IJBFC Chat - September 12, 2010
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
[steve
-shimp-] Wonder where Laura is...
[steve
-shimp-] speak of the devil
[Chasitykins]
Haha
[Josef]
Hi Laura
[Laura
Leff] Hi folks...apologies, be right back!
[KayLhota]
hi laura
[steve
-shimp-] Hi Laura
[ed]
good luck steve that area i hear is real nice
[steve
-shimp-] so far so good. It's been awhile since I've lived in a big
city, so it's an adjustment
[steve
-shimp-] more people than I care to shake a stick at
[Laura
Leff] HI folks!
[ed]
and think steve you can join reps and go to their radio show convention in june
[ed]
hi LL
[Brad
from Georgia] Hi, Laura!
[Laura
Leff] Steve - Sounds like you made it safely to the coast?
[steve
-shimp-] yes, thanks!
[Laura
Leff] Mazel tov!
[steve
-shimp-] loooong drive.
[Laura
Leff] How's everyone else doing tonight?
[steve
-shimp-] 8 days
[Chasitykins]
8 days! Steve, I couldn't have done it.
[Laura
Leff] Welcome in Chasitykins...I think this is your first time here
in the chat?
[Chasitykins]
Yes it is, Laura. Thank you.
[KayLhota]
good but zonked. we went to an amusement park yesterday
[steve
-shimp-] which one Kay?
[Brad
from Georgia] Doing well, but school is crazy this year.
[KayLhota]
Canobie lake Park in Hew Hampshire
[KayLhota]
oops New Hampshire
[Josef]
I'm pretty good. day before classes start for me....last semester
[Laura
Leff] New Hamster
[steve
-shimp-] nice
[KayLhota]
beautiful day.
[Laura
Leff] How you doing, Ed?
[ed]
doing just fine LL great day here in the land of lincoln
[Laura
Leff] Chasity - Thanks for the post re Jennifer's fan fic...she was
quite delighted by it
[Laura
Leff] I haven't checked back if she responded on the Forum, but I
called her attention to it
[Chasitykins]
It was my pleasure. I hope we'll see more from her.
[Laura
Leff] So what do you all think about the show for discussion tonight?
[steve
-shimp-] It's a famous one!
[Laura
Leff] Chasity - FYI, I just posted an additional Fathers' Day script
on the same page last night.
[Josef]
sure is. One of my personal favorite episodes
[Chasitykins]
That was a different show, that's for sure. Not hearing JB until almost the end.
But I adored it.
[steve
-shimp-] I have some cast questions since 39 forever is still packed
away
[steve
-shimp-] Was Doris Singleton playing Pauline? And who played Susie?
[Laura
Leff] And, of course, one of the sources of Benny mythology that's
probably only surpassed by the myth that "Your money or your life" was
the longest laugh ever.
[Brad
from Georgia] Funny, I ALWAYS recall it as Jack's having only one
line--"Driver, this is my stop." But of course the studio aduience
would have felt cheated!
[Laura
Leff] Steve - Yes, and Dorothy (?)
[steve
-shimp-] right, jack comes in, what, 3/4 or 2/3 of the way in?
[Laura
Leff] 22:10 in
[KayLhota]
wow
[Laura
Leff] Steve - I don't have a last name on Susie's actress.
[steve
-shimp-] Hmmm. I wonder who Dorothy might be
[Brad
from Georgia] Wonderful showcase for Frank Nelson.
[steve
-shimp-] oh, I agree Brad.
[Josef]
Yes, agreed!
[Laura
Leff] It took me a minute to be sure it was Joe Kearns as Tom
[Chasitykins]
It was nice to hear him playing the frustrated person for once, haha.
[Laura
Leff] I absolutely love Phil's stumble on "the Big Derby"
[Brad
from Georgia] Hmm...I wonder if it might have been Dorothy Dandridge?
[Laura
Leff] and subsequent ad libbing
[steve
-shimp-] I thought it was a little unusual that Mary got the "Fonzie"
applause on her entrance
[Laura Leff] I should check what the original script was.
