40-xx-xx Mr. Gumpox takes Mr. Sludge to Pontiac

Mr. Gumpox is to take Howard and his garbage wagon to Pontiac, Illinois.  Mr. Sludge wants to go to Pontiac to visit his family who live there.  So, the two decide to go together and the Gooks contemplate how much better the two will know each other after the trip.

The title is one I have given purely for identification purposes.

[The gist of this episode is revealed in the book,Vic and Sade on the Radio: A Cultural History of Paul Rhymer's Daytime Series]

40-xx-xx Mr. Sludge and the Pinching Shoes

The family talks about the shoe problem Mr. Sludge had; they pinched his feet and made him cry!

___________________

According to episode 40-05-27 Mis' Scott Getting Too Chummy, the family recounted a bit about the time Mr. Sludge had pinching shoes. Poor guy.

Although unknown, it seems probable that the episode took place in 1940, sometime before May 27th.

The episode title is one I gave to the episode purely for identification purposes.  

44-05-05 Rish Fish's Short Career

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER

Almost the very same story as 39-06-21 Hank's Job Royal Throne Barbershop, except Rishigan Fishigan gets the job instead of Hank Gutstop and Russell Miller is in the episode instead of Rush.

SEE THE SCRIPT  (part 1) (part 2)

44-04-24 Howard, the Runaway

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER

• In the alley behind Graham Street, Howard suddenly bolted – all the way to Seminary Avenue. 
• Russell: "…shrill screaming and high-pitched yells of wild-eyed people."
• Russell: "Howard lost a good many true friends by his rash action."  Mr. Gumpox cried at having been betrayed by his old friend.
• Smelly Clark thinks Howard did it out of boredom, Heine Call thinks he was startled out of an exciting dream. Oyster Krecker thinks he was just blowing off steam.
• Mis' Razorscum thinks he was probably bit by an insect (also Sade's idea).
• Russell resolves to stand by Howard unless and until "it's proven his action was deliberately malicious."
• Russell (about Howard): "He's innocent as the new-mown hay." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

Howard is a horse most everyone loves.  But at this point in his life, he was a bit of a dangerous creature.

Two months later, he would knock holes in two garbage boxes, perhaps the product of getting loose and creating helter skelter.

40-06-21 Hank's Job - Royal Throne Barbershop

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Vic is excited.  He's just gotten off the telephone with his pal, Hank Gutstop, who informs him that he's gotten a new job at the Royal Throne 25 Cent Barbershop.

He procured the job by coming up with ideas to help improve business, plus he knows so many fellows in town that Ed Holvey, the shop owner, decided to give him a job.

But Hank, who has a bad history with holding a job, may not last the whole afternoon...

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Hank has a new job as a publicity manager for the Royal Throne Barbershop. Vic shares some of his ideas.

Hank has stumbled upon yet another job opportunity that will benefit him more than it will benefit his employers (free room and board, free lunch, and free haircuts included), but he can’t even hang onto that for a whole episode. Vic’s unending faith in him, given his employment history, is touching. Hank’s ideas are intriguing, but I’m not sure how well they’d actually work. Free lunch in a barbershop seems a little unsanitary. I’m worried you’d end up with hair clippings in your sandwich.
I’m always struck by this little moment in this episode:

SADE: I had quite a little conversation with Mis’ Eapers today.
VIC: How’s she?
SADE: All right. Little leaner than she was, I thought.
VIC: How’s TJ?
SADE: I never asked after TJ. Kinda afraid to, don’t ya know. After he was in jail those four times a person anymore kinda hates to inquire. Might make it embarrassin’.

"Vic and Sade" is full of little details like this — just passing comments that help add depth to the fictional community. Often they’re humorous or idyllic, but not always. Small towns all have those little things that everybody knows about but are too afraid, embarrassed, or polite to talk about. This moment always feels a little jarring to me because Vic and Sade talk about things like this so seldom. It’s also jarring because of the actors’ line readings — it’s the kind of thing that could have been played for laughs or not, depending on how the actors read it, and it is definitely not a humorous read (because Vic and Sade wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing). Listen to Vic’s voice, low and serious and sounding as if he’s anticipating bad news, when he asks "How’s TJ?", and Sade’s concerned tone as she answers. Notice, also, that she waits until Rush is out of the room before she even brings this subject up. Much like Rhymer’s rare and oblique references to World War II, this reference reminds you that darkness exists in Vic and Sade’s world — it just stays in the background, in other people’s lives. It’s these little details that add verisimilitude to "Vic and Sade" and make it the great portrayal of life that it is.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Trivia:

+ Rush infers that Hank once had a job selling homemade candy.

