IJBFC Chat - April 3, 2011
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
[Ally1995] Laura!!
[Laura Leff] Hi folks!
[Josef] Hi Laura!
[Laura Leff] Ally!
[steve -shimp-] Hey Laura
[Ally1995] ha
[Laura Leff] Bonita? As in...Colman?
[Josef] Brad, sometimes the resused versions were
funnier than the originals ones.
[Brad
from Georgia] By coincidence, I heard the 1952 re-use of the script
last week while walking on the nature trail. Whole patches were word for word
the same.
[Ally1995] You listened on an mp3 or something?
[bonita] I live in lawrenceville and my husband
teaches at gainesville U
[Laura Leff] You mean the dinner, not the
re-use of the bus bit, right?
[steve -shimp-] that's typical by then of
script recycling
[Laura Leff] Bonita - Welcome in! I don't
recall seeing your name here before, but I may be having amnesia.
[Ally1995] lol!!
[Brad
from Georgia] Yes, I have an mp3 player (Zen) with hundreds of Jack
Benny shows! LL--yes, the dinner. The bus bit was reused in other shows.
[Ally1995] Oh awesome Brad!!
[steve -shimp-] did they do the bit about
the camel? "If that roast beef has two humps, I'm leaving!"
[Josef] They always did some form of bus bit.
[Laura Leff] Most notably the 1949 series
debut show.
[Ally1995] I have an ipod, I've GIT to get some
eppies of the RS
[Brad
from Georgia] bonita--Gainesville State College? No kidding? I teach
in the English department there!
[Ally1995] *GOT*
[bonita] My favourite episodes were of bonita and
oh ronnnnie
[Josef] Laura, that's one of my favorite shows
[Ally1995] Oh wow, It's a small world
[Brad
from Georgia] steve--No, the camel was gone by the fifties....
[Laura Leff] Josef - The one where Jack
appears only on the last five minutes?
[steve -shimp-] that's why I was wondering
if they'd do that bit...
[Ally1995] xD
[Laura Leff] The camel was gone before the
Lucky Strike era (for some odd reason).
[steve -shimp-] Go figure
[Josef] Yeah, I liked it. But I thought the show
they did the week later making fun of that facty was funnier
[Ally1995] lol!!
[Laura Leff] Pop quiz!
[Laura Leff] Pop quiz!!!!!
[Laura Leff] Ready?
[steve -shimp-] uh oh
[Josef] oh boy
[Laura Leff] Oh great, don't look so excited
[Laura Leff] OK...
[Josef]
[Brad
from Georgia] Go ahead...
[steve -shimp-] fire away...
[Laura Leff] For the one incredibly minor
speaking role the camel had
[Ally1995] LOL??
[Laura Leff] Who played the camel?
[Laura Leff] No peeking at "39
Forever".
[steve -shimp-] Mel Blanc?
[Brad
from Georgia] Joe Camel.
[Ally1995] I bet it was Mel right?
[Laura Leff] Nope
[Ally1995] Oh darn.
[Laura Leff] Not anyone who appeared on the
show at any other time.
[Brad
from Georgia] Not Orson Welles (my next guest), then.
[Laura Leff] Nope
[Ally1995] whew... This is awkward. I've no idea.
[Josef] Neither have I. I feel like I do, though
[Brad
from Georgia] I'm not sure I ever even heard that show.
[Laura Leff] I wouldn't have known it if the
person himself hadn't talked about the fact.
[Ally1995] hmmmm
[Laura Leff] Brad - The role of the camel is
so small that you could easily miss it
[steve -shimp-] stumped
[Laura Leff] Hint?
[Ally1995] were they pretty wellknown at the time
[Brad
from Georgia] Quentin!
[Laura Leff] Brad - Naw...
[steve -shimp-] sure, hint away
[Laura Leff] Another person in comedy
[Josef] yes please
[Laura Leff] Although in later years
[Laura Leff] OK, here's a hint that should
give it away
[steve -shimp-] lou costello?
[Laura Leff] Nope
[Laura Leff] Pitted prunes
[Ally1995] Oh come on!! I dont know everything
about the era!!
[Laura Leff] Wow...I thought that would
totally give it
[Laura Leff] The pitted prunes came later in
the 60s
[Ally1995]
[Laura Leff] He recorded comedy for Capitol
Records
[Josef] Danny Kaye?
[bonita] My husband isn't into old radio etc and
I use to do the chats about 4-5 yrs ago I've been a little busy frank sinatra
[Brad
from Georgia] Stan Freberg.
[Laura Leff] BRAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
[Laura Leff] Bonita - Well, welcome back!
[Laura Leff] Brad's got it.
[Laura Leff] Good job.
[Ally1995] OH NOES He won
[Ally1995] nice job tho!!
[Josef] Good job Brad
[Brad
from Georgia] So...pitted prune ad? I don't recall it.
