39-10-31 Blue-Tooth Under Gook Davenport

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

To Rush's surprise, Vic and Sade arrive home unexpectedly.

Hearing strange noise in the house, Vic blames mice, the barometric pressure and even an earthquake. Realizing that Rush is acting a bit strange, the couple soon find out the strange noises are due to the fact that Blue Tooth Johnson is under the davenport, hiding from Smelly Clark.

MIS; CROWE SAYS:
Vic and Sade are spending a quiet evening at home when they find that they have unexpected company…and have had it for the entire evening.

This is such a classic Rush scheme-gone-terribly-wrong episode. I love the slow exposition of the situation as this absurd teenage drama unfolds before Vic and Sade. We can tell from the start that Rush is wound-up about something, but we don’t know exactly what. Bluetooth does an admirable job maintaining his silence under the davenport, as though Rush is actually going to talk the two of them out of this pickle if he just keeps his trap shut.

It is no coincidence that this episode aired on October 31st. Ghostly noises in the house…strangers skulking outside in the darkness…the chilling feeling that you’re being watched…a man on the run from the law…it’s about as close as “Vic and Sade” gets to thriller territory. (May I just point out that “Broken Alarm Clocks" is also a Halloween episode?)

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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This episode holds a special place in my heart as it was (for some reason) the first episode of Vic and Sade I ever heard. Although this episode did not impress me the first time, I was intrigued enough to keep listening to the show and found that there really was a crazy world I could fall into.

The episode takes place on October 31, 1939 - Halloween night.  Halloween is not mentioned in the script.  But knowing that it's Halloween night tells us a few things: for one, why all the kids were skulking around outside.  We don't know exactly why Blue Tooth is hiding from Smelly Clark, but maybe the motive has something to do with Halloween or candy.

This would also explain why Vic (and Sade in particular) are freaked out about Blue Tooth hiding underneath the davenport.  Halloween night has an extra creepy chill in the air. 

Trivia:

+ Emerson, Calhoun and Oak streets are mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.

Rush tries to act casual... {{{HEAR}}}

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