writer began with the phrase "Hello, Rube!"

[steve-shimp-] wow

[Maxwell] Barbara Billingsley is also still with us at age 92.

[KayLhota] wow

[Brad from Georgia] yhtapmys--funny, that's how our librarian always greets me.

[KayLhota] oh man

[steve-shimp-]

[Laura Leff] Brad - BNo kidding!

[yhtapmys] The column (written in 1952) says it came from the circus.

[Maxwell] yht You do bear a remarkable resemblance to Rube Marquard.

[Scott in KC] <<< Met Tony Dow before he started that chemical company.

[Brad from Georgia] Nah, I kid because I love. But our librarian really doesn't understand why I keep ordering such weird books through Interlibrary Loan.

[Laura Leff] Yht - That makes a lot of sense

[steve-shimp-] I bear a remarkable resemblance to a Rube Goldberg device.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I was thinking more Rube Waddell, myself...

[NotBrad] Calabasas isn't what it was. Neither is Anaheim. One of the few topical Benny references that in today's terms, are difficult to make sense of.

[yhtapmys] I thought it came from vaudeville, but the circus makes sense.

[Laura Leff] I'm trying to remember the woman who greeted visitors to her nightclub with "Hello Suckers!"

[Brad from Georgia] I've always heard that "Hey Rube!" was a carnie call for "I got trouble here!"

[Maxwell] Texas Guinan.

[KayLhota] Texas Guinan

[yhtapmys] That's it Brad.

[Maxwell] Beat ya!

[Brad from Georgia] Hello, suckers!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Truth in advertising

[Laura Leff] There you go.

[Maxwell] But she is now known as TX Guinan

[Brad from Georgia] Good old Whoopi Goldberg! Uh, Texas Guinan.

User Frank J. Lhota has logged out.

[Dreerson the Pooh] LOL, Maxwell

[Maxwell] Bye Frank!

[KayLhota] oops, we lost Frank

[yhtapmys] Any idea who played the new year in the show tonight?

[Brad from Georgia] Billy somebody.

[Maxwell] Billy ?

[steve-shimp-] Billy Dee Williams

[Laura Leff] Who's got their 39 Forever handier than mine?

User Frank J. Lhota has entered this room.

[Maxwell] Mines across the hall.

[Brad from Georgia] Just says Billy, LL.

[steve-shimp-] That's what you have in 39F, Billy ?

[Scott in KC] Billy the Kid.

[Dreerson the Pooh] <--- blows on leftover noisemaker

[KayLhota] there isn't a last name, just Billy

[yhtapmys] The voice isn't familiar so that's why I asked.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Billy the Rube

[Laura Leff] OK, got it. His lines must have that name.

[Brad from Georgia] Probably the kid's name was William.

[Maxwell] Billy Holliday.

[Laura Leff] Billy Shears

[yhtapmys] It's not Billy Beer.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Billy Mithcell

[Brad from Georgia] The one and only Billy Shears?

[KayLhota] or Billy Barty

[Scott in KC] Billy Sunday.

[Maxwell] Billy Gray

[Brad from Georgia] Billy Club.

[Laura Leff] What would you think if I sang out of tune?

[Maxwell] Billy Goat

[Laura Leff] Billy Goat

[steve-shimp-] Billy Goat sounds more gruff

[Laura Leff] Argh

[Maxwell] Beat ya!

[Brad from Georgia] I'd stand up and walk out on you.

[Laura Leff] Brad -

[yhtapmys] Oh, cool.

[Laura Leff] I love this crowd

[yhtapmys] Laura, I just found a piece by Harry Conn in a radio column.

[Brad from Georgia] Actually, I wouldn't. I'm so tone-deaf I can hardly tell when the CD is playing and it's not just wind noise in the car.

[KayLhota] I've been wracking my brains trying to remember child actors named Billy in the 1930's

[Laura Leff] We seamless move from 1980s comedies to 1930s history to Beatles songs

[Laura Leff] Yht - Indeed...what's the scoop/

[KayLhota] Laura, Frank just renewed.

[Maxwell] Billy Mumy

[Maxwell] Oops...wrong decade.

[Brad from Georgia] I know Billy Mumy, and sir, that was no Billy Mumy.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Billie Jean is not my lover...

[yhtapmys] It's on stoogery.

[Frank J. Lhota] But the Monkees song "Zilch" was the first rap song...

[Laura Leff] Kay - Cool. I've not caught up on E-mail due to the power outage, but I'll get to it.

[yhtapmys] I'll put it up tonight.

[Scott in KC] It was Fred Allen.

[Laura Leff] Billy Murray

[Brad from Georgia] Billy Mumy one did a commercial with both my kids assisting him.

[Maxwell] And the American Quartet.

[Laura Leff] Ode to Billy Joe

[Laura Leff] Billy Joel

[Maxwell] I know what they threw over the Tallahatchee Bridge.

[yhtapmys] I can't of any kids named Billy who appeared on radio at that time.

[Maxwell] t was the video tape of Turn On.