[Laura Leff] Brad - He did TV ads for
Sunsweet pitted prunes
[Brad
from Georgia] Betcha Mel got Stan the gig. They worked together at
Warner Bros.
[Laura Leff] And one particularly memorable
one featuring another Waukeganite, Ray Bradbury.
[Ally1995] wowzers!! Again, I have no knowledge
of that!
[steve -shimp-] Bradbury did prunes or a
Benny show?
[Brad
from Georgia] I once asked Ray if he ever met Jack Benny. He said
he'd seen him but not talked to him.
[Laura Leff] Ally - Check out Stan Freberg
online. You might enjoy what you find!
[Ally1995] Oh cool, I'll try it out. I love new
things
[Laura Leff] Steve - Bradbury did prunes
with Stan Freberg.
[Josef] I'm gonna have to do that as well.
[steve -shimp-] Oh my, that MUST have been
the sixties
[Ally1995] Is Stan any similar to Jackie?
[Laura Leff] Look for St. George and the
Dragonet
[steve -shimp-] "remember doing prunes
with Ray Bradbury, MAN, those were the days!"
[Brad
from Georgia] What a weird sentence: "Bradbury did prunes with
Stan Freberg." Sounds like a strange sixties drug.
[Ally1995]
[Laura Leff] It's a parody of Dragnet about
the St. George and the Dragon story.
[Ally1995] Oh really??
[Ally1995] Jeez, this is just insanity on
coincidence.
[steve -shimp-] I hope they were electric
prunes
[Brad
from Georgia] And of course Jack Webb was on the Jack Benny show.
Playing a prune. As I recall, the song was "I Love Every Wrinkle About
You." Hard to get a tune on a prune of course.
[Laura Leff] Jack Webb's last appearance as
Joe Friday was on Jack's Second Farewell Special.
[Brad
from Georgia] Really? That was after the seventies revival of
"Dragnet"?
[Josef] Oh wow.
[Laura Leff] And in fact, on the caption
contest, remember the pretty lady with Jack and the hypnotist?
[steve -shimp-] Prunes vs. Sal Hepatica, who
would win?
[Ally1995] Yeah
[Ally1995] I wanna see that episode so bad
[Brad
from Georgia] "When you're a prune, you're a prune all the way,
from your first cigarette to--may I be excused? I really gotta go."
[steve -shimp-] we're so classy in this chat
room
[Ally1995] yeah we rlly are
[Josef] yeah we are
[Ally1995] heh.
[Brad
from Georgia] Prunes promote a good chat.
[Ally1995] YES BRAD I SUPPOSE THEY DO,.
[Brad
from Georgia] Stole that from Mel Brooks. He was glad to see it go.
[Josef] I'm sure he was
[Laura Leff] Funny, since I thought of that
before I joined the chat...
[Laura Leff] The pretty lady was Jack Webb's
wife.
[Ally1995]
[Josef] Oh wow
[Laura Leff] Apropos of nothing, including
prunes...
[Laura Leff] Prune-flavored Jell-O
[Ally1995] Oh now, she was was she??!! You really
know evrything about this show
[steve -shimp-] Ladies, fill your cupboards
with prune flavored Jell-O. Add a touch of horseradish and shredded cabbage for
a tempting taste treat
[Brad
from Georgia] ANYway, tonight's show has Herman Peabody, my least
favorite Mel character. Though he wasn't so bad tonight.
[Laura Leff] It was Mel's first semi-regular
speaking character...if you don't count Carmichael.
[Ally1995] Herman--I always picture him as a
squid thing
[Brad
from Georgia] Mel Blanc as Cthulhu....
[Josef] Yeah I'm not a huge Herman fan.
[Ally1995] For some demented reason, IDK.
[Ally1995] I think he's cute cos he's so random
and everything
[steve -shimp-] Herman's a close cousin to
his "Happy Postman" on Burns and Allen
[Ally1995]
[Josef] Yes he is.
[Ally1995] ok I overuse that smiley face..
[Laura Leff] In the vein of the "Sad
Sack" character type
[Brad
from Georgia] Yep. I think the lack of range in the voice is what
bothers me. Mel could really cut loose and go nuts, but rarely when doing
Herman.
[Laura Leff] Ally - No problem. It doesn't
come through on the transcript.
[steve -shimp-] By the way, the bus driver
was John Brown, Harry Morton #2 for B&A fans
[Ally1995] haha..
[Brad
from Georgia] Oddly, Mel's "Sad Sack" sounded like Porky
Pig.
[Laura Leff] And many other things for Fred
Allen fans
[Josef] Oh wow! I knew I had heard that voice
before.
[Ally1995] haha you should see the way I draw
Fred Allen..
[steve -shimp-] Yes, one of those voices
that's really recognizable.
[steve -shimp-] Wasn't John Brown
blacklisted?