+ Some of Hank's barbershop ideas include:

• Free lunch - there was no talk of what this may constitute.
• Improving the appearance of the barbershop - no details were given
• Every 50th haircut free - Rush worked it out that it may take three years to get a free haircut.

+ Ed Holvey is always sleeping in the barber chair.  Rush says he lives there - Hank had plans to live there too (also sleeping a barber chair) as part of his payment.

+ Mr. Sludge came home crying again this day.

+ The barbershop is a hot place, according to Rush - no breeze can get in there.

+ Jim Skooner at the Butler House hotel barbershop is Vic's regular barber.

+ Sade called the shop 'dirty' and 'dingy.'

Perhaps it's a joke but a look at Google and "royal throne" brings up as many toilet references as royalty references.

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43-12-01 B. B. Baugh and the 10-Cent Store Weigh-Machine

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

• Sade and Mis' Harris had been talking about the effects of furnace heat.  Mis' Harris' roomer Mr. Sludge had been sitting on the floor by the hot-air register night before last or sometime, putting sticks of peppermint candy in rows and making houses out ‘em, and all of a sudden he just sprawled out fast asleep.
• Russell returns from having gone to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball but was disappointed – it was all skinny fellas.  "they don't fall down and they don't get out of breath and they don't waddle around and bump into junk and they …"
• Sade: "You stay and watch the skinny fellas?  Russell: "For maybe half an hour.  Kept hoping some good old trusty, dependable fat men'd show up.  But none did.
• He eventually went to the Illinois Traction System Depot (i.e., the Interurban Station) to get warm and encountered a group of other guys in there getting warm:  Hank Gutstop, B. B. Baugh, Rishigan Fishigan from Sishigan, Michigan,  Y.I.I.Y. Skeeber, Stacy Yopp, Ernie Fadler, and Uncle Fletcher.
• Sade objects to Russell hanging out with that crowd even if Uncle Fletcher is with them.  Vic sees no harm in it.  She's shocked to learn the topic of discussion was "women."  Russell clarifies they were discussing the psychology of how women react when they step on a penny weighing-machine.  B. B. Baugh, who owns the peanut machine at the Interurban Station is considering the purchase of the 10-cent store weighing-machine.  Women prefer a machine that registers lower, rather than actual, weight.
• Sade is shocked to learn that her name was mentioned - by Uncle Fletcher - who mentioned Sade, Ruthie, and Mis' Keller complain about the 10-cent store machine because it gives correct weight.  He said they prefer the machine at Kleeberger's because it registers three to five pounds lower than reality.  B. B. plans to buy the 10-cent store machine and gear it down so it'll register ten pounds below reality, and then hire agents to spread the news among the ladies. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

It's been said by both Vic and Uncle Fletcher that B.B. Baugh is the most-enterprising businessman in town.  Though the cost of getting weighed is only a penny in 1943, you'd think that after 2-3 years, it'd be clear profit for Baugh, who seems to take low-risk money gambles.

Sade worries about Russell hanging out with Fletcher's gang of cronies, while Vic sees no harm; Vic shouldn't see any harm as they are all his friends as well!  I can imagine Sade saying: "There's nothing more frightening than a gang of seedy barbers and peanut machine misfits filling my little son's head with oceans of talky-talk and trashy-trash!"

Trivia:

+ Paul Rhymer used the word, soporific.

40-10-14 E-Z Slippers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic finds out that he's about to become the recipient of many pairs of E-Z slippers for Christmas (just 10 weeks away).

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

___________________

I'll bet you - like me - never realized that E-Z slippers were as popular on the show as all of this.