[KayLhota] I know that Tommy Bond from the Little Rascals did kid voices for the Warners cartoons

[Laura Leff] Maxwell -

[Frank J. Lhota] What was the name of the mean little kid?

[KayLhota] but he isn't named Billy, so I'm stuck

[Laura Leff] Kay - I have his autobriography

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, LL--for Christmas I got the fifth Looney Tunes Gold collection. There's a cartoon there, "Craizy Cruise," that includes a take-off of the Lucky Strike auctioneer.

[Maxwell] Junior

[Laura Leff] Or something like that

[KayLhota] Frank, his name is Junior

[Maxwell] Kay, I just said that.

[Maxwell] You're slow!

[Laura Leff] Brad - Interesting. Wonder if it's before or after Jack switched.

[Brad from Georgia] Both in the vocal and in the closed-caption, he says, "Sold to AN American." I KNEW I'd heard that in some cartoon!

[yhtapmys] Yeah, that's right, Brad.

[Laura Leff] Butch

[yhtapmys] One of the Columbia cartoons did a parody of it, too.

[yhtapmys] Can't remember which one, though.

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Before he switched. It's a 1940 cartoon, begun by Tex Avery, completed by Bob Clampett.

[Frank J. Lhota] So round, so firm, so firmly packed.

[KayLhota] Crazy Cruise is still during Jack's JELLO days

[Laura Leff] Red Hot Riding Hood was also round, firm, and fully packed

[KayLhota] so free and easy on the draw

[Laura Leff] Speaking of Texas Guinan Avery

[Brad from Georgia] But I was sure I'd heard "sold to AN American" instead of "sold to American." And I wuz right, too.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Hey, lady! Need a pack of Luckies over here!

[Laura Leff] I'm told Luckies are very much no longer free and easy on the draw

[Maxwell] Or as Bugs called him, "Fred A-Very.

[Maxwell] "

[Maxwell] Didn't they put filters on them?

[Maxwell] Same with Camels.

[Laura Leff] I think they may have filtered and unfiltered now

[Dreerson the Pooh] I think Camels are the last unfiltered cigs left..

[Brad from Georgia] Tex had up and quit Warner Bros. in a snit and had gone to MGM at that point, leaving three cartoons unfinished.

[Laura Leff] The chocolate version I have of them is unfiltered.

[Laura Leff] Dreerson - OK, you may be right.

[Maxwell] And Lucky Strike Green is still off to war.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I saw unfilitered Luckies in the 80s, but not since then

[Laura Leff] Sounds like a real estate ad: "Three cartoons unfurnished..."

[yhtapmys] Yes sir! You bet!

[Laura Leff] Right you are!

[Scott in KC] Laura, I do have a Benny two-part question: Are any of the Sportsmen alive and did they ever have a hit record?

[Laura Leff] When you buy, keep your eye on that bull's eye!

[yhtapmys] Ptui!

[KayLhota] that reminds me, the set also contains "Bacall to Arms"

[Laura Leff] Scott - Let's see...

[Maxwell] You can tell a person's age if they pronounce Pall Mall like it's spelled.

[Laura Leff] There was Thurl Ravenscroft, but he's gone now

[KayLhota] Our son Daniel's jaw dropped when Bogart spoke in Rochester's voice

[Laura Leff] There's a person on the Forum who's a Sportsmen expert who could answer this right off

[Laura Leff] Actually yes, Jay Meyer.

[Dreerson the Pooh] According to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, the Sportsmen had five hits on their own

[Laura Leff] And hit record? I'd...

[Brad from Georgia] "My oh my! I can work for Mr. Benny now!"

[Laura Leff] OK, Dreerson beat me to it.

[Laura Leff] I would have had to pull Whitburn's book myself.

[Laura Leff] Dreerson - What were they, and how high did they chart?

[Dreerson the Pooh] "What Did You Do in the Infantry" (#22, 1943), "Tutti Tutti Pizzicato" (#24, 1948)...

[yhtapmys] "My, oh, my, tattle-tale grey!" was a different cartoon, I guess.

[KayLhota] it was

[Scott in KC] Thanks. They remind me of the Hi-Lo's.

[Laura Leff] I have a whole LP of them

[KayLhota] darn, I'm usually good on the Warners cartoons

[KayLhota] and I can't think of which one that was in

[Brad from Georgia] yth--Two other cartoons, in fact.

[Laura Leff] it's strange to hear them sing one song after another

[yhtapmys] I was going to say "Book Revue" but I can't remember.

[Dreerson the Pooh] "You Can't Be True, Dear" (#6, 1948), "Toolie Oolie Doolie" (#11, 1948)...

[KayLhota] it wasn't Book Revue

[Brad from Georgia] No, it was one of the grocery cartoons, though.

[Maxwell] LL And no commercial in the last half.

[yhtapmys] "Goofy Groceries," then.

[Brad from Georgia] That's it.

[Dreerson the Pooh] And..."Woody Woodpecker" with Mel Blanc (#2, 1948)

[Laura Leff] I have to see that some day

[Scott in KC] Thanks Pooh-Sooner!