[steve
-shimp-] Yeah, loved the Phil bit. I wonder if Jack was irritated by
him ad-libbing?
[Brad
from Georgia] He must have just had some cabbage, Laura.
[Laura
Leff] I heard a show once where Jack actually got mad on air about
the ad libbing.
[Laura
Leff] Obviously someone said to "cut it" and they cued the
transition music...that almost certainly was Jack.
[steve
-shimp-] yeah, isn't there something about that in the latest TIMES?
[Brad
from Georgia] Which show was that, Laura?
[steve
-shimp-] (which is great, btw - came in my forwarded mail)
[Laura
Leff] Steve - Yes, Dick Lane talks about how Jack always
directed/produced the shows.
[steve
-shimp-] right, the Dick Lane interview.
[Laura
Leff] Steve - OK, I'll make a note to throw your address over to the
new one. If you could also send me a reminder E-mail to update it in the online
database, that would be great.
[steve
-shimp-] oh, sure thing. I'm way behind on e-mail.
[Laura
Leff] Let's see...got the script...let me scan it and I'll let you
know. Keep talking!
[Brad
from Georgia] BTW, Laura, I'm mailing a copy of the Times to
"Oz" Dillman, who built Eddie's prop mike and met him when he came to
GA.
[Laura
Leff] Oh interesting...
[Laura
Leff] Brad - OK, great! Glad to know you got it.
[Brad
from Georgia] Thanks a million!
[Laura
Leff] Not too much ad libbing. The original line: "You see, this
is the first show of the season and maybe after the program Mr. Benny will take
the cast out to the Brown Derby for a big...(TAKE) Say, I musta ate more of them
cabbages than I thought...See you
[Laura
Leff] later, Tom.
[Laura
Leff] Funny how that line is even better with the blooper!
[Brad
from Georgia] Everything goes better with bloopers.
[Chasitykins]
I agree, the fluff makes it way better.
[Laura
Leff] Oh sorry...Jack appears 22:16 into the show.
[Josef]
That is true, I loved the blooper
[Laura
Leff] What other thoughts, comments?
[Brad
from Georgia] I really liked the way Dennis's "scotch tape"
gag paid off at the end.
[Chasitykins]
Haha, Brad - I nearly spilled my lemonade over that bit
[Laura
Leff] Funny how they recycle the appendix gag over and over in
different forms
[KayLhota]
it is an amazing script that gives you so much character stuff from the entire
cast
[Brad
from Georgia] Verna Felton had some really funny bits, too.
[Laura
Leff] Jack taking out Rochester's appendix, Jack having a medical
scene written into his show to have his appendix taken out, etc.
[KayLhota]
it is a solid episode
[steve
-shimp-] Roch's "yeeeah" about Susie's dress being tight
got a big laugh, thought that was interesting
[Brad
from Georgia] "Why can't he get married and move out like other
sons?"
[Laura
Leff] And they use that gag on their first television show!
[Laura
Leff] That gag = dress is so tight
[steve
-shimp-] Usually black men weren't allowed to show much libido ...
[Laura
Leff] That's a very good point
[Brad
from Georgia] Didn't QUITE top Eddie Anderson's "Hershey bar
with the almonds in the right places: line, but---good, none the less.
[steve
-shimp-] yeah, that sprang to mind for me too, Brad
[Laura
Leff] That line is clever, but "yeahhhh" needs delivery
[Brad
from Georgia] You kin tell I'm on mah laptop 'cause my fat fingers
keep hitting the wrong punctuation marks....
[Chasitykins]
Brad, I think you would die if you were using my baby netbook, haha. I can't
type on normal keyboards anymore.
[steve
-shimp-] Anyway I wonder if Brad might be right on Dorothy Dandridge
as Susie
[Brad
from Georgia] I thought the funnest Rochester line was, "Yeah,
but now I'm trying to think of somebody who can take YOU."
[Josef]
I loved that line, Brad.
