45-12-03 A Slow, Dull, Tiresome Evening

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

Sade comments that the evening is slow - but then all at once, people call and come over, making her change her mind.

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Even with everything going on, there really isn't much if anything here to get a smile from.

Trivia:

+ Rush reads aloud from a volume of Third Lieutenant Stanley. The Third Lieutenant is attacked by counterfeiting natives and oddly, is wearing a yellow uniform.

+ Ruthie Stembottom calls and the the couples make a date to play "500."

+ While talking on the phone with Ruthie, Sade refers to Fred as "Fred" - something she hasn't done in more than a year and a half.

+ At the same time Ruthie calls, Jimmy Custard (still thinking Sade is "Mrs. Emerson") and Mr. Sprawl (Mis' Harris sent him over while she went downtown - again) come over. It must be noted than Custard came to the front down and rang the door bell and Mr. Sprawl came to the back and rang the door bell. This is the first time in "Series 2" where anyone rang the door bell.

+ Jimmy Custard has a iron-bound notebook. According to him, all City Calistoker have to have them.

+ Someone calls for Fat (Jackson) on the telephone. This running joke began with Dottie Brainfeeble and has lasted through "Series 2." The person calling for Fat mistakes Sade, this time, for "Isabelle." Sade continues to issue warnings to the caller that she will call the telephone company, but apparently, never seems to follow through with the threat.

+ The Gooks live at 414 Virginia Avenue.

+ Jimmy Custard thinks Mr. Sprawl is the son of Vic and Sade!

+ When Fred Stembottom calls up and asks what kind of ice cream he should bring, Vic and Rush say "caramel" and "tutti-fruiti." Despite being told a squillion times over the entire course of the show that Fred doesn't like either of these flavors, they persist.

+ Sweet Corn McBlock calls Vic to borrow a couple of bucks.

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45-11-21 Jimmy Custard, City Callestorker

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

Confused Jimmy Custard, the town's calistoker, comes to visit the Gooks and take statistics just as they are about to leave the house. Sade's patience finally runs out (ish!) and they leave the disoriented statistician to Uncle Fletcher as they depart.

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The term calistoker/calistorker doesn't seem to be defined on the internet but there is/was obviously a common municipal job known as the calistoker. It seems to be much more than a census taker but how much more can only be known by doing research that I can't find.

There's an interesting book online called, Tales from the City Calistoker; in it's very first paragraph in chapter one and in many more after that, it refers to Jimmy Custard but not in a Paul Rhymer or Vic and Sade way. What I get is that either Rhymer used the name "Jimmy Custard" in his plays as a joke about calistokers or calistokers became known as "Jimmy Custards" after Vic and Sade.  And I really don't know which one is true - but I suspect one or the other must be true.

Unfortunately, not much else can be found on the internet concerning the subject but I do find it most interesting.

At any rate, the Jimmy Custard in this episode is far crazier than Uncle Fletcher and when the two are compared, you realize that Fletcher isn't crazy at all.

Trivia:

+ The episode begins with Rush reading from a Third Lieutenant Stanley novel. Of course, he's being harassed by six counterfeiters.

+ The Gooks destination is the Stembottom home; we can assume they are going to play "500."

+ Sade notices that Mis' Donahue has now put up a curtain and a light in her attic and vows to ask her "what's going on?" Recall the earlier episode where Mis' Harris was alerted to strange activitity in the Donahue attic.

+ Someone calls the house for Fat Jackson and accuses Sade of being "Adeline."

+ When Jimmy Custard arrives, the Gooks and Uncle Fletcher are all in the living room; Custard simply walks in without knocking.

+ Custard confuses Rush with "Mr. Gook" on two occasions.

+ Custard is wearing another person's hat as there was a mix-up at the Bijou between a man and a woman and himself. Each got the wrong hat.

+ Earlier in the day, Mis' Harris refused to allow Custard entrance into her home because she didn't believe who he was.

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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!

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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."

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44-09-08 Vic's Business Trip

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic gets overly-excited about a business trip to Chicago with Mr. Ruebush.

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Though he gets over-excited, he doesn't act childish and Sade seems to show empathy for him, which is out of character for both. Someone calls for Fat Jackson near the end and neither Vic nor Sade seem upset.

Easily one of the strangest episodes.

Trivia:

+ Sade gossips on the phone to Ruthie Stembottom about Mis' Toopleforth (her first time mentioned) and the fact that she keeps gaining weight.

+ Sade makes plans for the Gooks and the Stembottoms to play "500."

+ Sade mentions the muted silver moonbeam chimes from a couple of episodes back.

+ Sade wants Vic to take an orange, a banana and a washrag on the train trip. He refuses them all.  Why would he?  Uncle Fletcher knows better.

+ Again, some guy calls for Fat Jackson.

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44-07-04 Sade Plays Rummy

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic and Russell are playing Rummy when Sade enters the house and wants to play with them.

Once given her "tickets" she begins to gossip, drop cards and rearrange the cards into colors and never does play, frustrating her opponents.

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This is neither the first nor the second episode where Sade delays a card game with her antics.

Trivia:

+ Before the "game" started, Sade was outside tending to flowers (her 'Panther's Blood.')

+ Sade saw Mr. Sludge and he was "washing his shoes." She also noticed he was sun-burned. She says he got it from standing in from of the dime store (Five and Teen Cent store) looking in the window for an hour. Some items in the window: combs, pencils, fancy face powder boxes, sheet music, hair pins and framed pictures of Gloria Golden.  (((HEAR)))

+ Sade mentions Mr. Scalder from Dixon, whose wife Elizabeth left him after he made wild hand gestures at her.