[Laura Leff] Dreerson - Oh yes, I've got that.

[yhtapmys] It was one of those Clampett-comes-to-life ones.

[Brad from Georgia] They didn't cover "The Little White Cloud that Cried?"

[Laura Leff] Wahhhh

[Brad from Georgia] Everyone else did.

[Brad from Georgia] Even Senator Joseph McCarthy.

[yhtapmys] I thought that was Stan Freberg

[Laura Leff] I'd like to see what they'd do with 'The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane'

[Scott in KC] Don Wilson "covered" a lot of music.

[Dreerson the Pooh] It helps to have one's computer right next to the reference shelf :-)

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Get your mind out of the gutter.

[Laura Leff] Dreerson - I hear that

[Laura Leff] Brad - Yeah yeah yeah

[yhtapmys] Wasn't Shady Lane where Mr. Ed lives?

[Dreerson the Pooh] "You think you've lost your love...well I saw her yester-day-ay..."

[Brad from Georgia] No, that was a stall.

[Laura Leff] That was a barn

[KayLhota] Mockingbird Lane was where the Munsters lived

[Maxwell] Quit stalling!

[Laura Leff] When it's late in the evening I climb up the hill

[Maxwell] And Mockingbird Hill was what Patti Paige sang about.

[Maxwell] Or was it Patty Paige?

[Scott in KC] There is a gentlemen's club here called The Shady Lady. (Bad part of town.)

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Beatcha!

[Brad from Georgia] The south side of Chicago is the baddest part of town.

[Laura Leff] Scott - I'd think they'd want her well-lit.

[Laura Leff] in every sense of the word

[Laura Leff] Bad Bad Billy Leroy Brown

[Frank J. Lhota] Someone left a cake out in the rain

[Brad from Georgia] I don't think that I can take this...

[Laura Leff] I hope everyone enjoys these brain-dropping sessions as much as I do

[yhtapmys] Geez, Laura did you know this...

[yhtapmys] Harry Conn had his own show.

[Laura Leff] Yht - Yup.

[Scott in KC] Brad, hard to think Jim Croce died 35 years ago this year. (I think.)

[Maxwell] Brad: I don't think that I can take it.

[Brad from Georgia] Usually, but I been sick. When I laugh, I start to cough.

[Laura Leff] Tried to be Jack all on his own.

[Maxwell] 'Cause it took so long to bake it.

[yhtapmys] I'm just reading about it now.

[Brad from Georgia] I meant the lyrics, Max.

[yhtapmys] Mary Kelly and Charlie Cantor were in the cast.

[KayLhota] wow

[steve-shimp-] Do any of the shows exist?

[Laura Leff] Yht - Mary Kelley? That I didn't know.

[yhtapmys] Yes.

[Laura Leff] Steve - Not as far as I know.

[yhtapmys] Bert Parks was the announcer. He must have been 10.

[Laura Leff] Conn's wife was also in them.

[steve-shimp-] Hmm.

[Laura Leff] They tried to do a Jack-and-Mary type thing.

[Scott in KC] Max, Jimmy Webb was in concert here last summer.

[Maxwell] And I never have that recipe again....

[Laura Leff] Oh no!

[KayLhota] yeesh, it probably blew sky high

[yhtapmys] Who was his wife? Is that Beatrice Kay?

[Maxwell] Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Dreerson the Pooh] I wanted to hang Richard Harris for that song...

[Laura Leff] I want to hang William Shatner for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

[Maxwell] Jimmy Webb should have been hanged for the lyrics.

[Maxwell] LL Shatner's Lucy is a classic!

[Laura Leff] Yht - No, no one who became famous

[Brad from Georgia] The Atlanta Radio Theatre did a live performance of "An Atlanta Christmas." I wanted to sing "Someone left the fruitcake in the rain..." but they suppressed me.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - I particularly like the online animated version of it, really.

[Dreerson the Pooh] "The girlllll...with kalaidascope...EYYYEEEEEEESSS!"

[Scott in KC] Brad.

[Frank J. Lhota] Someone left the jello out in the snow?

[Laura Leff] Frank - That might improve it.

[KayLhota] Laughing, Frank

[Brad from Georgia] Here's a grand idea, folks: Make Jell-O the usual way, then pack it in snow to chill!

[steve-shimp-] Geez, and Georgia hosts the fruitcake capital of the world in Claxton. I was just there a few weeks ago.

[steve-shimp-] No pride in the home product.

[KayLhota] Laughing, Brad

[Dreerson the Pooh] Anybody have a good recipie for snow ice crean?

[Dreerson the Pooh] cream, even?

[Brad from Georgia] We had a piece in the show about a fruitcake that was traded around for years, until a young person ate it.

[yhtapmys] Use Jell-O ice cream powder.

[Maxwell] Yeah, first you take the yellow snow....

[Scott in KC] I thought that was San Francisco. My bad!

[Maxwell] That's snow mixed with lemon Jell-o...

[Brad from Georgia] I had a role as an 1890s Atlanta daddy trying to explain snow to his children.