Perhaps you didn't realize that Mr. Sludge and Vic were 'arms around the neck, chummy.'  Well, they weren't.  But 1940 was a far different world than 2015 and beyond.  Mr. Sludge and Vic were neighbors.  They lived across the alley from each other.  Vic had talked baseball with Mr. Sludge - even though Vic had no interest in talking with him (he referred to him as a slob) {{{HEAR}}}  No, they weren't friends, but Mr. Sludge probably thought pretty highly of Vic, enough to MAKE him a pair of E-Z slippers.  I'll bet Vic didn't make Sludge anything.

Vic wasn't friends with Noah and Beulah either, but they sent him E-Z slippers.  Beulah's father rented to Vic.  That was enough of a connection to draw a homemade Christmas gift in 1940!

That's another thing about this episode - people made gifts for one another.  They took their own personal time to construct the gifts.  They didn't lay out $12 each at Walmart (Yamilton's) and purchase them by the bushel, like we might do today.

Trivia:

+  Miss Hammersweet's E-Z Slippers have little calendars on them.  They fit over the insteps like shoe buckles – small metal frames, and inside the frames are little... (we never find out the rest).

+ Who's Vic getting slippers from?  Miss Hammersweet, Beuhla and Noah, the Brainfeebles, Mr. Sludge, Ike Kneesuffer, Mr. Ruebush, H.K. Fleeber, and Mr. Gumpox.

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.

________________________

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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44-03-20 Mysterious Skulkers

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

Sade notices three skulkers in the backyard. They turn out to be Uncle Fletcher and two of his friends.

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One of the rare Vic and Sade episodes that really goes nowhere; that's not to say it's a horrible episode as it's not but neither is it great. Very, very little going on in this one.

Trivia:

+ Roy Dejectedly and Pelter Unbleet both lived in Philadelphia in the year 1909 - yet they did not know each other.

+ It's inferred that Sade probably doesn't like Roy Dejectedly and she's never met Pelter Unbleet.

+ Unbleet is also a handyman along with his duties as the janitor for the Bright Kentucky Hotel.

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44-02-04 Sleepers Beware - Russell

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic and Russell draw a mustache on Mr. Sludge, who is sleeping on the Gook davenport.

Almost a word-for-word remake of 40-09-xx Mr. Sludge Grows A Mustache; some of the names have been changed but more or less exactly the same script.

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This one is not even close to being as good as it's predecessor. The difference between Rush and Russell shows up here very clearly.

If you take Vic and Sade literally (and here at The Crazy World of Vic and Sade please know that I do), then you can take the imagined world and throw it out the window. This is an episode I'd like to ignore but for the purposes of this website I cannot.

Trivia:

Some of the differences between the two episodes:

first episode: Rush says Leland Richards is kind-hearted.
this episode: Russell says Blue Tooth Johnson is big-hearted.

first episode: Vic does an imitation of Uncle Fletcher
this episode: no imitation

Happy Hooligan

first episode: Rush’s physiology teacher at school is Mis’ Shay.
this episode: Russell's physiology teacher is Mis' Funnelson.

this episode: Vic says -- "How about the sweet, little newborn shoots, sleepin' just below the sod; who are waiting for February to close it's wintry doors so they can greet April with their embry fire?"
this episode: Raymond Surrells drew a picture of Happy Hooligan (a comic strip character)

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43-08-20 Picking Up Vic in Fred's Car

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Vic is coming into town on the train and Fred and Ruthie Stembottom have volunteered to drop by, get Sade and then go get Vic and his luggage.

Russell is roaring like a panther to go but space in the car is scarce.

The story then gets really complicated as Mis' Harris calls for her roomer, Mr. Sludge, who needs a ride to the train depot to pick up his arriving mother and two sisters who are coming to visit him. Uncle Fletcher then shows up but Sade shuts him down before he tries to think about asking  if he can go.

Then we find out that the Stembottom's neighbors, the Yapps, are going too. Finally, Sade just gives in to the Stembottom mantra of, "the more the merrier" and invites Russell and her uncle along.

________________________

A typical Vic and Sade plot in which Paul Rhymer takes something simple like picking up Vic at the train depot and makes it ridiculous by putting anywhere from 7 to 12 people in a single car!

