44-04-08 'Red' Stembottom

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

• After supper Uncle Fletcher mentions he ran into "Red" Stembottom and Sade goes into a rage, forbidding him to change the man's name again.  
• Uncle Fletcher tells the story about Walter M. Veefy.  The story is a familiar one:   Drowned in the Missouri River.  Had another brother that drowned in the Ohio River.  Had another brother drown in the Mississippi River and still another brother who didn't get drowned at all.  [The problem is, he's already told this story (different rivers) about the same man, in 1941.  There have been several times where he told the same story and had a different man committing the ridiculous act(s) but I believe this is the only known time where told the same story twice about the same man.  And three years apart, to boot. - J.M.]
• Uncle Fletcher gives out the basic ingredients for Hyena Grease again in this episode.  This is at least the thrid time he's done so.
• At the end of the episode - and in fear of his life - Fletcher relents and refers not to "Red" or "Ted" but to "Fred" Stembottom. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

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It's pretty safe to say that Fletcher is obsessed with Hyena Grease.  Either it works just as well as he says it does or he believes it will be a real moneymaker.

The fact that Fletcher knows Fred's real name and calls him by it at the end should clue us all in that he uses the senile and deaf act only to get/demand attention.

The episode where Fletcher told the Veefy story about the drownings was also the first episode we know about where he called Fred by the name "Ted."  My guess is this is a Rhymer homage to himself - or at the very least, he was looking at an old script to see why he ever decided to name Fred "Ted" - saw the Veefy story and had Fletcher tell it again. 

44-04-19 B.B. Baugh and the New Dentist

STARRING: ARTY VAN HARVEY, BERNRADINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic must sit down and have a man-to-man talk with B.B. Baugh, who is exploiting members of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.

It seems Baugh has hired a bus to travel to Partlow, Illinois and has signed up several members of the Drowsy Venus Chapter to have a tooth pulled by his brother, who is a dentist there. Having a new dental practice, Baugh wants to have his brother start off on the right foot; lodge members would pay $5 to have a tooth extracted, whether they need one extracted or not.

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This episode provides a wealth of information about previously unkown lodge members. The original sound file sounded terrible; I can gladly tell you that now it sounds a great deal better - but still, it's far from perfect.

Trivia:

+ We find out that B.B. Baugh is a barber at the Bright Kentucky Hotel. It's amazing how many barbers that hotel has!

+ As of this episode, the Drowsy Venus Chapter has 50 members, not including Vic Gook.

+ In addition to the other 'irons in the fire' we know B.B. Baugh is involved in, we find out he owns the cole slaw concession at the Lazy Hours Pool Parlor.

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43-11-08 Essay on Birds

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Russell is stuck at home having to write an essay on birds but he seems to have not done any research and therefore is bereft of words to fill out his paper. His friend Arthur Grump saves him by calling on the telephone and inviting him to the Bijou. He cons Vic and Sade into putting off his homework until the next morning.

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Another run-of-the-mill episode. The episode provides a deeper look into Russell's life and his friends.

Trivia:

+ Two new friends of Russell are introduced in this episode: Bertha Fabre is a girl in his English class. Arthur Grump goes to school with Russell and invites him to go with him to the Bijou.

+ Sade says Homer Heck (his debut), who lives on Kinsey Street, knows a lot about Oklahoma. She also says Mis' Razorscum knows a lot about birds.

+ We learn that Fred and Ruthie Stembottom have a green bungalow birdhouse in their backyard.

+ Vic says B.B. Baugh claims he was elected "Nightengale of Dismal Seepage (Ohio.)" Also, he had a girlfriend named Dorothy who would forget to put pepper in fudge.

+ We find out that Mis' Sutton is the English teacher at Russell's school.

+ Perhaps the best moment of this episode is after the phone conversation that Russell has with his friend, Arthur. This is when he tells Vic and Sade the name of the film (presumably, Gloria Golden and Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman:) {{{HEAR}}}

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