[Maxwell] (As opposed to former major league pitcher Mark Lemongello)...

[Frank J. Lhota] How do you improve jello? Top it off with Grape Nuts!

[Scott in KC] @ Max.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Euuuyew...

[KayLhota] Brilliant, Frank

[Laura Leff] http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7258896287489458266

[Dreerson the Pooh] And they're unrationed!

[Dreerson the Pooh] For good reason!

[yhtapmys] Grape Nuts are just plain awful.

[Maxwell] I eat Grape Nuts every morning. I love them.

[Maxwell] Just bought four boxes today.

User Frank J. Lhota has logged out.

[KayLhota] my husband Frank is a softie for Grape Nuts custard

[Maxwell] There goes Frank again.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I tried them once last year...all that advertising made me curious

[Scott in KC] Grape Nuts and Jell-o? Yummy!

[Brad from Georgia] Honestly, to hear Don Wilson wax ecstatic over some ghastly melange of Jell-O, duck meat, horseradish, spring onions, and grapes is enough to turn my stomach sometimes.

[Laura Leff] Kay - I didn't know anything could soften Grape Nuts

[Maxwell] Don could eat anything.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I took me right back to the timie in college when I tried a Milk-Bone dog biscuit...

[yhtapmys] And did.

[KayLhota] I tried it and it really is a good recipe

[Brad from Georgia] You know, I actually like Grape-Nuts heated for a short time in the microwave (with milk). Nice cooked cereal, but not crunchy.

[Maxwell] LL Add the milk to the grapenuts, put on a pat of butter or margerine, and then microwave for about 30 sec or so.

[Maxwell] They soften up and it's delicious.

[KayLhota] I'll have to try that

[Mike Amo] Back...that sounds like a Don Wilson recipe

[Maxwell] Brad ya beat me.

[Brad from Georgia] Course I eat grits.

User Frank J. Lhota has entered this room.

[Maxwell] I like grits, too.

[Laura Leff] I do too

[Laura Leff] I am Spartacus

[Maxwell] But you can't get 'me here.

[Maxwell] I am Kirk Douglas!

[Dreerson the Pooh] I am Legend

[Maxwell] "Goodbye Mr. Massey!"

[Brad from Georgia] I have to plug the Kingfisher Cafe in Pine Lake, GA, again. Had breakfast there this morning. Fantastic food!

[Frank J. Lhota] I am the Walrus

[Mike Amo] I'm still Mike

[Dreerson the Pooh] Goo goo goo joob!

[Maxwell] Yay Dreerson!

[Laura Leff] I don't recommend the movie "Color Me Kubrick", but the best bit in it is when he's in a mental hospital and all the patients (including Peter Sallis of Wallace and Gromit fame) start sitting up and saying "I'm Stanley Kubrick!"

[Maxwell] You didn't say Coo-coo-ca-choo!

[Laura Leff] Goobye Mr. Chips

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, my daughter is currently in "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts.

[Brad from Georgia] She's really the stage manager for the show, but I think she's doing a couple of voices.

[steve-shimp-] Anne Frank with puppets?

[Brad from Georgia] Steve--combined puppet and live action, yes. Puppetry can be quite serious.

[Laura Leff] Reminds me of a movie where Tristan and Isolde is done with puppets

[Maxwell] steve...Thanks for making me do a spit take.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Say what?

[Laura Leff] I'm envisioning Anne Frank with muppets

[Brad from Georgia] Last fall they did an amazing adaptation of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," and I am not joking about that.

[steve-shimp-] I'm sure it's good Brad, but I am getting ... what Laura said ... in my mind's eye!

[Frank J. Lhota] It is much faster paced than "War and Peace" in finger puppets.

[Mike Amo] The Muppets in "The Brothers Karamazov"

[Laura Leff] I bet Burr Tilstrom could do it, though.

[Mike Amo] This word association stuff is great!

[Brad from Georgia] Actually, a lot of it is shadow puppetry, very influenced by Indonesian style.

[Laura Leff] The Muppets in Madame Bovary

[Scott in KC] The Brothers Kalamazoo.

[Maxwell] A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I gotta gaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll in Kalamazoo....

[Laura Leff] I've got a gal in...

[Laura Leff] OK, you beat me again

[Brad from Georgia] The Muppet Museum will soon be a part of the Puppetry Arts Center, too. We saw an original Kermit and THE original Swedish Chef the last time we were there.

[Scott in KC] Max, that really happened to my dad. He met my mom in Kalamazoo.

[Laura Leff] I've got the Peter Sellers and George Burns episodes of the Muppet Show in my Netflix queue

[Mike Amo]

[Brad from Georgia] They also recently had an exhibit of the Salem puppet from "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."

[Laura Leff] Things that could have been and weren't, but you really wish they had been: Jack on the Muppet Show

[Dreerson the Pooh] From Tex Guinan and Tex Avery to Tex Beneke...

[Brad from Georgia] One of the things on display was a book about Salem...that my wife and I wrote!