[steve
-shimp-] she would've been doing bits like that in radio at the time
[Brad
from Georgia] Mine's actually an ASUS netbook. I've been working on
my novel downstairs in my office, and I got claustrophobic, so now I'm sitting
propped up in bed typing.
[Laura
Leff] Any evidence that Dandridge was doing bit parts in radio at
this time?
[Brad
from Georgia] Dandridge was a MUCH underrated talent, I think. She
had acting and singing chops that rarely got used.
[steve
-shimp-] it's in her wikipedia entry
[steve
-shimp-] take that for what you will ...
[Laura Leff] Indeed
[Chasitykins]
It would be interesting to find another radio show where we know it's her from
the time period and compare
[steve
-shimp-] It'd be a fun voice comparison
[steve
-shimp-] right
[Laura
Leff] Absolutely.
[Laura
Leff] Everyone was able to ID the other voices?
[Brad
from Georgia] Dorothy's sister Vivian is the voice of "So
White" in the infamous Warner Bros. "Coal Black an de Sebben
Dwarfs" cartoon; I think that was made in '42.
[Laura
Leff] Whoa...I don't think I've seen that one!
[Brad
from Georgia] Okay, who was the male tourist on the bus? I've
forgotten the character's name.
[KayLhota]
is "so White" on youtube?
[Laura
Leff] I'll hold back and see if someone else got it
[Josef]
I had the same question Brad.
[Laura
Leff] Fortunately, watching all the TV shows, I've heard/seen that
actor so often that I'm now able to ID him readily.
[Brad
from Georgia] It's online somewhere, I'm sure. It's one of the
"Censored 11" and is definitely racist--though it has an almost
all-black cast (Mel Blanc being the sole exception).
[Laura
Leff] No one knows who played Henry Fitzpatrick?
[KayLhota]
yes, I've seen it, but never a print that wasn't red and dupey
[Chasitykins]
Reveal to us, Laura!
[Laura
Leff] Come on, Kay...you should be able to ID that actor.
[Josef]
I know I've heard his voice a bunch, but can't place a name to it
[Laura
Leff] OK, OK...it's Herb Vigran.
[Laura
Leff] And who plays his wife? That should be easy.
[KayLhota]
oh. I'm sorry. I wasn't sharp tonight
[steve
-shimp-] Herb Vigran's in a LOT of the TV shows
[Josef]
Bea benaderat, right?
[Brad
from Georgia] It's at www.mostoffensivevideo.c
··· ned.html Be warned, though; "Coal Black" is extremely
un-PC.
[ed]
great voice talent he shows up several JB TV shows
[Laura
Leff] Yes, a LOT!
[KayLhota]
I knew Herb Vigran was in the cast of the episode, but I couldn't remember who
he played
[steve
-shimp-] You can see his eyebrows coming a million miles away
[Brad
from Georgia] That should have been ....video.com/banned.html.
[KayLhota] I didn't get a chance to hear tonight's episode tonight. I last heard it about 3 years ago.
[steve
-shimp-] I guess Vol. 3 would answer this but I wonder if Benny Rubin
or Herb Vigran did more guest shots on TV. I'd bet they're really close.
[Brad
from Georgia] Yeah, Vigran is one of those "I've seen him in
SOMETHING before" kind of guys.
[Laura
Leff] I always have to listen to the shows again before the chat...so
much Benny being parsed through my brain for research that the details fade over
time.
[KayLhota]
oh, when I saw him in "Amazon Women On the Moon" I couldn't believe he
was still alive
[Laura
Leff] Steve - Actually, I can take that bet right now. I'll go see.
[Laura
Leff] Anyone want to venture a guess? Who was on more on TV...Benny
Rubin or Herb Vigran?
[steve
-shimp-] Hmmm. I'm putting a nickel on Rubin.
[Brad
from Georgia] I'd say Rubin, too.
[Josef]
Rubin
[KayLhota]
I'm betting on Herb Vigran
[Laura
Leff] It will take me a few minutes to figure it...I'll be Bach...
[Chasitykins]
I'm betting Rubin.
[Laura
Leff] But keep going folks!