[Laura Leff] Yeah...I should have looked up
whether this was the time when Jack was picking up some assorted Allen voice
talent, like Minerva Pious, when Allen was on break or something.
[steve -shimp-] I heard that's why he left
the B&A TV show.
[Ally1995] oh really???
[Laura Leff] Hmmm...
[Ally1995] yesh, hmmmm
[Laura Leff] The person I'd ask about that
isn't available right now...darn it.
[Ally1995] That stinks.
[Ally1995] Is Bonita still here?
[Ally1995] or Jennifer??
[Laura Leff] John Brown is one of those
names that's so common that Brown the actor might not have been the culprit, but
got confused with someone of the same name.
[bonita] You'all type so fast that I can't kkep
up
[Laura Leff] Ally - Jennifer isn't
here...she's in school. But it's her birthday. We should all wish her happy
birthday!
[Josef] yeah we shoul!
[Josef] *should
[Ally1995] Oh yes, she's down under. Lucky..
[Brad
from Georgia] Happy birthday to Jennifer!
[Laura Leff] Go on and do it...I'll point
her at the transcript.
[Josef] Happy Birthday Jennifer!!
[Ally1995] HAPPY BDAY TO JENNIFER :D
[steve -shimp-] Happy Birthday Jennifer
[Laura Leff] Keep writing, Jennifer!
[Ally1995] I'd love to visit Austraila..
[Brad
from Georgia] Happy birthday down under, Hope the weather don't
thunder, You're our fave poster becoz You love Benny in Oz!
[Ally1995] what??
[Brad
from Georgia] Curl my hair and call me Phil....
[Laura Leff] Going to try calling my friend
on the John Brown thing anyway...
[Josef] Paint his eyes red he's another Phil
Harris
[Ally1995] XD!!!!!
[Laura Leff] Nope, hit voice mail.
[Ally1995] I love the joke about Phil in George
Washington
[steve -shimp-] I think I read it in the
Burns and Allen book about the TV series by Cheryl Blythe and Susan Sackett...
I'll see if it's on a shelf...
[Laura Leff] If you're interested in reading
more about Fred Allen, there's a really extensive interview with the person I
just called...
[Brad
from Georgia] I do know that Philip Loeb, who was on the Goldbergs
and VERY popular, vanished from TV because he was blacklisted.
[Laura Leff] Can give you a link.
[Ally1995] hm?? Who'd you call?
[Laura Leff] Brad - And then committed
suicide
[Josef] That's very sad
[Laura Leff] Ally - A close friend who's
also an Allen expert
[Laura Leff] If you've ever seen "The
Front", Zero Mostel plays the Philip Loeb character, but not by that
name...Hecky Brown.
[bonita] I like a lot of old radio but I didn't
get fred allen too corny
[Ally1995] Oh cool!!! I really wanna get the book
he wrote..
[Laura Leff] Or Hirschel Brownstein
[Laura Leff] Ally - The Fred Allen book?
Which one?
[Brad
from Georgia] Wikipedia says John Brown, actor, was blacklisted after
having been listed in RED CHANNELS as a Communist sympathizer.
[Ally1995] I dunno. Any memoir type one, Laura. I
luv memoirs.
[steve -shimp-] OK, John Brown was summoned
before the McCarthy commission...
[Laura Leff] http://grubstreet.ca/art
··· a/fa.htm
[Josef] I like Fred Allen to a point. I'm a
bigger B&A fan than of Allen's
[steve -shimp-] Just found the B&A book
[Laura Leff] Brad - I'll be!
[steve -shimp-] Brad beat me to it!
[Ally1995] LOL.
[Brad
from Georgia] Steve--Not McCarthy. HUAC. house, not senate.
[Josef] Oh wow
[Laura Leff] Ally - "Much Ado About
Me" is a better book because Allen loved vaudeville. Unfortunately, it's
unfinished. "Treadmill to Oblivion" is about radio and TV, but it's a
harsher read. Still a very good read, but Allen is more his acid self.
[steve -shimp-] Hmm, well, the B&A book
says McCarthy, but they could have wires crossed. I'll believe the more recent
one
[Brad
from Georgia] Himan Brown was also blacklisted. And for that matter,
Zero Mostel was blacklisted and couldn't be in movies or on radio or TV for six
or seven years.
[Ally1995] Wow.. I like intriguing titles.. So
I'll have to look up the Treadmill one.
[Laura Leff] There's a photo of me somewhere
in a crowd of people with an intense look on my face holding a "DOWN WITH
HUAC" sign someone had handed me...
[Ally1995] OMG. You are everywhere!!!
[Brad
from Georgia] McCarthy didn't involve himself much with Hollywood,
except for speechifying, but he encouraged the HUAC Hollywood blacklisting.
[Laura Leff] Most of the people who worked
on "The Front" (other than Woody Allen) were blacklisted
[Ally1995] jeez..
