41-05-30 Five Men from Maine

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Homer U. McDancey from East Brain, Oregon calls the Gook household trying to get in touch with Vic. Instead, Rush, who is home alone, takes a message.

The message: five men from Hunkerman, Maine want to meet up Vic. They aren't from the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way and they aren't from Consolidated Kitchenware.

 The mystery ensues... who are these men and what do they want?

WHAT MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Vic receives a very strange phone message.

This is one of my favorites. We never find out who these five men from Maine are and how they know about Vic. We aren’t even offered any convincing explanations. The entire episode is just Vic, Sade, and Rush being mystified about it. This is also another instance of the number five as a comedy device in Vic & Sade, which supports my husband’s theory that five is the funniest number.

Rush offers the possible explanation that McDancey’s story is an effort to get him into Maine for an “ambush,” and as proof comments that the names sound “fictitious as a horse.” Sade agrees with him. I like how they are so convinced that these names sound fake when they are no more ridiculous than most of the names in the Rhymer universe – in fact, they’re quite tame for Vic & Sade, except for the last guy, who has the same first and last name, and seems to have the middle name “Pew” (I listened to this so many times – I’m convinced he’s saying “Pew” and not “Q”). 

At the end, we get a little bit of pathos from Vic, as he obviously knows that the story of five men across the continent who are dying to shake his hand can’t be true, but obviously wishes that it was. We know how much Vic loves attention and admiration! Although he never had any real intention of going to Maine, he’s still a little sad and disappointed that it will never be.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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The men from Maine mystery is never solved (at least in this or other surviving episodes.)  One guess is that the five men from Maine are book publishers and would like Vic to write a book - possibly about parade ingenuity - but that's only a guess.

[In November of 2014, I found in the 'Schwarz Notes' that Vic did contemplate writing a book on parade procedure, as remembered by a Friends of Vic and Sade alumnus...]

McDancey, who has written at least one book and a is fellow member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way All-Star Marching Team, may have told his own publishers about Vic's prowess as both a writer and as a parade enthusiast. Of course, that's only a shot in the dark but we have so few facts to work with that almost anything is a possibility.

Trivia:

+ There is no Hunkerman, Maine according to Google Earth.

+ The five men from Maine are:

• Ollie J. Yawk
• V. Donald Gicks 
• Q.L. Cunningham
• D.S. Slank
• Erkhardt Q. Urquhart 

click to enlarge

+ As of at least 1940, the Vic and Sade producer was named Charles Urquart (see photo.)

+ Sade mentions Mis' Scott's brother, Erkhardt  (you may recall, he's the fellow with the bed in the back of his car) and notes that he's from Iowa.

+ Sade tells "the funniest thing she's ever heard", but Vic and Rush seem to care very little about her story about Mis' Elders storming out of an argument, only to find she had retreated from her own house. Vic seems to be far more intrigued as to who the 5 gentlemen from Maine could be and what they want with him.

+ As she has said in the past about Mr. Buller and H.K. Fleeber, she thinks Homer U. McDancey is a bit crazy.

Rush thinks that Homer U. McDancey has an ambush set for Vic: {{{HEAR}}}

🎙 Hear the Vic and Sadecast 074 – Five Men from Maine (11/12/17)


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