[ed]
coal black is also on youtube just saw the intro to the cartoon logo merrie
melodies runs about 7 minutes
[steve
-shimp-] Are you going to be Johann or Catherine Bach?
[KayLhota]
oh good, you found the cartoon on Youtube.
[Laura
Leff] Herb Vigran - 23 appearances
[ed]
yes
[Brad
from Georgia] Surprising, that.
[Josef]
yeah
[Laura
Leff] Benny Rubin....
[steve
-shimp-] I love getting sneak prevue data of Vol. 3 ... can I just
say.
[ed]
it's not your father's cartoon
[Laura
Leff] *drumroll*
[Laura
Leff] *suspense building*
[Laura
Leff] Any guesses?
[steve
-shimp-] 54
[Chasitykins]
39!
[ed]
Suspense
[Josef]
29
[Laura
Leff] Come on, everyone in the pool
[Laura
Leff] Price is Right rules
[KayLhota]
21
[ed]
how about 50
[Brad
from Georgia] Ok...41
[steve
-shimp-] one dollar
[ed]
my age
[Laura
Leff] Steve wins based on Price is Right rules...65!!!!!!
[ed]
the yodler just fell over
[KayLhota]
wow
[steve
-shimp-] cha ching!!!
[Chasitykins]
Holy moley!
[Josef]
oh wow!
[Brad
from Georgia] Should've guessed my age. At least I picked the right
guy.
[steve
-shimp-] That's about a third of them, right? How many total TV shows
again?
[ed]
22
[KayLhota]
So, Benny Rubin did a lot of the program. I hope to see more of them one day.
[Laura
Leff] Fortunately, my cast listings are pretty complete already, even
though I've still got a number of shows to see
[Laura
Leff] Steve - 261, not counting reruns
[ed]
wow
[steve
-shimp-] does that include the specials?
[Laura
Leff] Steve - No, just regular series TV shows
[steve
-shimp-] wow
[Laura
Leff] 10/1950 - 4/1965
[steve
-shimp-] so about a 1 in 4 chance of seeing Benny on Benny.
[KayLhota]
Did Benny rubin do any of the later NBC specials, Laura?
[Laura
Leff] I am 72% through viewing the television shows. (she said
proudly)
[steve
-shimp-] bravo
[KayLhota]
that is something to be proud of!
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Hmmm...probably. I haven't done the cast lists for those
yet. Volume 4.
[ed]
let's give a big hand for LL
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, I was looking through an old stack of floppy disks
the other day and discovered my Jack Benny fanscript that I wrote back in 1996.
I had to get the IT folks at school to translate it into Word so I can read it.
When I dare...
[Laura
Leff] Ah thanks...
[Josef]
*claps hands
[Brad
from Georgia] It's probably nowhere near as funny as I used to think
it was.
[Chasitykins]
Brad, I absolutely want to read it, hahaha.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Send it over so I can add it to the fan fic
[Chasitykins]
We should have a forum game where we make an episode of JB, one line at a time.
[Brad
from Georgia] Let me have some time to look at it first...might be
too embarrassing! The title is "Jack Listens to 'Lights Out,'" and it
deliberately scrambles chronology.
[Laura
Leff] Benny mad libs
[steve
-shimp-] I think there was one like that for awhile Chas ... you
should search it out and restart that!
[Laura
Leff] I still like when we take some modern thing, like "Pulp
Fiction" or "Star Trek" and recast it with the Benny characters
[ed]
instead of saying im thinking it over he says i forgot my wallet
[Laura
Leff] Somehow it just doesn't play the same
[Brad
from Georgia] I wisht the Cartoon Network would get the rights to do
an animated Jack Benny show. Wait a minute, they brought us "Squidbillies."
I take it back.
[Laura
Leff] But it's about on par with some of the misquotes I've heard of
that line
[Laura
Leff] Brad - And who does the show...um...it's been mentioned on the
forum
[Laura
Leff] There's some kids show that has a Jack and Mary and some
takeoff on the Sportsmen Quartet, etc.