[KayLhota] I remember seeing a Muppet display at the Children's Museum in Boston in 1982

[steve-shimp-] Oh, man, I had an embarassingly unhealthy obsession with that cat puppet.

[Mike Amo] I've seen Kalamazoo and Cuc-amonga

[Maxwell] Scott Only time I was ever in Kalamazoo, we drove a couple of hundred miles in a snowstorm to see Sonny Rollins.

[Laura Leff] To Tex Returns

[Laura Leff] Tex Evasion

[Laura Leff] Carpet Tex

[Dreerson the Pooh] We've got miles and miles of Tex's

[Maxwell] Hi there Texas, whatchoo say?

[Scott in KC] Max, 99% of my relatives are from there.

[Frank J. Lhota] "The Adams Family" character "Thing" was a naked puppet! And the censors didn't notice.

[Brad from Georgia] LL-Heather Henson said her dad really tried to work out a Jack Benny/Muppet encounter, but never could bring it off.

[KayLhota] Two Guys From Texas

[Laura Leff] Steve - TMI

[steve-shimp-] Frank

[Laura Leff] Rollins Rollins Rollins, keep those doggie Rollins...

[Brad from Georgia] I flew into Kalamazoo once on the way to Marshall.

[Maxwell] I'm back in the saddle again...

[Maxwell] Rawhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Jus' rope 'em, go and brand 'em..."

[Brad from Georgia] Back where an Indian is your friend

[Laura Leff] Brad - Oh I know. He was inspired by being on the Tonight Show with Jack, IIRC, but Jack died too soon.

[Brad from Georgia] Where the vegetables are green, and you can p in the stream....

[Dreerson the Pooh] Where the vegetables are green...

[Frank J. Lhota] Daylight come and me wanna go hmoe

[Scott in KC] Brad, Marshall has a new international airport.

[Maxwell] I prefer queueing in the stream.

[Laura Leff] Brad

[Brad from Georgia] Jeeze, Scott, you're kiddin' me!

[Brad from Georgia] I've been flying into Detroit!

[Brad from Georgia] LL--Firesign Theater.

[Scott in KC] Of course, Brad!

[Laura Leff] Scott - Not Marshall Michigan?

[Brad from Georgia] Yes, LL--dear old Marshall.

[Maxwell] Firesign Theatre meets Gene Autry.

[Laura Leff] Brad - Ah, not that familiar with their stuff

[Scott in KC] Laura, amd I-94 is a runway.

[Maxwell] LL you have to be on drugs to understand their stuff.

[steve-shimp-] They had to take out Turkeyville to make room for the airport.

[Maxwell] But it's funny.

[Laura Leff] Scott - It would have to be!

[Brad from Georgia] Not Turkeyville! We loved Turkeyville!

[Scott in KC] <<< Grew up in Marshall, MI.

[Laura Leff] I heard them do a Lum and Abner take off that was a scream

[Dreerson the Pooh] From the LP, "I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus"

[Maxwell] LL might appreciate Nick Danger, Third Eye.

[Laura Leff] Lum and Abner running a Web storefront

[Dreerson the Pooh] Which was originally reported in Rolling Stone as, "I Think We're Ill -- Bozo's on the Bus"

[steve-shimp-] Tried to go to Turkeyville when I was in Mich for Xmas but they were closed for the holidays, alas.

[Brad from Georgia] "Out of the night...out of the fog...he walks into a sandstone building--OOF!"

[Laura Leff] Sending a bunch of lingerie and....ah...related stuff accidentally to the wrong customer (a school)

[steve-shimp-] What Irony. Do they close on Thanksgiving?

[Scott in KC] Pooh....Remember Nick Danger?

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Doggedly...(wroof wroof!)"

[Maxwell] You missed 'into the smog."

[Brad from Georgia] Nick Danger, Third Eye.

[Maxwell] Out of the fog, into the smog.

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Ruthlessly...(I wonder where Ruth is?)"

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[Laura Leff] Danger is my business

[KayLhota] lost NotBrad

[Maxwell] Oh, you mean Nancy!

[Brad from Georgia] "Nick, we can't talk here!" "Whf df yuf mnn--oh! We cfnt tlflk hfre!"

[Maxwell] Susan Underhill?

[Laura Leff] Gentlemen, you can't fight in here...this is the war room!

[Scott in KC] You remember Susan Underhill? Audrey Farber? Betty Jo Bilolosky? (I am sure I butchered the names.)

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Come in out of the cornstarch and put your mukluks by the fire..."

[Maxwell] Betty Jo Biloski, I think.

[Brad from Georgia] "Take your muklucks out of the cellophane...they should be dry by now."

[Maxwell] Bioloski.

[Laura Leff] Underhill...that was Frodo Baggins' pseudonym for a short while on the road.

[Maxwell] Oh, you mean Nancy!

[Laura Leff] Dave's not here, man.

[Scott in KC] Underhill is the Metro in DC.

[Brad from Georgia] On the road again...I just can't wait to get on the road again....the life I love is totin' magic rings with my friends...

[Laura Leff] It's FREE ASSOCIATION NIGHT on the IJBFC chat room!