+ Sade recounts a game played by "Ted" Stembottom down at the foundry where the loser gets hit in the head with a sledgehammer. It may be called "Beefsteak:" {{{HEAR}}}

+ Sade says Fred is very impatient with Ruthie when they play cards.

+ Mis' Keller may move to North Dakota if she gets married and Sade is worried Uncle Fletcher will move to the Bright Kentucky Hotel, which worries her because he's have to negotiate the train tracks often.

+ Someone called again for Fat Jackson.

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43-11-10 Eight Million Jobs

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE 

Sade is busy around the house but is being constantly interrupted by the phone, the door and Russell.

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A better than average episode, mainly because Russell puts in a better-than-usual performance. Otherwise, not much here.

Trivia:

+ B.B. Baugh calls to ask Sade if she will represent him as his agent in selling his stingyberry jam to the Thimble Club ladies. She refuses.

+ Russell refers to B.B. Baugh as "Ba Ba Boo."

+ Russell came in the front door to bring in the mail; even so, he was asked twice why he came in the front door (coming in the front door is a Gook household no-no.)

+ A man comes to the door wanting to fix the Gook piano; of course they don't own a piano.

David Whitehouse as Russell

+ While the beef punkles are cooking, Sade tells Russell twice to poke them to see if they are tender and also tells him to add water; this scenario tells us that the punkles are being braised. This indicates that punkles are a cheap cut of beef that must be "pot roasted" to make tender. (We certainly have assumed this all along but now we KNOW for sure.)

+ Someone calls for "Fat." (We assume it was  for "Fat Jackson.")

+ Croucher's (telephone #8987-J) has a delivery boy named "Irvin."  One of the better moments of the episode is hearing Russell talk smart to him on the telephone: {{{HEAR}}}

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43-09-xx Russell Tenders His Resignations

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Before school even starts, Russell writes letters to various school clubs he's joined, resigning, in order to form the notion that he's going to spend all of his time concentrating on school duties.

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A reworking of the script from 39-10-xx Rush I Hereby Resign From..., this time with Russell resigning rather than Rush.

Some of the clubs are very, very similar and some are completely different.

This episode pales in comparison to it's predecessor; Russell is alright but he's certainly no Rush.

Trivia:

+ Russell mentions at least four of the club leaders (teachers?) and none of them correlate with the club leaders that Rush had. They are as follows:

Public Library Younger Boys Research Club - William Hinkert
Kelsey Street Athletic Association - Harry Hontin
Fellowship of Part-time Ushers - Franklin Block
Fraternity of Football Fanatics - Elton Braddum

+ The family comes up with four made-up names of clubs:

Sewage Disposal Workers Semi-Classical Silver Cornet Band
Chicago-Alton Luxury Club
Wednesday Afternoon Doll Baby Group
Young People's Singing Society

+ When the telephone rings, Russell thinks "It might be the guy who calls for Fat (Jackson.") He must be calling a lot in the missing episodes.

+ Raymond Surrells seems to be (so far) Russell's best friend.

+ Oyster Cracker (Russell's friend) was mentioned for the first time.

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43-02-15 Dottie's Letter From Chuck

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN, RUTH PEROTT AND CLARENCE HARTZELL
 
Dottie Brainfeeble is staying with Sade for a couple of weeks. She's an old school chum of hers from Dixon.

Dottie is a strange woman; she spends more time laughing at stuff that's not funny and talking loud than she does talking normal. It's obvious that she upsets Uncle Fletcher and he all but pries it out of Sade that she too isn't thrilled about Dottie.

Dottie spends the episode in another room reading a letter from her husband, Chuck. The kicker is, at the end of the letter, Dottie says Chuck may be transferred to the city the Gooks live in.

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This is the first episode where the Gooks begin being invaded with real people rather than just the stories about them.

You'll find that Dottie is by far the worst of the lot. She's so annoying that Uncle Fletcher seems afraid to talk. She's so annoying that her laugh (from another room) is so loud that it interrupts conversations.

There is a bright side. Firstly, there are only a few more episodes where Dottie shows up, all in the next few episodes - then she disappears.

Secondly, not all of the other "new" characters are quite so ridiculous and annoying. As a matter of fact, they are used as little as possible (for the most part) and are just there to help supplant the loss of Vic (who will return soon) and Rush (during this period of the show, Bill Idelson is in the Navy but will return to the series later.)

Get through this episode and it's all downhill. I don't think the avid Vic and Sade fan will tell you that he/she likes these episodes with the real characters but it's better than no episodes at all.

Trivia:

Ruth Perrott

+ Ruth Perrott plays Dottie. You may know her as Katy, the housekeeper in the old-time radio show, My Favorite Husband. You'd probably recognize her from many small character roles she played on television as well in the 1950's.

+ Uncle Fletcher calls Dottie, "Spottie."

+ Dottie calls Sade, "Kettle."

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Oliver Hidesock who married one of the Gulling-Tawning sisters. Moved from Belvidere in 1909 to Cypress Chunk, Minnesota and went back into his regular business of barbering. At one time, he was considered the best barber in the county. He could cut a head of hair in 5 minutes and shave a man in 4 minutes.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Collarbone Gackwench from DeKalb. His real name was, "Up Gackwench." Married at 57 years old and insisted on having her father's consent. Her father was 82 and wasn't very bright. He didn't even remember having a daughter.

+ Someone calls and asks for "Fat Jackson." This seems to have happened several times in the prior missing episodes as well.

+ Uncle Fletcher secretly refers to Dottie as being 'fat.' He also says he knows she gets on Vic's nerves.

+ Dottie grew up in Dixon, with Sade.

The first Dottie Brainfeeble sounds we hear... {{{HEAR}}}

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