To Train Depot	Coming Home from Train Depot
Fred	Fred
Ruthie	Ruthie
Sade	Sade
Mr. Sludge	Vic and his luggage
Mr. Yapp	Mis'. Yapp
Mis' Yapp	Mr. Sludge's mother and her luggage
Russell	Mr. Sludge's sister and her luggage
Uncle Fletcher	Mr. Sludge's other sister and her luggage
	Russell
	Uncle Fletcher
	perhaps Mr. Ruebush

Trivia:

+ Vic's been gone for two weeks.

+ For the first time, we hear Russell call Sade, "Mom" and she calls him, "Willie." Not Rush but Rush-like.

+ This is the 3rd time we have heard Fred's car horn.

+ Mr. and Mis' Horner are mentioned as being neighbors to the Stembottoms.

+ Mr. and Mis' Yapp are mentioned as being next door neighbors to the Stembottoms.

+ Isabel Gilmer was mentioned by Sade as an old chum of hers from Wisconsin.

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43-03-05 Vic Entertains Dottie

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUTH PERROT

Sade has an obligation to the church bazaar and since Dottie Brainfeeble is visiting, needs Vic to stay home and keep her company for nearly 5 hours.

________________________

Of course like any sensible man would do, Vic leaves Dottie less than a minute after Sade has walked out the door. There's nobody (aside from Sade and Dottie's feeble-brained husband Chuck) that would want to stay around Dottie more than a minute.

Trivia:

+ Hank Gutstop calls and borrows $2 from Vic. Vic says he keeps a tally of how much Hank owes him - but in at least one previous episode, he had no idea how much Hank owed him.

+ Chuck and Dottie are talking about moving next door to the Gooks, meaning that in a missing episode, we lost someone moving away.

+ Dottie is very affectionate. She kisses Vic and gently crushes his cigars in his coat pocket.

+ Dottie is under the impression that Vic sells lumber.

+ It must have been very impressive and in some ways "sexual" (if I can use that term here) for men during this time period (1932-1944) to wear a clean white shirt everyday. Sade has said her sister Bess mentions it and Dottie mentions it in this episode and it's always mentioned in a sensual kind-of way.

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41-10-14 Vic Declines Cornet Lessons

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic gave Alf Musherton 19-20 hours of special tutoring at the Butler House Hotel as Musherton is a candidate for initiation in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.

Musherton is so pleased and grateful to Vic that he cries and insists on giving Vic or any Vic's relatives or acquaintances 20 free cornet lessons. Vic doesn't want the lessons and neither does Rush. The rest of the episode is spent trying to come up for candidates to take the free lessons.

Eventually he decides to give Hank Gutstop a quarter if he'll take the first lesson.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

This is a classic episode: absurd Rhymerian concept, colorful side characters, and Vic, Sade, and Rush fulfilling their favored roles (Vic thoughtful, Sade skeptical and scoffing, and Rush sitting back and delighting in the absurdity of it all). It’s also yet another episode in which men who cry are prominently featured – Vic’s friend Alf Musherton is a cryer, and Rush suggests that he might feel a kinship with Mr. Sludge because of it.

This episode presents an interesting commentary on the act of gift-giving. While we think of a gift giving as a one-way transaction, in which the giver altruistically gives something to the recipient and the recipient can choose to do what he will with it. However, the act of giving a gift isn’t a totally altruistic one, especially when it’s a gift given as reciprocity like Alf’s here. The gift giver gets the relief of a lifted obligation, the knowledge that he has reciprocated the past kindness of the recipient. This aspect of gift-giving places certain obligations on the recipient of the gift: it’s churlish to turn the gift down, because then you’re not allowing the person to feel that lifted obligation. Alf’s gift therefore becomes a bit of a white elephant as Vic has to put time and energy into coming up with a way to use it. A little ironic, since the gift was meant to thank Vic for his time and energy in tutoring Alf in the first place!

_______________

GARRY MOTTER SAYS:
This was the first Vic & Sade episode I ever heard.  I had heard of  the show, so when it came on the radio I gave it a listen.  It starts out slowly as they often do, and I feared the worst.  But by the time it was over I was enchanted.  I think it was the discussion of Mr. Sludge and Alf alternately yipping and sobbing that hooked me.  I "yipped" on the cornet myself at Rush's age, so this gave me a laugh. 

