39-12-15 Sade Needs A Gift – Quick!

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

• Sade arrives to find Vic's not home, and she's got to scare up a Christmas present quick for Freda Chinbunny.  Freda's over at the Call's and Sade needs to find a suitable gift and hurry back there.
• Rush offers to go grab something at the drug store, but Sade remembers Heine Call delivers for the store.  He'd see Rush and tell his sister, and she'd see Sade's a big fake.
• Freda announced she and her husband (Mr. Chinbunny) were leaving on a trip on Sunday and won't be back until after Christmas.  Mis' Harris and Mis' Elder jumped up saying they'd better give Freda her gift now, and they ran off to fetch them, with Sade following soon thereafter.
  Sade: "Why they'd hafta realize I got no more Christmas present for Freda than a rabbit."
• Rush suggests a book he found on the street-car tracks the other day: it's new, not a speck of dirt on it. He fetches it: "An Exhaustive Report of the Work of the Sub-Committee on the Boundary-Changing Issues of South-Central Indiana."  Sade doesn't feel this would be a suitable gift.
• Rush refers to Edwin Tucket – on a Sunday school outing to a restaurant he ordered first and everyone else followed suit, even though they all hated fish.
• Sade considers washrags, but Freda's "all stocked-up on washrags."
• Sade: "No. Think of something, Rush. You're supposed to be a big high-school scholar drippin' over with brains.  I've got to get back there. Otherwise, they'll think I'm the biggest fake since the straw that broke the wood-pile."
• After much more consideration, Rush takes a call from Smelly Clark and announces Smelly has solved the problem. He wants to hide his gift for his mother at the Gooks' house.  Rush suggests Sade grab an appropriate gift for Freda from among the gifts she's hiding for others and then replace it before Christmas.
• She takes Mis' Harris' gift from Mr. Harry Sludge – a bottle of  perfume.  She tears off the gift tag and runs back to see Freda. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

Other than books Rush has in his possession in the series, every other book title mentioned is almost always some technical kind of book that would be boring to a layperson.

We know Sade loves washrags, but so do many others in town.

We find out that Mr. Sludge's first name is 'Harry.'  That's appropriate for someone who gets a mustache drawn on his face twice in the series. [1] [2]

See the short script/synopsis

36-07-22 Rush's Dog-Walkin' Job

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush comes home and announces he's got a job walking a dog.  He then uses his brains to get another fellow to  do the job for him and still get a dime free and clear everyday.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2) 

_________________

Trivia:
 
+  There is a strong suspicion that Freda Call and Mr. Chinbunny are are about to wed.

46-06-27 Assembling a Piano

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

Uncle Fletcher promises he will revive a thrown-out, chopped up piano so that Vernon Korkell can give Rush piano lessons.

________________________

Welcome to (what I call) "Series 3" of Vic and Sade. The episode is intertwined with a lazy bassoon/fat alto saxophone in almost a cartoonish way. I'm not sure I'm quite enamored with it. The episode in full lasts 30 minutes; about 22 minutes plus when all the junk has been taken out.  All known surviving copies of this episode were already edited, thus this is not my editing job.

"Series 3" has a live audience.

Trivia:

+ Sade's daily newspaper love story has lately been about the Hawaiian islands.

+ Vic reads in the paper that "Mr. Ed McNilch invented a bicycle that could say 'mama.'" This is a big part of Vic and Sade nostalgia. But you may have read erroneously that the man was named Godfrey Dimlock; the below sound clip will prove this to be untrue: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Vic also reads that Mis' Cora Bucksaddle "swallowed a shotgun."

+ Robert and Slobert Hink and Cupid and Stupid Golfbake were mentioned in the local paper, even though both live in Hoopston, which is many miles away. Each couple was mentioned as going to see a Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman and Gloria Golden movie. Why it was in the local paper is anyone's guess.

+ The actress who plays Mis' Harris in this episode is definitely not the same one who played the part in "Series 2."

+ Vernon Korkell's mother-in-law mowed the ivy off the side of her house, even though her arms got tired holding up the lawnmower and she was on a step ladder....

+ Mis' Keller's dog is named "Elizabeth."

+ B.B. Baugh uses piano wire for suspenders, Pelter Unbleat uses piano wire for an auxilary cord for his automobile.

+ Rush is asked to do his imitation of a man with his head caught in a revolving door at the post office.

His voice register is noticeably lower than the previous time he did such an imitation. In that episode, it was the Brick Mush man who got his head caught in a revolving door.

+ Sade says she was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Uncle Fletcher says he was born in Tomahawk, Wisconsin.

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

44-06-02 Mr. Chinbunny Wants to Smoke Cigars - Russell

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Almost a complete word-for-word match for 40-06-02 Teaching Cigar Smoking to Chinbunny.