[Ally1995] ...
[Josef] yeah that was a really crazy era
[Laura Leff] Anyone who hasn't seen
"Good Night, and Good Luck" needs to do so
[Brad
from Georgia] Oddly, HUAC did uncover one--just one--certified
card-holding Communist, but she WASN'T blacklisted because she was the most
popular actress on TV at the time.
[Brad
from Georgia] Lucille Ball.
[Ally1995] I guarantee
[Laura Leff] Really? I thought that was an
urban legend
[steve -shimp-] No, it's true, she
registered communist party to vote for a relative, I believe
[bonita] the only thing red was her hair
[Brad
from Georgia] No, Ball admitted that she had joined the American
Communist Party to please her grandfather and had never stopped being a member
until just before the HUAC hearings.
[Josef] I knew she was accused.
[Laura Leff] Huh! Learning a good bit
tonight!
[Ally1995] Oh Laura--where is that photo yur in??
I'd love to see the look on your face if u arent uncomfortable.
[Laura Leff] Ally - I've never seen it...I
just know that there was someone with a camera taking it!
[Brad
from Georgia] But the HUAC representatives realized that if they came
down hard on Lucille Ball, they'd suffer a backlash because of her popularity,
so they backed off.
[Ally1995] WOW. That's interesting. I wish you
were my grandmother or something, you've got the best stories
[Laura Leff] I'm sure it's not very
complimentary...I was trying to look ticked off!
[Ally1995]
[Laura Leff] Ally - I'm 42...not quite ready
to be a grandmother yet!
[Ally1995] Oh I'm sorry... I'm just an innocent
child.
[Laura Leff] But I appreciate the
compliment!
[Brad
from Georgia] BTW, sad anniversary coming up: we lost Eddie Carroll
last year on April 6.
[Laura Leff] Sigh
[Josef] A year already?
[Ally1995] Oh yeah.. that is horrendous. I wanted
to see him!!
[Laura Leff] I was reading him all the
E-mails from members just a few hours before he died.
[Ally1995] Oh my god, that mustve been hard..
[Brad
from Georgia] I had a long chat with his widow Carolyn this
afternoon. She's bracing for the day, getting away from home for a few days.
[Ally1995] How do you people know them??!!
[Laura Leff] Ally - I felt like I was
reading him his final reviews. They were all glowing.
[Laura Leff] Brad - How's the book coming?
[Ally1995] Oh yesh your "novel".
[Brad
from Georgia] I met Eddie in person after one of his shows. Went all
the way to Pomona, NJ to catch it. From then on, we got together with the
Carrolls every time we could for a meal.
[Laura Leff] Ally - I've been doing this for
a long time...eventually you connect with a lot of people.
[Ally1995] It's epic. I want to try it!!!!!
[bonita] whats it about
[Brad
from Georgia] My bio of Eddie is coming along. Carolyn's given me the
timeline, and I'm researching and writing and interviewing lotsa people. Jamie
Farr last week and recently Frank Ferrante.
[Josef] I wanted to see him a few years ago but
school commitments got in the way
[Brad
from Georgia] Bonita--It's a biography of Eddie Carroll:
"Wishing on a Star: The Life of Eddie Carroll."
[Brad
from Georgia] Cowriting it with Carolyn Caroll.
[Ally1995] Oh man I bet the school would have
prevented me too Josef.
[steve -shimp-] Nice Brad, didn't know you
had a title yet.
[Josef] That's college for ya
[Ally1995] I cant wait to be in college.. Which
one are you studying in??
[Ally1995] I might try UMASS.
[steve -shimp-] Eddie came to Williamsburg
about a week after I moved from there after living there for 8 years!
[Josef] I went to a ministry school: Zion Bible
College
[Ally1995] Oh cool!!
[Brad
from Georgia] In a week or so, I'm supposed to interview Bill Farmer,
the voice of Goofy. I'm meeting all my cartoon heroes! Frank Ferrante, for those
who doesn't know, tours with a killer one-man Groucho Marx show.
[Ally1995] AWESOME BRAD
[Laura Leff] Ally - What's your major, or do
you know yet?
[Brad
from Georgia] Thing about Eddie, as my son said, after you talked to
him for ten minutes you wanted to be his friend for life.
[Ally1995] I have nooo idea. I have too many
interests!!
[Josef] I'm definitely going to have to read that
book Brad
[Laura Leff] Brad - And you probably would
be.
[Ally1995] aww
[Laura Leff] Ally - Understood. I know how
that is first hand! But U
[Laura Leff] MASS is a great school
[Brad
from Georgia] We're trying to use as many of Eddie's great stories,
verbatim, as we possibly can. He always wanted to write a book--we're letting
him do it.