[steve
-shimp-] "Jack's Big Music Show"
[Laura
Leff] That's it
[ed]
shew
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, yeah--"Jack's Big--darn you, Steve!
[steve
-shimp-] There's a "Mel" on it too
[Laura
Leff] No no...that's an adult movie
[Chasitykins]
Hahaha
[Laura
Leff] Or a Tijuana Bible
[Chasitykins]
Oh, a JB Tijuana Bible...
[Chasitykins]
that would be horrifying.
[KayLhota]
hoo boy
[Josef]
sure would
[Laura
Leff] Chasity - There is one
[Chasitykins]
I don't want to see it. Ever.
[Laura
Leff] Or it's really a Mary Livingstone TB, Jack's not in it
[Brad
from Georgia] On a cartoon discussion group recently someone asked if
anyone could identify a "classic cartoon grouch." I guessed right--he
was thinking of the Ned Sparks caricatures. I mentioned "Malibu Beach
Party."
[steve
-shimp-] You can buy it from a guy named Sy.
[Laura
Leff] There's an Alice Faye one as well. At least one.
[ed]
see
[KayLhota]
yes, it was Ned Sparks and Baby Snooks
[ed]
si
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Funny, I think of Ned Sparks as a live-action grouch.
[Brad
from Georgia] There's a Phil Harris one, but he passes out in the
first panel, and the rest is just a notebook.
[Chasitykins]
LOL, brad
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Har har
[KayLhota]
oh my
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--the questioner didn't know there was a real Ned
Sparks, alas. You know, the voice of Squidward in "Spongebob" is a lot
like Ned's, though the animators supposedly based the character on Jack.
[Laura
Leff] I was telling Dan that I noticed I've fallen into filling a
character at my Jewish group, where I am asked a question by one of the leaders
and give some kind of humorous, cynical answer.
[Laura
Leff] I said, "I'm Keneset Ha Lev's Ned Sparks. Or Fred
Allen."
[Brad
from Georgia] So by you that's a bad thing?
[Laura
Leff] Not necessarily...it seems to get laughs
[KayLhota]
aww, good.
[Brad
from Georgia] I'm kidding. I kid because I love.
[Laura
Leff] The Maggid asked me how I made the challah. I said, "With
my hands."
[Laura
Leff] That sort of thing
[Laura
Leff] And a bunch of ingrediments
[Laura
Leff] Maybe I'll try cimerron challah some day
[KayLhota]
oh, that makes me hungry for cimarron rolls
[Laura
Leff] But anyhow...enough about me. What do you think about me?
[Laura
Leff] Sad that Ned isn't better known.
[Laura
Leff] He plays Mary's boyfriend in "This Way Please"
[KayLhota]
I love you, Laura. I'm still chuckling
[Brad
from Georgia] BTW, the "by you" reminds me that last week I
got a tune stuck in my head: "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen." Trust me to get
a 73-year-old earworm.
[Laura
Leff] How Ned Sparks got to be anybody's boyfriend is beyond me, but
there's got to be a joke there about it being Mary.
[steve
-shimp-] He drew the short straw?
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I get those all the time
[Brad
from Georgia] What was the backstage musical in which Ned was a
bigtime but impoverished Broadway producer...of girlie-type musical COMEDIES,
for cryin out loud.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - The Barry Sisters version or the Andrews Sisters?
[KayLhota]
Golddiggers of 1933
[Brad
from Georgia] LL-Dennis Day's of course. "Vunderbar" had an
Irish accent.
[Brad
from Georgia] Right, Kay!
[Laura
Leff] I don't like to go anywhere...I don't like to do anything...I
don't like to have A-NY fun!
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh silly me.
[Brad
from Georgia] "I don't WANT to be covered with sand."
[Laura
Leff] (Apologies to anyone who hasn't seen "Malibu Beach
Party" and doesn't get the reference.)
[Laura
Leff] WAHHHHHHHH!
[Brad
from Georgia] "Aw, shut up, ya ol' crab!"