[KayLhota] boy, you said it.

[Brad from Georgia] "I'm Rocky Roccocco, Middle Eastern stereotype..."

[Maxwell] As we all remember drug induced comedy.

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Who's creepin' out from under the stairway..."

[Scott in KC] We are all (grape) nuts!

[Maxwell] I am Grape Nuts!

[Laura Leff] Smilin at everybody she sees...

[KayLhota] coo coo coo joob

[Dreerson the Pooh]

[Laura Leff] Who's reachin' out to capture a moment...

[Frank J. Lhota] ... and Grape Nuts Flakes!

[Maxwell] goo goo goo joob

[Laura Leff] Everyone knows it's Texas Guinan.

[Brad from Georgia] So goo, so joob, so firmly packed.

[Maxwell] *clap clap clap clap* Deep in the heart of Texas

[Dreerson the Pooh] And Windy has sorry eyes...(that's the way we used to sing it)

[KayLhota] oh no

[Laura Leff] Oh give me land lotsa land under starry skies above

[Maxwell] Don't fence me in!

[KayLhota] if I laugh any harder, i'll cry!

[Laura Leff] Scuze me while I kiss this guy

[Dreerson the Pooh] Put that pistol down, babe...

[Brad from Georgia] Well, you'll never get rid of that (bang bang bang), no matter what you do....

[Maxwell] Oh, lord stuck in old Diane....

[Maxwell] No...Suckin' old diane.

[Brad from Georgia] Max, I always heard that as "stuck in low gear"

[Laura Leff] POP QUIZ: Name the Jack Benny movie that featured Don't Fence Me In

[Brad from Georgia] Buck Benny Rides A Bean

[Dreerson the Pooh] Hmmmm...

[Scott in KC] Wait a minute....wait a minute.....WAIT A MINUTE!

[KayLhota] Horn Blows at Midnight?

[Laura Leff] And sold about a zillion copies of sheet music

[Dreerson the Pooh] I vote for Kay's choice

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Dreerson the Pooh] I withdraw my vote

[KayLhota] Meanest Man in the World?

[Laura Leff] Oh come on, I thought this was easy.

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Brad from Georgia] Charlie's Ant

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Scott in KC] Buck Benny?

[Brad from Georgia] That film bugged me.

[Maxwell] Charlie's Cockroach?

[Laura Leff] Mental image of Jack gazing at an ant farm

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Laura Leff] Haven't heard it from anyone yet.

[KayLhota] George Washington Slept here?

[Brad from Georgia] "Now, that one's MINE, fellas. That ant belongs to Charlie."

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Brad from Georgia] To Beep or Not to Beep....no, that was the Road Runner.

[Maxwell] The Big Broadcast of 1936?

[Dreerson the Pooh] <---- runs to IMDB

[Laura Leff] When tearin off a game of golf I may make a play for the caddy

[Laura Leff] But when I do, I don't follow through because my ant belongs to Charlie

[Laura Leff] Nope, still no one's got it yet.

[Maxwell] Nice Mary Martin imitation, LL!

[Laura Leff] Max - Wish I looked as good in the fur coat

[Scott in KC] Love Thy Neighbour?

[Laura Leff] There goes the PG&E convoy...

[Maxwell] So do I...but that's another story.

[Laura Leff] Nope

[Laura Leff] Hint?

[Dreerson the Pooh] The Meanest Man in the World?

[Laura Leff] Nope

[KayLhota] I'm going out of my mind because it was a pop song in 1943

[Maxwell] Yeah...unless you want us all to run off to imdb.

[Laura Leff] Kay - And I think that's the year of the picture

[Laura Leff] So there's your hit

[Laura Leff] hint

[Maxwell] George Washington made a pit stop here?

[KayLhota] I guessed that already

[Frank J. Lhota] with Anne Sheridan

[Maxwell] How Green was My Valley?

[Laura Leff] George Washington took a...well whatever

[Laura Leff] Another hint?

[Maxwell] God's Little Acre?

[KayLhota] I already guessed George Washington Slept Here and you said no

[Laura Leff] Teahouse of the August Moon.

[Dreerson the Pooh] IMDB doesn't show anything for 1943 Benny-wise except "Meanest Man"

[Dreerson the Pooh] Say what?

[Laura Leff] OK, then maybe it wasn't 1943.

[Laura Leff] Nope, two word title.

[Dreerson the Pooh] "Baby Doll"?

[Laura Leff] That should give it.

[Laura Leff] Nope.

[Maxwell] Starring Brigitte Bardot as Jack.

[Laura Leff] There aren't many two-word Benny movie titles.

[Maxwell] Or was Baby Doll Carol Baker?

[Scott in KC] Casa Blanca.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - George Burns said that jack looked good in a dress

[Maxwell] I always confuse those two.

[Laura Leff] Scott - Cresta Blanca

[Laura Leff] Wow! I had no idea this question was so hard!

[Scott in KC] Laura - Cresta Toothpaste

[KayLhota] I'm very stumped

[Brad from Georgia] Hollywood Canteen

[KayLhota] oh no!