[Josef] UMASS is great, had a lot of friends go
there
[Ally1995] Yeah, I LOVE the Band there.. My band
and the other MA schools went to Band Day this year.. brilliant.
[Brad
from Georgia] UMASS is a wonderful school.
[Laura Leff] Eddie could have done the
"A Hundred Years, a Hundred Stories" like George Burns.
[Laura Leff] But, of course, that was
actually written by Hal Goldman and Irving Fein.
[Brad
from Georgia] I wish he had had the time....
[Ally1995] ya..
[Brad
from Georgia] I wonder how much of his own writing Burns did. I
"hear" his voice in so many of his books.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Actually, not much.
[Laura Leff] He wrote the first one, but I
think most of the rest were ghost written by others.
[Ally1995] haha yeah..
[steve -shimp-] Yeah, he'd do long
interviews and a ghost writer would shuffle the words into the right order
[Josef] Oh wow
[Laura Leff] Gracie and All My Best Friends
were done by other people
[Brad
from Georgia] Surprises me--especially when George tells
uncomplimentary stories about, well, Mary Livingstone for one.
[Ally1995] I love the excerpts in Joan's book
written by Burns
[Laura Leff] But Hal Goldman did most, if
not all, of the small books.
[Ally1995] He's hysterical
[Laura Leff] That's why you hear George's
voice...Hal was one of his primary writers.
[Josef] He was with Burns for years
[Laura Leff] Hal did get co-author credit on
one of them
(some loss)
[Ally1995] Okay then.. I'll see if our old
Library has one..
[Laura Leff] Ally - Fair point. If she likes
it, then she counts for more than I do!
User
bonita has logged out.
[Ally1995] hee.. well I dunno. The other Laura is
doiong well anyway so..
[steve -shimp-] We lost Bonita. I used to
live in her Springs.
[Brad
from Georgia] bonita--if you eat at the Collegiate with someone, just
order one order of fries. They're huge servings but good--oh, she logged out.
[Ally1995] haha!
[Ally1995] One rule about chatrooms--type fast.
User
bonita has entered this room.
[Ally1995] Oh now shes back.
[steve -shimp-] Welcome back Bonita
[Laura Leff] The Jack Benny Chat becomes the
"Let's All Help Ally Get a Job Chat"
[Ally1995] LOLZ
[Ally1995] Fine we can change the subject!!
[Laura Leff] Maybe you could be a cigarette
girl
[steve -shimp-] Sell Sympathy Soothing
Syrup! Or Cimmeron rolls!
[Brad
from Georgia] bonita--Just sent you a fry alert for the
Collegiate--if you eat there with someone, remember, just one order of fries.
Huge plate of them, and they're good.
[Ally1995] A CIGARETTE...GIRL...??!! NO WAY.
[steve -shimp-] 'cause that's an option for
a healthy country Laura?
[bonita] sorry I goofed ,I was saying when brad
saw him he was little jimmy dickens
[Laura Leff] You could sell Luckies
[steve -shimp-] A noble profession.
[Ally1995] NO THANKS. I dont want to turn into
Don Wilson.
[Laura Leff] Good answer!
[Brad
from Georgia] Yes he was Little Jimmy back then. I wish I still had
his autograph, but I lost it.
[Josef] Even though they're no longer sold in the
states, so you get to work overseas!
[steve -shimp-] You can't get Luckies
anymore?
[steve -shimp-] in the US?
[Laura Leff] Josef - Luckies aren't sold
domestically any more?
[Laura Leff] You sure?
[steve -shimp-] Wow
[Ally1995] Wilson going crazy about Luckies
CONSTANTLY.. it's just unhealthy.
[Laura Leff] They're owned by British
American Tobacco I know but...
[steve -shimp-] I guess they have a
shrinking customer base...
[Josef] I checked on it. Back in like '06 or
something they stopped them or something like that
[steve -shimp-] to say the least.
[steve -shimp-] (cough)
[Laura Leff] Josef - I'll be!!!
[Brad
from Georgia] But more college students smoked Luckies than any other
brand...according to Don.
[Ally1995] oh man..
[Laura Leff] I'll make a mental note to
double-check that with my Mr. Commercial Man friend.
[Ally1995] Luckies just lookm nasty on the
commercials..
[steve -shimp-] As I recall they had no
filters
[Josef] They make them, but they're hard to get
in the US. I looked it up when I went to a store and asked for a Lucky for a
friend's b-day as a joke, and was given a strange look
[Laura Leff] Except when they're dancing in
stop-motion animation and tearing and comparing themselves
[Laura Leff] Um...that sounded off-color...
[Josef] yes
[Ally1995] And besides my aunt's lung collapsed
once because of smoking.
[Ally1995] It's horrific/
[Laura Leff] Steve - They did eventually
[Ally1995]
[Josef] They're toasted to give you the best
smoke yet
[Laura Leff] Ally - And don't think for a
second that I'm advocating smoking!