[Chasitykins]
Haha XD
[ed]
yes
[Laura
Leff] See, it's more fun throwing lines from other stuff at each
other
[Laura
Leff] Well, at least if we all KNOW it.
[KayLhota]
laura, do you remember when I wrote out every personality that cartoon and sent
it to you?
[Laura
Leff] Sometimes this crowd gets on a tear of Pogo lines and I'm the
one in the dust.
[Brad
from Georgia] You know, I did sort of miss Mel in tonight's show.
[KayLhota]
There was only one that I do not know.
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Yes, I remember that.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Mel was in tonight's show.
[Brad
from Georgia] Was he? How'd I miss him?
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Apparently you did miss Mel in tonight's show.
[Josef]
Brad, he was the guy in the crowd at the end of the show. had like two lines to
jack
[Laura
Leff] Cracker jack
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, yeh! Completely forgot that! (I listened to the
show on Friday as I drove 130 miles to Milledgeville, GA. for a committee
meeting).
[Brad from Georgia] Last week on my walk I heard Mel's classic English horse: "Whinnnnnnnnnnnny...aw-haw, haw!"
[KayLhota]
that's such a brilliant bit
[Josef]
It is.
[Laura
Leff] IIRC, on the show where Mel returns and is in a wheelchair, I
think he does that bit as well.
[Laura
Leff] I wish I could spring that show.
[Brad
from Georgia] The story was that the writers were just teasing Mel
when they wrote the line--but he came through.
[KayLhota]
CBS likes to hold it hostage, huh?
[Laura
Leff] Oh hey, I hope it wouldn't be too indulgent if I shared a
really proud moment with y'all.
[Chasitykins]
Share away, southern belle.
[KayLhota]
share!
[Josef]
go ahead!
[Laura
Leff] Kay - I don't think that one's at CBS...I'd have to check if
it's NBC owned or now.
[Laura
Leff] not
[Brad
from Georgia] Go 'head, but watch your step. You know what pride
goeth before....
[Laura
Leff] Niagara Falls
[Brad
from Georgia] Slowly I turned...
[steve
-shimp-] slowly I turned
[Josef]
step by step
[steve
-shimp-] see Brad beat me on that one
[Laura
Leff] So...how many of you have seen the San Diego TV show that we
sprung earlier this year?
[Brad
from Georgia] Steve: Neener, neener.
[KayLhota]
but, Mel's accident would have been during the CBS years.
[ed]
NBC just had their 84 anniversary on wed.or thurs
[Brad
from Georgia] I haven't.
[steve
-shimp-] Folks, I need to head out to a dinner invite I have
[ed]
bye steve
[Brad
from Georgia] At the Big Derby, Steve?
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Yes, but NBC owns the copyrighted shows now, since they
bought MCA Universal.
[Josef]
bye steve, have fun!
[Chasitykins]
Have a good night, Steve.
[steve
-shimp-] But it has been great chatting, I need to get used to the
west coast timing
[steve
-shimp-] bye!
[Brad
from Georgia] Bye, bye!
[Laura
Leff] Have a good one, Steve!
[KayLhota]
oh, good lord, Laura!
User
steve -shimp- has logged out.
[KayLhota]
by ed
[ed]
i am not leaving
[Laura
Leff] Kay - I know...ironic, isn't it?
[KayLhota]
oops, I meant steve
[Laura
Leff] So how many of you have seen that San Diego show?
[Chasitykins]
I haven't.
[Brad
from Georgia] Not I.
[Laura
Leff] I can't remember if any of you have ordered it
[KayLhota]
so, you have both CBS and NBC to deal with, with them going, "Aw, who wants
to see an old show?"
[Josef]
I haven't either
[ed]
though iam watching skins vs dallas
[Laura
Leff] Kay - NBC is "they can see it if they can pay for it"
[Laura
Leff] Well, OK. There's a woman on the San Diego show...her name is
Leigh Snowden.
[Laura
Leff] She's gorgeous.
[Laura
Leff] Easily could give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money, and was
very much in that vein.