[Laura Leff] BRAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Scott in KC] ^5

[KayLhota] I was running around in circles and I should have remembered that one

[Laura Leff] Kay - Too much pot.

[Brad from Georgia] "Don't Fence Me In" was Cole Porter's least favorite song of all that he wrote.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Now why doesn't IMDB have that listed?

[KayLhota] not I. Never indulge.

[Dreerson the Pooh] It doesn't pay to cheat any more...

[Maxwell] No wonder I didn't think of it. The only thing I remember from that movie is Betty Davis singing "They're Either Too Young or Too Old"

[Brad from Georgia] I think Roy Rogers sang it in "Hollywood Canteen."

[Laura Leff] Kay - I know...that's why I teased you.

[Brad from Georgia] Porter reprotedly said, "That's all it deserves."

[Maxwell] While galloping on Trigger.

[Scott in KC] Not fair! Brad wrote the song!

[KayLhota] Funny Scott

[Laura Leff] OK, let's see if this one is easier

[Frank J. Lhota] Roy Rogers was trigger happy.

[Maxwell] It won't be.

[Brad from Georgia] Later Rogers made a whole movie called "Don't Fence Me In." Ironically, the main song in that film was "In the Still of the Night."

[Laura Leff] What Benny movie featured "Singin' In the Rain"?

[KayLhota] Hollywood Review of 1929

[Laura Leff] With a now-lost full color musical number of it?

[Dreerson the Pooh] Bogart sang it in Casablanca..."Give me Lund, Ilsa Lund..."

[Laura Leff] KAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Brad from Georgia] Kay nailed it.

[Laura Leff] Brad - I guess if you don't fence him in, he does stuff in the still of the night.

[KayLhota] well, I got to see "Chasing Rainbows"

[Brad from Georgia] It was also sung by Ukelele Ike in that one...Cliff Edwards.

[Scott in KC] Good job, Kay!

[Maxwell] AKA Cliff Edwards, aka Jiminy Cricket.

[Laura Leff] AKA Jiminy Cricket AKA Eddie Carroll

[Brad from Georgia] Cliff was also Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy Cricket is also Eddie Carroll.

[Laura Leff] Doggone it, Maxwell...

[Brad from Georgia] Six degrees of Jack Benny.

[KayLhota] I'm usually good at movie music trivia, so I really feel like a dummy for not remembering Hollywood Canteen

[Laura Leff] Maxwell -

[yhtapmys] Everyone can play that, Brad.

[Scott in KC] 39 degrees of Jack Benny.

[Laura Leff] So what's everyone's degrees from Jack in the room?

[Dreerson the Pooh] Well, at least that's above freezing

[Laura Leff] (Bad phrasing on that...)

[Maxwell] Yeah, I thought I had a good one, and then poopy pants Laura has to say "Joan Benny."

[yhtapmys] I worked with George Laflesche, who is Gisele MacKenzie's brother.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Oh, I remember that!

[Scott in KC] Laura, who was better Dennis or Kenny?

[Frank J. Lhota] Cliff Edward indulged in many vices: drinking, gambling, womanizing... so it's amazing that he is best known for playing someone's conscience.

[Laura Leff] Maxwell - Didn't remember that was you!

[Maxwell] Yup.

[Laura Leff] Scott - Depends on your personal taste!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Dennis!

[Scott in KC] I like Dennis more.

[KayLhota] I met a girl in High School who met Jack Benny in 1974 at a Hotel where they both were staying

[Laura Leff] Kay - In the same room?

[KayLhota] that must be about 38 degrees

[Dreerson the Pooh] Kenny sounded like a proto-Dennis

[KayLhota] in the lobby, I imagine

[yhtapmys] Dennis was more versatile.

[Brad from Georgia] Which Jack Benny movie featured a new song called "Love in Bloom"?

[yhtapmys] One of the Big Broadcasts, wasn't it?

[Laura Leff] That was a Bing Crosby movie

[Brad from Georgia] Nope

[yhtapmys] It was Paramount movie.

[Brad from Georgia] LL--but Jack was in a film that featured it, too!

[Laura Leff] LIB was 1934

[Brad from Georgia] Little later than that, not much.

[Brad from Georgia] There was a character in it named "George Hymen..."

[Brad from Georgia] He didn't play the virginal.

[Laura Leff] Not going there not going there not going there

[Dreerson the Pooh] Did he get busted?

[Brad from Georgia] Now, now.

[yhtapmys] Sigh.

[Maxwell] There is a great jazz pianist named Dick Hyman. He's done arranging for a few Woody Allen films.

[Brad from Georgia] The film's real stars were Burns and Allen....

[yhtapmys] I thought this room worked clean.

[KayLhota] I need to see more of the Paramount 30's films

[Scott in KC] I gotta crash. Have a blessed 2008 all! Thanks for the laughs! Good night, folks!

[Maxwell] Good night Scott.

[Laura Leff] maxwell - Ah yes, I hear him on the radio all the time.