[Ally1995] No I know,, I just like ranting about
the dangers of it.
[Laura Leff] Luckies launched a campaign
when they started their filtered version.
[Brad
from Georgia] According to the company website, RJ Reynolds still
markets the original, unfiltered Lucky Strikes in the US even today--the rest of
the line has been discontinued though.
[Ally1995] Luckies could ve ruled the world I
bet.
[Josef] Okay Brad.
[Laura Leff] Huh...that's why they lost
their market share in the first place...to filtered brands in the 50s.
[Laura Leff] And is kind of the reason that
Luckies severed their relationship with Jack in the late 50s.
[steve -shimp-] How so, LL?
[Laura Leff] But I'm stealing the thunder
from a larger article that will be in Volume 3.
[Laura Leff] Steve - They were changing
their advertising from a more
[Josef] Oooh. I still need to get Vol. 1 & 2
[Ally1995] I'd like to look at some for curious
purposes, but then quickly throw them back at the sellers.
[Laura Leff] Dorothy Collins, couple's
cigarette to a manly-man "the genuine article" advertising
[steve -shimp-] Ah, that makes sense.
[Laura Leff] For some reason, Jack didn't
attract the "manly man" audience they wanted.
[Ally1995] HAHA...
[steve -shimp-] too funny
[Josef] wow
[Ally1995] Poor Jack. He was totally not a manly
man.
[Brad
from Georgia] I see. The Marlboro man had to be dealt with.
[steve -shimp-] Buck Benny as the Marlboro
Man
[Laura Leff] Brad - That's it exactly.
[Ally1995] Oh man, I'm sorry guys but I've gotta
go..
[steve -shimp-] OK bye Ally
[Laura Leff] Mental image of Jack sitting on
a horse and coughing
[Laura Leff] Oh darn!
[Brad
from Georgia] Bye, Ally. Come back next month.
[Ally1995] See ya!!
[Laura Leff] Yes, please do come back next
month Ally!
[bonita] celebrity apprentence
[Josef] Bye Ally, great talking to ya!
User
Ally1995 has logged out.
[Laura Leff] Gosh, I missed the opportunity
when Bonita logged off last time to say "Bonita flakes"
[Brad
from Georgia] I still remember a fifties MAD magazine parody:
"The Marble Row Man," a cowboy visiting the graves of all his buddies
who died from smoking.
[steve -shimp-] That's good.
[Laura Leff] (Nothing personal, Bonita)
[bonita] none taken
[Laura Leff] Brad - And there's even a Nat
M. Wills routine from the teens called "I'm Saving Coupons for Mother"
from cigarette packs to buy his father a gravestone.
[steve -shimp-] I like that MAD is still
around
[Laura Leff] It's no good any more I'm told
[steve -shimp-] Every once in awhile I pick
up a copy. Not great, no.
[Brad
from Georgia] Well, they take ads now...sad.
[steve -shimp-] But nice that it's still
there.
[Laura Leff] I had dinner at Sardi's in New
York. I like that it's still around.
[steve -shimp-] Magazines in general are on
the extinction path.
[Laura Leff] And when I'm in LA, I do
grocery shopping at the Bristol Farms that used to be Chasen's.
[Brad
from Georgia] I think one of my first publications was a letter in
MAD magazine when I was about twelve
[Laura Leff] Brad - Cool!
[steve -shimp-] Oh, wow
[Laura Leff] They've preserved part of the
old Chasen's as their dine-in area
[Brad
from Georgia] I also got to know Jack Davis slightly. He was from
Georgia and a fellow alum of UGA.
[Laura Leff] Ugh Ah
[steve -shimp-] Oh, very nice! Great artist.
[Laura Leff] Not Jim Davis of Garfield fame
[steve -shimp-] Nooooooo
[Brad
from Georgia] Ed Dodd, who originated "Mark Trail", told me
he gave Jack Davis his first big job as his assistant. "But I had to let
the guy go. He couldn't draw feet. Looked like they had a hinge in the
middle!"
[Laura Leff] So what else Benny-wise is on
everyone's mind?
[Laura Leff] Forgive me, but who is Jack
Davis?
[steve -shimp-] MAD artist, also did TALES
FROM THE CRYPT, a million TV Guide covers
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--am I right that the script from tonight was used
twice more, once in radio and once on TV in the fifties, both with Louella?
[steve -shimp-] He has a very
"bulbous"/gangly style to his art
[Laura Leff] Steve - OK, got it.
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack was a caricaturist, and a very good one. He did
the MAD version of "Pogo" for example, and the MAD version of
"Mark Trail" natch.
[Laura Leff] Brad - The dinner bit was
reused on radio, but I'd have to look up to see who it was...it wasn't Parsons.
[Laura Leff] And Parsons never appeared on
the TV show as far as I know.