[Laura
Leff] Well, her daughter had been in touch with me some time ago
wanting to get hold of that show.
[Laura
Leff] So I'd had her on the line for about a year while I pursued
different ways of getting it.
[Laura
Leff] Then we had the vertical alignment problems, and then got them
resolved.
[Laura
Leff] So I sent them the show.
[Chasitykins]
Andddd?
[Laura
Leff] After a while, she wrote me back a really beautiful letter
about how she and her brother gasped and laughed and cried over watching their
(now crossed-over) mother.
[Chasitykins]
Awww
[KayLhota]
oh, wow.
[Laura
Leff] And their father watched in silence, and then said, "THERE
she is" when she appeared and was able to say no more.
[Brad
from Georgia] NICE story. (BTW, I have dropped a heavy hint to Mrs.
from Georgia that I want the DVD of "Laughter in Bloom" for my
birthday next month. By sending her the URL and saying "Get this for
me.")
[Chasitykins]
Oh, that's so touching.
[Laura
Leff] I just love reconnecting people with their work--or in this
case, their loved one's work--on the Benny show.
[Laura
Leff] It made me happy, and thanks for allowing me to share it with
you.
[Josef]
that really is an awesome story
[Brad
from Georgia] (I suspect I'll have a similar reaction on seeing the
DVD. Still can't bring myself to watch the DVD of Eddie's memorial service.)
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Gosh, and you SAW it once already!
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Unfortunately, they edited my line about "They saw
this...........not me on the screen..."
[Brad
from Georgia] In the flesh. After it was all over, Jamie Farr said he
would have been fine if I hadn't started to sob during my little bit. Oh, no,
LL!
[Laura
Leff] (That won't mean anything to anyone who wasn't there. Sorry.)
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I thought Jamie did fine anyway!
[Brad
from Georgia] I did too. Nice gentleman.
[Laura Leff] So what else Benny-wise is on everyone's mind tonight?
[Brad
from Georgia] Mr. Farr promised to give Rip Taylor my best...just to
keep the story going
[KayLhota]
I have to go. phone call. see you next month.
[Chasitykins]
Well, I don't have much Benny-wise, but I am thinking about a line from 30 Rock
I heard in reference to Gracie Allen...
[Brad
from Georgia] Bye, Kay.
[Laura
Leff] Take care, Kay!
[Chasitykins]
Good night, Kay!
[ed]
bye kay
[Josef]
Bye kay!
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[Brad
from Georgia] What is it, Chas? (May I call you Chas?)
[Chasitykins]
You sure can, Brad.
[Brad
from Georgia] Thanks. My name's already short. Nobody calls me Bra.
[Brad
from Georgia] What was the Gracie Allen line?
[Chasitykins]
One of the characters on the show, Kenneth, is giving a tour of NBC...and he
says "And now you're standing on the exact spot where Gracie Allen took
Jack Paar's virginity."
[Chasitykins]
And I just...I have no idea what that even means.
[Josef]
huh
[Brad
from Georgia] Well...George was known for chasing girls. I don't
think Gracie had the same kind of reputation with men.
[Laura
Leff] Odd
[Laura
Leff] Maybe they were just pulling old names?
[Chasitykins]
I wonder? So strange for Gracie of all people to come up though.
[Laura
Leff] It would make sense if they said something like Joan Crawford
took Jack Paar's virginity
[Brad
from Georgia] I think it was just an off-the-wall remark. Or maybe
someone wanted to needle Paar because he criticized Burns and Allen's radio show
as "tired old comedy" at one point.
[Brad
from Georgia] Paar could be...snippy. And he had a definite
superiority complex.
[Laura
Leff] And a water closet complex
[Chasitykins]
I don't know much about Jack Paar - were Burns and Allen more popular than him?
[Brad
from Georgia] Definitely.
[Laura
Leff] They were different eras
[Laura
Leff] So it's not like they were besting him in the ratings
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack Paar's first really big network break came just
after the second World War, when he was Jack Benny's summer replacement.