This is not one of the laugh-out-loud hilarious episodes, but is amusing in a surreal sort of way that appeals to me.  Still, one can't help bust out at Rush's anecdote about Mr. Richards having to call the plumber. 

Sade seems to think it ridiculous that a garbage man might want to play the cornet, yet the teacher himself is a sewage disposal worker.  One thing that stands out is that Vic is seen here as sensible and calm in a bizarre situation.  He deals with it thoughtfully and decisively, while Sade is panicked at the idea of a cornet in the house.  Too often he is humiliated by the end, but here he is in firm command.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Garry Motter)

_____________________

I think you will find that this episode is one of the most rewarding of the lot. If you haven't heard this one before, you should be extremely happy with the ending.

Trivia:

+ Rush wants to read aloud from a Third Lieutenant Stanley book that deals with coat and hat thieves in the Sahara Desert, but no one wants to hear it.

+ In a previous episode, Vic was to fake playing the cornet in a band concert. A year and a half later, you wonder why he would turn down the free lessons?

+ Some people who Vic, Rush and Sade suggested may want to learn the cornet: Mr. Gumpox, Uncle Fletcher and Mr. Sludge.

+ Sade refers to playing the cornet as "yipping." According to the Etymological Dictionary, "yip" means to "chirp like a bird."

+ Rush tells an Uncle Fletcher-type story about Mr. Richards, who used to play the cornet: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Hank Gutstop is known to hang around the Lazy Hours Pool Hall until closing time.

+ Rush knows the telephone number of the Lazy Hours Pool Hall (#8764-J.) However, in an earlier episode, Rush said, "[I] don’t know any pool hall telephone numbers. Mom’d throw me over the people’s bank building".

+ When Vic calls Hank, he's told that Hank Gutstop is playing bottle pool.

+ This is the first episode where the term, "stuff happens" is used.  Wikipedia credits this variant of the term "sh*t happens" to writer Paul Rhymer and Vic and Sade.  (((HEAR)))

+ The last few episodes have all been more than 10 minutes long; a sign that less commercial time was going into the program and probably a sign of the popularity of Vic and Sade.

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41-04-04 Dinner Invitation Withdrawn

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNADINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gooks are invited at the last minute to a big meal over at Mis' Harris' rooming house only to be uninvited again before they can leave the house.

_______________

Though there was total confusion, I don't see how Mis' Harris can univite the Gooks.

Episode is loads of fun for listening to Vic complain about having to remove his easy slippers and put on a suit.

Trivia:

+ Mr. Breep was mentioned for the first time. He's a roomer at Mis' Harris' house and is also (probably) a lawyer.

+ Dinner at the Harris house was to include steak, biscuits, ice cream "and all the tasty trimmings."

+ Rush inquired whether Mis' Harris would be making "trick mashed potatoes that look like rice" - I wander what he was talking about?

+ The Gook meal included meat (beef punkles?), potatoes, raisin bread, pickles, olives and watermelon.

+ The easy slippers that Vic was wearing had tassels and Indian heads on them; he had gotten them from his in-laws, Bess and Walter Helfer.

+ Before they are about to leave, Sade wants to make sure the front door is locked. There was a time when middle America did not bother to lock their doors but by early April 1941 (the time of this episode), Americans were being rounded up in Germany and Italy, spies were being spotted all over the globe and the world was becoming a smaller, more crime-ridden place.

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40-10-27 Hot Soup

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade tells Mis' Brighton about Vic, who has a very mild case of the sniffles. As the day goes on, Mis' Brighton has told others and others have told others and before the Gooks realize it, the neighbors have inundated the Gooks with three telephone calls and three bowls of hot soup for Vic, who is feeling fine.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic is coming down with a cold, or that’s the news that has spread around town, anyway.

