45-11-20 Mis' Korkle, Strong Lady (The Return of Rush Gook)

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

The Korkells travel 20 blocks by foot to borrow sugar but what is even more fascinating is the story of Mis' Korkell's mother, who is a professional football player!

________________________

Rush returns to the broadcast and we are introduced to a new family, the Korkells and her brother, Orville.

Trivia:

+ Rush is back! {{{HEAR}}}


+ Rush and Blue Tooth Johnson had a discussion about who was better looking. Rush has had a problem with conceit in the past.

+ The Gooks are in the front room and all 3 visitors enter at different times throughout the play through the back door -- and none of them knock.

+ Vernon Korkell and his wife Edith live on the 700 block of Mulberry Avenue (Mulberry Avenue has never been mentioned in the series but Mulberry Street was mentioned in the very first episode.)

+ Mr. Gumpox's horse Howard stepped on Vernon's foot, bruising it.

+ Mis' Korkell's brother, Orville Wheenie (according to Wikipedia, played by Johnny Coons) is obviously a half-wit. Among the half-wit things he does is tell Rush that (he guesses) his sister "must be close to 30 years old" and he also tries to quiet down his accidental pompadour haircut with unusual items.

+ Vernon is a gas meter reader. His wife affectionately calls him, "Mr. Husband."

+ Vic accidentally calls Rush, "Russell."

+ Despite going through World War II and a stint in the Navy, Rush is still only 14 years old.

+ Edith has enormous strength as she can easily pick up her husband, which amazes Rush. She claims she got her strength from her mother.

+ Mis' Korkell's mother plays professional football (probably for Peoria.) Their mascot seems to be the Wildcats. They were to play the Pittsburgh coal mining team (men) the next Saturday in Pittsburgh. {{{HEAR}}}

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

45-11-19 Unwanted Samaritan

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Mis' Harris and Sade bawl out Uncle Fletcher for being an unwanted "good" samaritan to Mr. Sprawl, Mis' Harris' elderly father.

_________________

Not a horrible beginning to what I shall call 'Series 2.' 

We are introduced to two new voices, Mis' Harris (called "Mrs. Florence Harris" by the announcer) and her father, Mr. Sprawl.

I never imagined Mis' Harris speaking the way she does, although to be honest, I never imagined the voice of Mis' Harris anyway. Mr. Sprawl doesn't say much and since he's brand new to the series, I didn't cringe when I heard his voice.

All-in-all, not a bad experience... however, this is a pretty boring story and likely was not the first episode in the Vic and Sade 'revival.'

Johnny Coons plays the part of Mr. Sprawl and actress Dolly Day plays Mis' Harris.

+ There appears to be something mysterious about the Donahue's attic.  I wish we knew more about the mystery, which I suspect either concludes later or is part of an earlier, missing episode.

+ It appears as though Dwight Twentysixler has a flame for Mis' Harris, who you may recall is a widow.

+ Mr. Sprawl (according to Wikipedia) was played by Johnny Coons. The actress that played Mis' Harris is uncredited.

+ Dr. Miller is Mr. Sprawl's doctor. He prescribed "fresh air and sunshine" for Sprawl, according to Mis' Harris.

+ Sweet Corn McBlock is mentioned. He's probably a large man and a cronie of Uncle Fletcher.

Normal, Illinois is famous for it's sweet corn.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

45-03-18 The Stillness of an Afternoon is Broken (Philco Radio Hall of Fame)

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITESIDE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Not at all your usual Vic and Sade episode, mainly because it's not a Vic and Sade episode at all; it's an episode of the Philco Radio Hall of Fame and it was recorded before a live audience while the Vic and Sade show was on hiatus.

Because of the unusual broadcast, I kept the original introduction to the show by the Philco Radio Hall of Fame announcer Glen Riggs.  I also kept the audience clapping at the end, which adds to the flavor of the episode and helps remind us that this is a live broadcast.

On hiatus for the first time in 13 years, this episode features Sade, Vic, Russell and Uncle Fletcher in a somewhat crazy caricature of itself. After all, where else are you going to find "the horse that choked Billy Patterson" (never, in the history of the prior series, did a horse ever choke Billy Patterson!) and Vic admitting readily that he bought a hat, right to Sade's face (although no brim size is mentioned.) The episode also is crammed with exaggerations (especially from Sade) and lots of trivia that conflicts with prior episodes. This doesn't make the episode unfun but rather a curious anomaly and well worth hearing.

________________________

This particular recording is of much higher quality than any you have probably heard. I took this episode from a much-less-chopped-and-cropped Philco recording I found. You will find it sounds excellent!  Even if you don't usually download my episodes, you will want to download this one.

This episode is a fine way to bridge the gap from series one to series two.

Trivia:

+ Since this isn't Vic and Sade but rather, Philco's Radio Hall of Fame, none of this trivia will be used in Vic and Sade Characters.

+ David Whitehouse's voice seems to have lowered quite a bit in 6 months.