__________________

Russell is no Rush.

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

42-07-xx Thunderstorm

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Vic and Sade sit out on the front porch, talk about life and await a loud thunderstorm.

__________________

Exceptional sound upgrade

There are generally two kinds of Vic and Sade episodes; the outrageous and the home spun; this happens to be the latter. It happens to be one of the very best episodes not only for the fact that it is really acted well (perhaps the best-acted episode of the series) but it feels towards the end that you are actually on the front porch with them. The timing by Bernadine Flynn and Art Van Harvey here is impeccable.

Also, the episode is crammed full of information that we hadn't had until now, making this an episode that the avid fan will soak up with delight.

Trivia:

+ Mis' Elder's father is visiting her for a couple of weeks. A former school teacher, Mis' Elder refers to him as "The Professor" and he has the odd habits of waving to the Gooks every couple of minutes and "hanging his legs over the swing."

The reference to "hanging his legs over the swing" seems to be a most important one - albeit only for the advanced Vic and Sade fan: both Vic and Sade refer to this habit of The Professor (across the street.)  However, it seems to me that "hanging his legs over the swing" is actually the proper way to sit in a porch swing, Doesn't this then lead us to believe the reason the Gooks have so much trouble fitting 3 people on the porch swing (in almost every episode where they are on the porch) is that whichever Gook is in the swing tends to curl their legs up under themselves while sitting in the porch swing? I think it may be the Gooks who are unusual, not the visiting neighbor across the street!

+ After months of wondering what exactly is the relationship between the high school principal Mr. Chinbunny and Freda Call, we find out they are married. It was said in an earlier episode that she was married but she was always referred to as Freda Call. We can assume this is because the Call family live across the street and the family (especially Rush) just got used to calling her by that name, even after she married Mr. Chinbunny.

[We know from the notes received from Barbara Schwarz that Freda Call and Mr. Chinbunny were romantically involved as early as 1936.]

+ Mis' Hawkins is mentioned for the first time. Ruthie Stembottom and Sade ran into her in the underwear department of Yamilton's. Her husband is a telegrapher at the C and A Depot. This is the first time the C and A Depot has been mentioned.

+ Mis' Montgomery is mentioned for the first time and she lives on East Walnut Street. Her husband doesn't work and he plays the cornet for the Sewage Disposal Worker's Band.

There is a Mr. Montgomery who lives at the Bright Kentucky Hotel - but we can assume the man referred to above is not him, since the guy at the hotel is completely deaf and in my experience, deaf people rarely play the cornet.

+ Sade confesses that when she was little, she was scared of the thunder and lightning. And her mother was always scared of it.

+ Vic says he loves to sleep while it's raining: {{{HEAR}}}

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

42-07-xx Mr Chinbunny Eats Ice Cream

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade and Rush sit on the front porch swing and watch Mr. Chinbunny over at Freda's old house eating ice cream. He eats it with such delight and exagerration that the family sees it as being fake.

Meanwhile, Vic is on the phone to Rishigan Fishigan and finds out about a publication that lists parades all over the United States. He wants to subscribe to it but Sade and Rush can't see the point in it.

________________________

The funny part of the episode is listening to Vic treat parades as though he is Mr. Chinbunny eating an ice cream. Vic just loves a good parade - and apparently, so does Rishigan Fishigan.

Trivia:

+ Sade mentions Mis' McCall from Dixon. She exaggerates her expression to show how much she likes things.

+ Vic picked this story up from Rishigan Fishigan:  One man marched in 5 parades in 5 cities within a space of 96 hours. Marching along in his 5th parade, he fell exhausted to the pavement and died. The National Parade Lovers intend to erect a statue to him as soon as they raise $10,000. As of now, they only have 85 cents in their treasury.

+ We find that LeRoy Snow plays the violin. 

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

41-05-08 Landlord's Sneaky Trick

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gook landlord, Mr. Erickson, drops by and tells Sade that he is giving the home the Gooks rent to his daughter Beulah Feeple as an anniversary present. He envisions wrapping up the house up in red ribbon and Rush being dressed up like Cupid to present the gift.

The bottom line is this: he's actually not giving Beulah the deed - thus, it really won't be her house. Basically, it's just another trick by the sneaky landlord but this time it's a sneaky trick against Beulah and not the Gooks.

________________________

Erickson must really be a crumb. While Vic and Sade show no empathy to Beulah, this episode contains none of the usual derogatory comments leveled her way by Sade. So maybe there is some empathy for her, only hidden.

Trivia:

+ When Vic sees Rush coming up the sidewalk he says, "Here comes Raymond Belcher Beirman, the brainy bum from Buffalo." [Yet another reference to Beirman, who is showing up in many places in this part of the series.]

+ This is Beulah's 7th wedding anniversary.

