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41-04-xx Company Coming, 13 People

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Sade: As Uncle Fletcher would say, "Fine!" 
Uncle Fletcher: Fine!
At the last minute, Vic tells Sade he's got company coming. Steve Chestbutter and A. J. Spence are coming over for a lodge meeting.  Sade has company too, as she has invited over Mis' Brighton and her brother, Willard. Of course, things get more complicated from there as Mis' Donahue calls and says she has company and Mr. Donahue needs to sleep and asks if he can come over and catch some nap time at the Gooks. Immediately after the telephone call, Uncle Fletcher shows up and has news that he invited Mis' Keller's daughter and husband over to meet Sade.

But that's not all. Rush arrives and reminds Sade he had invited Blue Tooth Johnson, Leland Richards and Vernon Peggles to study algebra. Sade had completely forgotten about that. Not only does that make more guests at the house, it also creates a dilemna as to where Mr. Donahue is going to sleep (Sade had planned on him sleeping in Rush's bed.)

Sade then finds out that Fred and Ruthie Stembottom have decided to come over under the impression that they will be playing, "500" with the Gooks.

So how many is that? {{{HEAR}}}
WHAT MIS' CROWE SAYS:
The Gooks’ residence is the most happening place in town tonight. 
Since we usually see it with just 3 or 4 people in it, it’s fun to imagine Vic and Sade’s little house so crowded with guests. I like how none of the family seems put out by any of this, even though the crowd is totally unexpected. They’re just ready to have a good time.

One notable bit in this script is the concept of “people who are company” vs. “people who are not company.” Mis’ Brighton and Willard don’t count as “company” because they’re “comfortable old friends,” and Chestbutter and Spence don’t count as “company” because they’re frequent visitors on Lodge business and are “as common as old shoes”. Fletcher doesn’t count as company because he’s part of the family. I’m guessing that Rush’s pals don’t count, either, and certainly not Donahue, who frequently visits to nap in Rush’s bed, or Fred and Ruthie, who are over at the Gooks’ to play cards almost every night. The definition of “company” must be “someone entering your house for whom you have to change your ordinary behavior.” Florence and Emmett Upscutch, strangers to the Gooks, are probably the only ones of these 13 guests whom Vic and Sade consider “company." 

There’s a hidden little joke in this script that the characters do not acknowledge: the reason Donahue is coming over to sleep at Vic and Sade’s in the first place is because there is company at his house – Mis’ Donahue’s sister and several of her children. I wonder what kind of sleep Donahue will get in Vic and Sade’s bed, with 15 other people in the house!
 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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This fun show ends in the best way possible!

Trivia:

+ We find out that "Mr. Spence" (of former episodes and a roomer of Mis' Harris) is actually named, A.J. Spence. We also find out also he is a lodge member in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way. I have gone back to previous episodes he was in now and changed "Mr." to "A.J." to reflect our new-found knowledge.

+ Sade calls Willard an "old, comfortable, easy friend." Until this episode, Willard had only been mentioned once in the surviving episodes, as a guest at Ruthie Stembottom's party. Why Mis' Brighton's brother is a big deal to Sade, we may never know.

+ Mrs. Keller's daughter and her husband are Emmett and Florence Upskutch.

+ When Sade is contemplating where Mr. Donahue can sleep, she says, "He generally balks at sleeping in our (Sade and Vic's) bed." Since she used the word, "generally" doesn't that lead us to believe that Mr. Donahue has been over a number of times to sleep at the Gook house? While not completely absurd, it seems that the Donahues put quite an imposition on the Gooks at times.

+ Evan was mentioned for the first time. All we know about him is that Ruthie was over at his house.

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