+ Uncle Fletcher contends a romance is brewing between his landlady, Mis' Keller and Rishigan Fishigan. This means that somewhere along the line, Mr. Harry Feedburn and Mis' Keller decided not to get married after all.

This kind of makes me mad as we listened to a month of episodes (the storyline on the radio was two and half months) about the brewing romance between Feedburn and Keller and it all went for nought.

+ Sade somehow knew that Vic had bought a new hat. It's never explained how she knew this.

+ Mis' Keller's name in this episode is "Helen." We've been told over and over that her name is "Leota."

+ Mr. Gumpox now has an automobile horn on his garbage wagon.

+ Rishigan Fishigan dressed up. He was wearing nearly the same outfit as Uncle Fletcher in this episode.

+ Vic got his initials put inside his hat. The hat salesman's name was Arthur Willis.

+ The town has two ladies named Mis' McFreemer. One lives on South Morris Ave. and the other on West Monroe Street. 

+ The original version of this episode was first broadcast in 1941.  Rush played the part that Russell plays in this episode.

VIEW THE SCRIPT

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-29 Farewell Show

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Russell, Vic, Uncle Fletcher and Sade are all at the house but all are getting ready to leave, each going a different direction.

________________________

The episode is a metaphor of the entire series, Vic and Sade, which ended after this show. It had been on the air for 13 consecutive years.

The show would come back to the air in about a year's time but the show would change and would sadly begat some real actors playing parts that we have only imagined in the past.

This final episode to the original 13 year run has a special ending which I have kept as part of the original program. The ending sounds like this: {{{HEAR}}}

Trivia:

+ Russell is all dressed up to go watch the fat men play handball at the YMCA. One wonders why.

+ Sade is going to the Bijou with Mis' Kilgore and Mis' Trogle. Recall that Mis' Kilgore lives near the Stembottoms.

+ It is mentioned for the first time that Vic's lodge meetings are held at the Unity building, downtown.

+ Uncle Fletcher mentions Martin Jordle and notes he is from Sycamore, Illinois. He helped bury Anderson L. McFlutcher, who had got caught between two cyclones.

+ Uncle Fletcher has plans to spend the evening with "jumpy" Mr. Feedburn, who was obviously not so "lost" after all. They plan to: fool with the peanut machine in the inter-urban station (Uncle Fletcher is half-owner), hang around the Butler House Hotel lobby and listen to the drummers talk politics and go down to Chicgao-Alton depot and watch the fast meat train to Kansas City go through.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-28 A Dun from Kleeburgers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

In an odd twist, Kleeburger's department store informs Vic that he's overpaid in the recent past and they owe him $2.00. Knowing this, he decides to persue the store owner via telephone (after hours) and tell him he wants his money. Vic provides a villainous laugh to boot.

Writer Paul Rhymer waited until the second-to-the-last episode to have Vic be triumphant in this very long-running gag.

HEAR MY PODCAST ABOUT THIS EPISODE

______________

Incredible fun as we get to hear Vic act childish and go off the deep end. This will no doubt embarrass Sade (who frequents the store at least 3 times a week) - but this doesn't even seem to faze Vic. He is so far removed from rationale that he tracks down the store owner by phone at his Elder's meeting for his church!

This may remind you of Vic losing his reasoning as he did in 43-04-12 Dottie's New Dress.

Trivia:

+ Vic contends that he's always $2.00 in the hole at Kleeburger's because he is always buying a pair of socks or a tie at the end of the month. He also says the family always ends up spending $10 to $25 there every month.

Assume that Vic makes the hefty 1944 salary of $90 a month (it's likely it was far less than this.) Now, imagine him spending 15-30% of his monthly/yearly salary at Kleeburger's...

+ Sade gets another postal card from her sister, Bess. Sade never gets a chance to read it as Vic has gone off the deep end.

I have never kept track but this has to be in the range of the 12th to 15th correspondence from Bess during the series.

+ The owner of Kleeburger's department store (the "Old Man") is T.W. Kleeburger. His phone number is #6732-W. He is an elder at the Second Congregational Church. It's the first time that he or the church has been mentioned.

Vic has a villainous laugh! {{{HEAR}}}

VIC, THE CHILD

In this episode, perhaps superseding any before it, shows just how childish Vic is.  Not just the silly, villainous laugh but the fact that all these years, Vic has owed money to Kleeburger's and the one time he is ahead, he puts the needle to the record and advances into a campaign of terror.

There is a side of Vic we never see where I think he is a monster, albeit, a silly one. - Jimbo

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-27 Harry Feedburn Missing

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Mr. Feedburn has disappeared (well, he's been gone 5 hours since Rishigan Fishigan last saw him here near the People's Bank Building.)

Uncle Fletcher is in a dither. He's called Vic home from his game of indoor horseshoes and is over at the Gook house. But is it anything more than the usual hubbub? We doubt it.

________________________

People's Bank Building (really!)

In case you haven't noticed, the storyline about Mis' Keller getting married has turned Uncle Fletcher from a funny, odd, story-telling machine into a panties-in-a-wad, pathological, fretting, "normal" soap-opera-like, frantic female character.