+ Vic says, "The only advantage Beulah gets from the anniversary present is being able to say she owns property on Virginia Avenue."

+ Rush tries to tell a story about Smelly Clark (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells a quick story about Cracky Otto, who broke a violin over a guy's head and still tried to take violin lessons (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells another quick story, this one about Vernon Peggles and Leland Richards: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Freda was mentioned for the first time in the audio episodes. She is Heinie Call's sister.

Rush tells yet another quick story about Heinie at Freda's wedding: {{{HEAR}}}

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

40-06-02 Teaching Cigar Smoking to Chinbunny

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNADINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

RUSH: His idea is to whip out big, black cigars and smoke away like a steam engine and show everybody he's knocked around the world plenty and understands what's what. 

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Mr. Chinbunny wants to learn to smoke cigars, and Vic is the man to teach him.

Even funnier than Mr. Chinbunny’s request in this episode is Rush’s colorfully-painted picture of the professional adult’s social life. I never knew that experienced cigar smoking was such a source of prestige. Rhymer makes it especially funny by contrasting Rush’s great admiration with the repulsiveness of his descriptions — smoking “a big black rope as thick as your arm,” blowing out clouds of black smoke like a furnace. There are few more awful smells than that of a room full of cigar smoke (sorry, cigar smokers), and the image of a bunch of dignified school administrators soaking in this revolting sort of sauna is grotesquely funny.

The inter-character dynamics in this episode are similar to those in “Rotten Davis Telephones" — with Chinbunny taking the role of Rotten Davis, which probably says a lot about his relationship with the students at his school. Rush is steadfastly supporting an older male whom he openly admires (side note: as an educator, I’m touched by how Rush is 100% behind his principal here). That older male obviously has a little bit of growing up left to do, which Vic and Sade can see and Rush can’t. They think the scheme is ridiculous. But they’re also amused to be along for the ride, and perhaps flattered to have been selected as role models by the young man. 

Another interesting little note in this is the beginning, where Sade disparagingly reads aloud from a Third Lieutenant Stanley novel:

VIC: Third Lieutenant Stanley is a baboon.
SADE: It’s Lady Margaret that makes me tired.
VIC: What’s she up to?
SADE: Oh, always blushin’ and waltzin’ around and hidin’ her face behind her fan and glancin’ coquettishly down at her fashionable French spats and…well, here. Ya never heard such junk. Uh, “The beautiful woman pinkened. She stooped over quickly and pretended to adjust her fashionable French spats. She didn’t want the handsome young officer to see her shinin’ eyes and quiverin’ lips.” […] [chuckling] Oh, golly, what silliness.

Rhymer is making a subtle point here by contrasting the representation of women in the popular media with the “real” women who are consuming the media. Lady Margaret was already an excellent satire of feminine stereotypes, but by having Sade express her disgust, specifically with the character of Lady Margaret, he goes a step further. He shows that these stereotypes exist, that they are perpetuated in entertainment (especially entertainment for the young), and that many women are not happy about them. In a way, he gives women a voice. Sade may not have had the feminist language to say “This stereotype is demeaning, and I hate that this is the image of women that is being fed to my son.” But still, her “Ohhh, ish” and her “Golly, what silliness” speak volumes. Her disgust with Lady Margaret is evidence of her pride in herself. You go, Sade.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

_________________ 

To me, this is one of the most-delightful episodes in the Vic and Sade series. The ridiculous premise: the high school principal wants to learn how to smoke cigars in order to make himself look older and chooses Vic to teach him.

As far-fetched as the story may seem, recall that we've been told long beforehand that Mr. Chinbunny is a young principle whose job teeters precariously because of his age and his questionable activities. Writer Paul Rhymer's genius of putting these thoughts into our heads long before and then whipping out a wild tale later to back it up makes the unheard character seem absolutely real. It gives us a reassurance that we know Mr. Chinbunny.

Trivia:

+ Sade begins the episode reading to Vic from a nameless 3rd Lieutenant Stanley book lying around the house. Though she calls it, "trashy", she was reading it.  She seems to be addicted to various forms of trashy romance novels and juicy gossip.  (A psychologist might say that this seems to point to Vic's lack of prowess in the bedroom...)

+ Rush claims that Mr. Chinbunny shaves the top of his head, walks stiff and straight, wears a stern expression on his face and wears spectacles to look older.

+ Rush whips out two glorious imagined scenarios that might explain why Mr. Chinbunny wants to take up cigar-smoking (edited): (((HEAR)))

+ Ruthie Stembottom calls and talks to Vic and the couples make a date to play "500."  They'll be over as soon as Fred pumps up 2 of his tires.

+ Vic seems to jokingly worry that perhaps Mr. Chinbunny will make cigar-smoking a habit and he will be the cause of it all (edited): (((HEAR)))

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