[Brad
from Georgia] Don't confuse Jack Davis with Don Adams, though.
[steve -shimp-] I have a question about the
long music numbers at the end
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--it was a 1952 radio show, and I think it did have
Louella in it.
[steve -shimp-] Was that "live",
or added by AFRS? It sounds like you can hear people getting up and leaving and
shuffling around during it.
[Laura Leff] OK...maybe I'm forgetting. BRB...
[Laura Leff] Steve - Fills in AFRS time
clipped by commercials
[steve -shimp-] Both music numbers at the
end? I thought there were two.
[Brad
from Georgia] steve--on some of the AFRS shows, it's Phil and the
band providing the music.
[steve -shimp-] So here's the gist of my
question....
[steve -shimp-] If you were there in the
studio audience, would the band play on after the actual broadcast ended as
people left the theater, and might some of that been transcribed?
[steve -shimp-] and recycled into the AFRS
version?
[steve -shimp-] That's what it kind of
sounded like to me.
[Brad
from Georgia] steve--I think so--maybe the band "played the
audience out." Though I'd sit and listen until they ran me out.
[Laura Leff] 10/26/52...you are correct!
[steve -shimp-] yeah, for sure I'd stay and
listen too!
[Josef] OKAY i'M BACK
[Josef] woah, did not mnean to have caps there
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--I heard it about aw week/two weeks ago, that was
why I thought it was Louella. They used the same "tell her she's
thinner" gag.
[Brad
from Georgia] Wonder if Louella was a better sport than Hedda Hopper?
[steve -shimp-] No idea
[steve -shimp-] I actually get the two of
them confused.
[Laura Leff] You wouldn't be the first
[Brad
from Georgia] I've heard they didn't like each other...and I've read
that Hopper especially would threaten to "destroy" celebs who irked
her.
[Laura Leff] I haven't heard about the
"band playing on" for filler
[Laura Leff] and if the audience was going
out, you'd get a lot of background noise...which actually you can hear in this
show
[steve -shimp-] Yeah, that was my thought.
[Josef] yeah you can, I was wondering about the
background noise
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--during the war, they frequently used a few
recordings. One was Phil and the band playing "Jukebox Saturday Night"
[Laura Leff] although I'm not sure if it's
background noise or bleedthrough of another show from some old reel-to-reel,
since you get some odd artifacts over Rochester earlier in the show
[steve -shimp-] It doesn't sound like
bleedthrough like that weird moment where Rochester needs an Exorcist.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Right. And of course
there was the oft-heard "They Say It's Wonderful" if the show was
really short
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--Was that the "Exorcist" voice?
[Laura Leff] Steve -
[Josef] what part of the show was that steve? I
think I missed it
[Laura Leff] I don't know what the heck it
was...
[steve -shimp-] Early on, there's a big
blivet of sound from somewhere else, a recording flaw over Rochester's line.
[Brad
from Georgia] Josef--suddenly there's a slowed-down, ominous male
voice: "AAARRRRRRRRRUUUUUVAAAAAGGGH"
[Laura Leff] Knowing the technology that
they had at their disposal at AFRS at the time and how they edited shows
together
[Brad
from Georgia] I blame it on Hitler.
[Laura Leff] It's possible that the third
turntable might have been live and the engineer was cueing it
[Josef] I'm gonna have to double-check that for
myself
[Laura Leff] And realized it after he'd
found the start of the sound, then turned it off to back up the record to the
cue spot
[steve -shimp-] Good ear!
[Laura Leff] (You kind of have to have run
records in radio to "get" that...let me know if it doesn't make sense)
[Brad
from Georgia] Or could it have been....SATAN?
[Laura Leff] It could have been YHTAPMYS...
[Josef] yes, Symphany Soothing
[Laura Leff] Rochester Faustus
[steve -shimp-] That would have been a great
show plot, Rochester needs an exorcist.
[steve -shimp-] and Jack's too cheap
[Josef]
[Brad
from Georgia] If ythapmys says his name backward, does he go back to
the fifth dimension? Or up, up, and away in a beautiful balloon? Same thing,
really.
[Laura Leff] Oh, I can see the censor
ripping up that script so fast...
[steve -shimp-] Frank Nelson could be the
exorcist.
[steve -shimp-] What do you think I am in
this getup, a penguin?
[Laura Leff] OK now, I'm going to hold this
cross over your head...
[Brad
from Georgia] And Mary's head could spin completely around.
[Josef] oh yes, I just replayed that moment.
Wondered what the heck that was
[Brad
from Georgia] "Your mother smokes Luckies in...uh...heck"
[Laura Leff] LET THE POWER OF JELL-O COMPEL
YOU
[Laura Leff] LET THE POWER OF JELL-O COMPEL
YOU
[steve -shimp-] Bing Crosby could do the
Exorcism!
