STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade thinks it will be fun looking at the Razorscum family album. The album turns into a bit of a freak show as each page has oddities such as Cousin Dunk who has no neck, a really tall horse and of course there is the cousin who visits as Christmas time with the oblong head.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Sade guides Vic and Rush through a photograph album of the Razorscum family.
There are some “Vic and Sade” episodes that are characterized by a single hilarious turn of phrase that recurs throughout the script. This is one of those episodes. All you have to do is say “oblong head” and I smile. There’s the funniness of the phrase “oblong head” in itself, and then there’s the funniness of the oblong heads being the single characteristic upon which Sade focuses the most of her attention as she shows this photo album. Paul Rhymer was well aware when he had created a gem like “oblong head,” and frequently, a joke or phrase like this one functions as a major composition element in Rhymer’s script. He doesn’t hammer away at his good joke until it’s not funny anymore, like some comedy writers might (ahem, Saturday Night Live), but parcels it out carefully like a comedic refrain, introducing it, leaving it, and then bringing it back only when we’ve almost forgotten about it.
“Oblong head” is introduced almost immediately at the beginning of the script, then forgotten until almost halfway through, when Rhymer doubles down on it. We get a couple more “oblong heads” after this, but he doesn’t dwell on it. Then there’s another major pocket of “oblong head” after the halfway point — close to the golden mean of the show, or about 61% through. Note that the climaxes of songs also tend to occur in the golden mean. (All right, this is really more like 80% of the way through the episode, but let me have my moment.) Then, no more “oblong heads” until the very end — in fact, “oblong head” are the final two words of the script.SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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A very funny episode. There are lots of little crazy details in this one about the Razorscum family. Vic is smart-alecky: {{{HEAR}}}
Trivia:
+ Kennedy was mentioned. He was a tailor in East Orange, N.J. that made Charlie Razorscum's wedding suit in 1922. He made a suit for a fellow once in E. Orange, N.J. that got hung for murder and he wanted to look nice at his execution; the state hired Kennedy to take measurements and fix him up with a handsome suit complete with bell-bottom pants and a pinched-back coat with silk lining and smart patch pockets. [Richard E. Hunton compiled this bit.]
+ Charlie Razorscum wore the most-expensive suit worn by anybody in Harriet, Wisconsin in 1922 - the year he got married.
+ According to Sade, one Razorscum relation - that has been dead for many years - had a head so oblong it was almost shaped like a banana!
+ Sade says Mis' Razorscum is so colorblind, she confuses the white keys with the black keys on the piano!
+ One Razorscum relation, Eldred Bryson, shot a lion...at the zoo!
Vic doesn't really want to see the Razorscum album: {{{HEAR}}}
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This is an odd episopde, but a very amusing one. It's not clear why Sade thinks it would be enjoyable to look at a lot of pictures of people mostly unknown to them. Vic guesses from the size of the album there must be about 600 photos, and he and and Rush try to tell Sade that they're really not interested, but finally have to give up and resign themselves to their fate. I'm so glad that the audio for this episode survived, the oblong heads and Vic's remarks are a hoot.
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