[Laura Leff] Scott - Take care!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Night, Scott

[KayLhota] I tried watching an old tape I had of "Big Broadcast of 1937" but I got sleepy

[KayLhota] night Scott

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[Brad from Georgia] Jack played the role of J. Davis Bowster....

[Maxwell] There's some good stuff of Hyman on YouTube where he shows how to play piano like Art Tatum.

[Laura Leff] I'm laughing so hard that I can't see my screen to admonish anyone...

[Maxwell] Well, he shows some of Tatum's tricks.

[Mike Amo] Mostly weaving in and out of traffic...whee!

[Brad from Georgia] Oh, well, it was "College Holiday."

[KayLhota] Be right back

[Laura Leff] Yup...

[Mike Amo] Missed Scott and Hollywood Revue of 1929

[Frank J. Lhota] We don't have that one.

[yhtapmys] Hollywood Revue is on-line, isn't it?

[Frank J. Lhota] We do have Groucho's last film, however: "Skidoo".

[Brad from Georgia] I'd better totter off, too. It's 10:11 here, and I have to get up at six and go face a whole new flood of freshmen.

[Laura Leff] It's in the video library...that I know...

[Maxwell] Skidoo was just on TCM or something like that this weekend.

[Laura Leff] Good luck with that, Brad...

[Dreerson the Pooh] Hasn't TCM shown it before?

[Brad from Georgia] Good night, everyone!

[Laura Leff] What year is it?

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[Maxwell] So long Brad

[Dreerson the Pooh] Night,Brad

[Laura Leff] BRB

[Frank J. Lhota] good night Brad from all us non-Brads.

[Maxwell] Skidoo: 1968.

[yhtapmys] No College Holiday for Brad, it appears.

[Mike Amo] LL, Jack DVDs I have all have randomly arranged shows, so far mostly from 1954-1956 and 1960...where can I see a list of the shows and info in sequence...have not yet checked IMDb

[Dreerson the Pooh] I'm still trying to forget Skidoo...

[Maxwell] Mike: TV.com

[Mike Amo] I saw Skidoo

[Frank J. Lhota] Skidoo is like a feature version of "Turn On"

[Mike Amo] ty Max

[Mike Amo] Wasn'r Groucho God in that one?

[Maxwell] TV.com is a much better source for TV info than imdb.

[Maxwell] Look up Jack Benny Program

[Dreerson the Pooh] The image of Groucho's diembodied head swirling around the room on top of a giant screw pretty much numbed me to everything else...

[Maxwell] They have the shows listed in order by season.

[Frank J. Lhota] Yes, Groucho plays a gangster named God.

[Mike Amo] Man, it's been years since I saw it...sometime around 1983 on the Z Channel in Los Angeles

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[Maxwell] I just saw a very early appearance by Gleason in an Edward G. Robinson movie this weekend.

[KayLhota] Larceny Inc

[Maxwell] Yup.

[KayLhota] Jackie Gleason was a puppy

[Maxwell] Thanks. I couldn't remember the title.

[Maxwell] So was Jane Wyman.

[Dreerson the Pooh] Wsn't Gleason also in the Bogart film "All Through the Night"?

[KayLhota] Ever see "All Through the Night

[Maxwell] Kay It's been years.

[Dreerson the Pooh] I love that film, Kay

[KayLhota] yeah, he and Phil Silvers are incredibly young in that

[KayLhota] I do too

[Maxwell] And of course he played the bass player in Orchestra Wives.

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[KayLhota] I forgot. It's been years since I last saw that

[Frank J. Lhota] I'm got some things to do before going to bed. Good night folks.

[KayLhota] It's on cable from time to time, but usually when I am asleep

[Dreerson the Pooh] Night, Frank

[Maxwell] I watch Orchestra Wives and Sun Valley Serenade every chance I get, if only to see the Nicholas Brothers.

[Maxwell] So long Frank.

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[Maxwell] (And Dorothy Dandridge in Sun Valley)

[KayLhota] I'm going to pack it in as well. Have fun and see you next month

[Laura Leff] Back

[Maxwell] So long Kay.

[KayLhota] goodnight

[Mike Amo] Night Kay and Frank

[Dreerson the Pooh] Nighjt, Kay

[Maxwell] LL They're dropping like flies.

[Laura Leff] Night, Kay!

[KayLhota] night Laura

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[Laura Leff] Yeah...shall we wrap it up for this month?

[Dreerson the Pooh] I'm going to take more Tylenol and head back to the sofa...night, everybody!

[Laura Leff] Night, Dreer!

[Dreerson the Pooh] Best wishes for 1939!

[Maxwell] I think so. I'll be posting something in the next few weeks on Jack Benny Month.

[Laura Leff] 1939 Forever

[Maxwell] So long Dreerson. Happy 1939 to you, too.

[Laura Leff] OK...thanks for stopping folks! We'll see you in February, where our show will be the Beavers doing Jack's show.

[Mike Amo] Debbie Gibson named her cat Gleason...she found outside his theatre in Miami

[Maxwell] Good night everybody!