[Laura Leff] LET THE POWER OF JELL-O COMPEL
YOU
[Josef] Yes steve!
[steve -shimp-] OH, man, tears are streaming
out of my eyes
[Laura Leff] LET THE POWER OF GOLF COMPEL
YOU
[Brad
from Georgia] "Go buh-buh-back to where you came from."
[Laura Leff] Bob Crosby found dead on the
sidewalk
[Brad
from Georgia] Better: "Go buh-buh-buh back to whence you
ca--WHENCE?"
[Laura Leff] Har har
[steve -shimp-] Oh, I haven't laughed this
hard in awhile.
[Josef] Brad
[Brad
from Georgia] Dennis: I didn't order pea soup!
[Laura Leff] Oh Rah-chester....
[Josef] Yes Bosss
[Laura Leff] (Trying to come up with a Linda
Blair line)
[Laura Leff] Oh well, you get the idea
[steve -shimp-] As long as Rochester doesn't
pee on the carpet
[bonita] gotta go
User
bonita has logged out.
[steve -shimp-] Oh, too much for Bonita. My
apologies.
[Brad
from Georgia] "Mm-mmh. Mister Benny, if I told you once, I told
you a hundred times--you shouldn't tick off Pazuzu."
[Laura Leff] Yes, hope we didn't offend her.
[Josef] yeah me too
[Brad
from Georgia] Yes, apparently I work with her husband.
[Laura Leff] Do you work with anyone named
Ronnie?
[steve -shimp-] Brad works in the Halls of
Ivy
[Brad
from Georgia] There are 300 teachers at the school...no Ronnie leaps
to mind.
[Laura Leff] Anyone with an English accent?
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, you got me. Only me when I'm in a mood: "'Tis
a far, far better thing I do than I have done before...pop quiz!"
[Laura Leff] Any requests for a show for
next month?
[Brad
from Georgia] May, may, may...hmmm. The merry month of May....How
about one set in the May Company?
[Josef] That would be cool
[Laura Leff] The only one that comes to mind
is how Jack met Mary
[Laura Leff] Other than Christmas shopping,
and I can't recall if they ever specifically name the store
[Brad
from Georgia] Isn't there one where Jack is going to buy a coat for a
trip to NY?
[steve -shimp-] I don't have a preference
for a show
[Laura Leff] Hmmm
[Laura Leff] *Checking quickly*
[Brad
from Georgia] "What a great line they give me: Hmmmmm. Everybody
else gets jokes, I get Hmmmmm."
[Josef] I remember hearing an episode where Jack
goes to NY, the announce and Nelson aren't in LA, but meet him in NY\
[Laura Leff] Jack goes to the May Company in
the "It's a Wonderful Life" takeoff
[Brad
from Georgia] That'd do it for me.
[Josef] Love the "such a long line for such
a little laugh?"
[Laura Leff] Actually, I think I've got
one...
[Brad
from Georgia] You go, girl!
[Laura Leff] Jack dreams he's married to
Mary
[Brad
from Georgia] Cool beans.
[Laura Leff] 10/15/50
[Laura Leff] That work?
[Josef] They did a radio version of that?
[Laura Leff] Yup
[Brad
from Georgia] Works for me!
[Josef] Sure works for me. I've never seen it!
[Laura Leff] With Joan and all
[steve -shimp-] Oh, fun show.
[Laura Leff] Josef - You wouldn't...it was
on radio.
[Josef] Oh yeah, Laura, that was a faux pax
[Laura Leff] That's OK...I'm teasing you.
[Laura Leff] OK, sounds good.
[Brad
from Georgia] BTW, I'll tel everyone when the audio play I'm in is
available as a podcast from audible.com.
[Josef] I've seen the TV version, but didn't know
they had a radio version
[Laura Leff] Great! Good chat, folks.
[steve -shimp-] what's the play Brad?
[Brad
from Georgia] "Dancer in the Dark," a Lovecraftian horror
piece by my old friend, the late Thomas E. Fuller (who cowrote the Wishbone
books with me).
[Brad
from Georgia] Actually, it's very tongue-in-cheek...more humor than
horror.
[Josef] will have to look it up
[steve -shimp-] Sounds like fun Brad
[Laura Leff] Is that like Black Swan?
[Brad
from Georgia] The director actually advised me on one line, "Try
to channel Jack Benny for this one. It's that kind of exasperated
reaction."
[Laura Leff] Did he know your Benny
connection?
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--He knows I'm working on the Eddie Carroll book. And
when my cell phone rings, it's Jack playing "Love in Bloom," so I
guess, yeah.
[Laura Leff] OK, doesn't take a rocket
scientist.
[Laura Leff] Thanks for stopping,
folks...have a great April, and I'll talk with you next month!
[steve -shimp-] OK everyone, great chatting,
looking forward to next month!
[steve -shimp-] Bye
[Josef] Same here steve, see you next month!