[Laura
Leff] Didn't B&A go off the air about the time that Paar took
over the Tonight show?
[Laura
Leff] Right...but I don't think of him as really breaking out until
he took over the Tonight Show.
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[Brad
from Georgia] Unfortunately, later Paar referred in public to Jack
and George in unflattering terms, saying their style of comedy was old-hat, and
his was much more sophisticated....
[Laura
Leff] Right, I remember that.
[Chasitykins]
Hmm.
[Josef]
Seems kind of a sad statement, considering Benny and George lasted for years
with their comedy
[Laura
Leff] Similar kind of dynamic, I think, in Jack helping Joey Bishop
to get established, then Bishop became something of a jerk.
[Laura
Leff] At least, in Milt Josefsberg's eyes...and a few others...
[Laura
Leff] So...any requests for next month?
[Josef]
Oh. Laura, I noticed that you wrote the program guide for a new JB collection at
Radio Spirits. Is that a collection worth purchasing?
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack was very generous in promoting younger comedians.
Danny Kaye always said he owed a lot to Jack, and Bob Newhart said that Jack
personally dragged most of his first audiences into the theater.
[Laura
Leff] Josef - Ha! I didn't know the set was out yet. It's all Colmans
episodes. If you like the Colmans, it's a good set.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Danny Kaye was also Joan's godfather.
[Josef]
I love the Colmas. yeah, comes out this week
[Chasitykins]
As a huge Ronald Colman, I am quite interested in this.
[Chasitykins]
colman fan*
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I'm hoping to buttonhole the button-down mind at an
event in October. Wish me luck.
[Chasitykins]
Maybe I've taken to eating too many cabbages...
[Laura
Leff] Josef - Cool! Thanks for the heads up.
[Brad
from Georgia] And in one of the skits, Jack and Mary played a couple
named Danny and Sylvia Kaminsky....
[Josef]
You're welcome. Saw it in the new catalogue I received this past week
[Laura
Leff] Josef - I'll have to look it up on line. I actually haven't
heard the restored shows, so can't speak to the audio. But they always do a good
job.
[Josef]
Thinking of buying it for my b-day
[Brad
from Georgia] Gee, I can't think of the exact show...maybe you can
track it down, I just thought it was funny, Laura--in it, Jack is in Scotland
and bargains with a Scots department store clerk about the price of a bottle of
perfume.
[Josef]
Yeah they do. I've never complained about their quality....maybe their price at
times
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh yeah...October of 52 I think.
[Brad
from Georgia] You are amazing.
[Laura
Leff] 9/21/52
[Laura
Leff] I've just heard that show about a thousand times and remember
that they took that trip in the summer of 52
[Brad
from Georgia] Anyway, that might be a good October show...there not
being that many Halloween episodes...oh, well, it was September. But LATE
September.
[Laura
Leff] OK, I'm good with that. Haven't heard it in a while!
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[Josef]
I know I haven't heard that episode
[Laura
Leff] OK, 9/21/52 it is. Assuming I've got it in MP3, and I'm pretty
sure I do.
[Laura
Leff] Anything else, or shall we call it good for September?
[Brad
from Georgia] I'm up to the fifties now--I listen to at least two
shows a week on my exercise walks. Other times, I listen to Garrison Keillor,
but he makes me walk too slow.
[Brad
from Georgia] Good chat. Goodnight, all! Be well.
[Chasitykins]
Can someone pass on the name of the collection with the Ronald Colman episodes
that's being released?
[Chasitykins]
I have a birthday at the end of this month...
[Laura
Leff] Chasity - Look at www.radiospirits.com
[Josef]
It's called: Jack Benny--Neighbors
[Chasitykins]
Thanks
[Josef]
yep!
[Brad
from Georgia] So does my wife, Chas! And Stephen King!
[Laura
Leff] OK, have a good September, folks! Thanks for stopping!
[Josef]
well, happy early b-day Chasitykins
[Chasitykins]
I'll have a drink for her when I'm celebrating, Brad. Maybe not so
much Stephen King.