40-02-02 Mr. Donahue Gets a Promotion

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Sade is very excited for Mr. and Mis' Donahue; Mr. Donahue has been promoted to the more prestigious job of Traveling Inspector of Locomotives.

The Gooks gaze out the window to see Mr. Donahue wearing nice clothes for a change, as he prepares to tackle his new job on the freight line.  His first trip is to Kansas City.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Mr. Donahue gets a much-deserved promotion to Traveling Inspector of Locomotives.

We so often hear about the bad side of small-town gossip — backbiting and public shaming and libel. But Paul Rhymer shows that there’s a good side, too. Neighbors share in each other’s good fortune and experience it as if it were their own. Mr. Donahue is moving from blue-collar to white-collar, from the overalls class to the derby hat class. He’s achieved the American dream, and in the time of the Depression and World War II, it’s a nice reminder for Sade and others that that Puritan work ethic of theirs really does pay off.
This episode exemplifies “Vic and Sade” as the original show-about-nothing. A neighbor got a promotion. Sade talks about how she’s really happy for him. That’s it. That’s all there is for ten minutes. No conflict. No resolution. And yet it’s STILL entertaining and funny. 

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Why is Sade so excited?  I've always thought it was because the Donahues had a "dream realized" - something the Gooks actually never seem to have happen to them.  So in a way, Sade is living vicariously through Mis' Donahue.

That's not to say that Vic isn't successful - we know that he is; he's the chief accountant at Consolidated Kitchenware Plant #14 and he is a most prominent member of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of his lodge; he is often written up in magazine features of both places.

However, the rewards Vic reaps seem silly to Sade (i.e. the lodge is silly.)  Plus, whatever leftover income Vic receives seems to be blown on lodge schemes or lodge frivolity.

Trivia:

+ There's a washrag sale at Yamilton's.

+ We can assume that Mis' Elders lives across the street as well (also the first time mentioned in surviving audio.)

+ Mr. Husher is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.

Sade imitates Mr. Donahue (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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