Trivia:

+ Uncle Fletcher once again suggests Russell "go down cellar."

+ Russell, Vic and Uncle Fletcher play the "All them states" game, where one mentions 4 to 5 states and another will do the same and this continues until about 20-30 states are mentioned. Big fun? Not so much, but more fun than sorting out all of the boring Mis' Keller-may-or-may-not-be-getting-married business.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-26 A Box of Old Letters

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Uncle Fletcher stops by the house and leaves Russell a box of old letters. Whoopee!

________________________

The letters are of no consequence... much like this episode. This is one those you wonder why was even written. It's not funny and there seems to be little if anything in it that's really memorable.

Trivia:

+ Russell had been playing football at Tatman's vacant lot.

+ There are two letters to Uncle Fletcher from Sade's sister Bess; she writes to him the same way she writes to Sade and the family.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-25 Saving Blue Tooth from Tragedy

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Russell and five of his friends plan to congregate and formulate plans to save Blue Tooth Johnson from the tragedy that is his public adoration of Mildred Tisdel.

________________________

A hard-to-understand episode because of sound quality but one thing you won't miss is that "nature has given ____ (fill in the blank) the beautiful gift of laughter!"

Trivia:

+ Russell is anxious to call Heinie Call on the telephone, despite the fact that in previous shows the two did not get along.

+ Sade said Ruthie accidentally fell asleep in Yamilton's a few days earlier while exchanging stockings (during the downtime between all the red tape.)

+ Blue Tooth wrote Mildred a note, a poem, gave her a birthday present and walked home with her.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-22 Vic's Unheard News

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic has interesting news but because of the grocery list and various telephone interruptions, he can never tell it.

When he does finally get the opportunity, he refuses!

________________________

A funny, fast-moving show and one of the better episodes in the Russell era (although it's Vic that moves the show along.)

Trivia:

+ Mis' Clinkshaw lives across the street from the Stembottoms.

+ Someone calls for "Spider" and Sade thinks it might be a trick by B.B. Baugh.

+ The Stembottoms and Gooks make plans for "500."

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-21 Harry Feedburn Arrives

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Looking "as nice" as he's "ever looked," Uncle Fletcher is decked out to meet the 9:45 pm train which carries Mr. Feedburn. Wasting the time away at the Gook house, both Vic and Sade take small shots at him.

________________________

Perhaps the most insignificant of all episodes, this one seems to go nowhere. It does however, add a piece to the ongoing Mis' Keller-getting-married story.

Trivia:

+ Among the articles of clothing Uncle Fletcher is wearing are a corduroy cap and a leather necktie.

+ We already know that Uncle Fletcher is loaded down with wedding responsibilities; another of them is setting the wedding date! He has not set the date as of this episode.

+ Mr. Feedburn was coming in on the Chicago-Alton train... meaning he was coming from Chicago.

+ Mr. Feedburn is a "well-to-do" man - meaning he's wealthy.

+ Mr. Feedburn is going to share the Bridal Suite room in the Butler House Hotel with Hank Gutstop; a private fee was negotitiated but the Butler House folks will know nothing about him staying at the hotel.

+ Hank Gutstop is inexplicably still working as the house detective at the Butler House.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-20 Rev. Cook's Dun Letter

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

In the mail, Sade gets a letter addressed to the "Reverend V. Cook" - and opens it, thinking the letter is to her. After reading the letter, she knows she made a mistake but feels embarrassed at the damaging things she's learned and doesn't know what to do next.

Vic provides lots of unhelpful advice and Russell provides a dark background to what might happen...

________________________

Between the years of 1941 and 1946, America cinema would be greatly influenced by the pulp writers and darker, more psychological films would be produced by the handfuls. We look back on these and call them film noir. It seems as though Russell was actually more influenced by this type of film rather than Gloria Golden or even some of his more favorite cowboy features.

This odd eipsode of Vic and Sade seems to yell at the influence of film noir as the plot (and especially Russell's idea of where it could all wind up.) This is not "a funny episode" but memorable all the same for it's flavor. There's a darkness to it. Sade's guilt seems real. Knowing that the pastor has a secret debt is damaging (even if unspoken) and could be volatile to the pastor and community (hey, this was 1944!)

For fun, let your imagination go as to what damage Sade could do with the information if she wanted to.

Trivia:

+ For the first time ever, Sade calls Russell, "Willie baby."

+ The Reverend's first name is "Vincent."

+ Mr. Kleeburger's first two initials are "N.S."

+ Vic says he has gotten letters addressed to the Reverend at Consolidated Kitchenware. Seems unlikely, but...

+ The Reverend owes $4.50 to Kleeburger's and has for at least 3 months; he's made one payment of fifty cents!

+ Vic's advice to Sade is to "throw the half-wit letter away!"

+ There's a half-told story in this episode which could have dire circumstances: Ike Kneesuffer's brother-in-law had wanted to borrow from him a length of piano wire. Piano wire has often been associated with assassination/strangulation.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!