I’ve written previously about the theory of “Vic and Sade” as the original “show about nothing,” and I think this episode is particularly Seinfeld-esque. Humor in both “Vic and Sade” and “Seinfeld” is based largely on the quirks of human behavior. “Seinfeld” takes place in urban New York, a setting known for behavior that some people might think of as rude, so a lot of “Seinfeld” plots revolve around the characters’ terrible behavior or their obsessions with some perceived slight. “Vic and Sade,” by contrast, takes place in a small town in the Midwest, a place known for what some might consider to be excessive politeness that borders on passive aggression, so a lot of “Vic and Sade” plots revolve around this other side of human interaction. Whereas Seinfeld’s New York City might be characterized by a lack of human connection, leading to selfish and callous behavior, Vic and Sade’s small town is characterized by too much connection and too little privacy. In short, the two shows have similar philosophies of humor, but different settings: in one environment, we get “no soup for you,” and in the other we get a rain of unwanted soup, but both cause the main characters considerable distress.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

______________

Trivia:

+ Myrtle Guller had not been mentioned before this episode. Her husband can't read or write.

Click image to ensue pseudo-hilarity

+ Mis' Beamon was mentioned for the first time. She lives on West Elm Street. She informed Ruthie Stembottom that Vic was ill.

+ Mis' Hettles called the Gooks to ask about Vic's health.

+ Mis' Oglethorpe was mentioned for the first time. She informed Mis' Trogle that Vic was ill.

+ Russell Duncan was mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio. He is a friend of Rush and Rush was anticipating a phone call from him.

Vic jokes about being ill: {{{HEAR}}}

Hear the Vic and Sadecast about this episode

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40-09-xx Mr. Sludge Grows a Mustache

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mr. Sludge has been up all night with a toothache and his landlord, Mis’ Harris is cleaning the house; therefore Mr. Sludge is having a nice afternoon nap on the Gook sofa.

Vic and Rush are in high spirits and Rush draws a mustache on poor Mr. Sludge. Can he do it without being reprimanded by Sade? Can he blame Vic and vice-versa?

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Up to no good...

Mr. Sludge is sleeping on the Gooks’ davenport. This brings out an impish streak in Vic and Rush.

All “Vic and Sade” is at least a little funny because it’s “Vic and Sade,” but this one is straight comedy. It’s carefully-constructed and well-timed with lots of jokes, and I think it’s one of the funniest episodes in the whole series. You can tell that Vic is in a mood to cause some mischief from the moment he walks in the door. Rush gamely follows his lead, and it keeps escalating toward the inevitable finish. All I can say is Mr. Sludge must be one heavy sleeper.

I would like to note that it appears from the opening lines of this episode that Leland Richards is courting Anabel Hemstreet now. Rush seems fine with that, in spite of the fact that they have a bit of a history. I guess they were just friends all this time after all. That, or Anabel decided to give up on Rush when he couldn’t pick up any of the hint anvils she was dropping.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

_______________

This is a terrific episode with excellent sound quality. Mr. Sludge seems to be the boy's favorite patsy. Rush doesn't even really need to be prodded very hard to do the dirty deed.

My favorite parts of the episode is hearing Vic and Rush talk at the same time to Sade.

Hear 'Shambles Constant' talk about this episode:  (((hear)))

Trivia:

+ Rush refers to Leland Richards as being "kind-hearted."

+ Vic does an imitation of Uncle Fletcher before we ever get a chance to hear the real Uncle Fletcher! While Vic doesn’t sound like Fletcher, he does say the same things Uncle Fletcher would say: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush almost got in a fight with Nicer Scott at school as Nicer stepped on Rush’s heel while he was using the water fountain.

+ Rush has to bring his copy of “Lady of the Lake” to school.

+ Rush’s Physiology teacher at school is Mis’ Shay.

+ Rush learned the following things about sleeping persons in physiology (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush refers to Vic as being a "punk ventriloquist."

+ Totally busted - yet innocent (edited): (((HEAR)))

+ Vic describes Mr. Sludge sleeping: (((HEAR)))

Hear the Vic and Sadecast about this episode
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

40-07-13 Short Bio of Little Dipper

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic has been asked by lodge headquarters to write a small biography about Hank Gutstop, who is a Little Dipper in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way lodge. The problem is, Vic can think of nothing that Hank excels in, except singing, and the lodge says singing qualities are not allowed in the bio.  Go figure.

Finally, Vic think he will simply write, "Hank Gutstop is healthy" - a short but sweet bio. But -- Hank winds up ill at the end of the episode.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic practices minimalism in his biography of the Exalted Little Dipper.

As usual, Vic is trying to do right by Hank — give him a little boost in life. Paint him in a flattering light for the readers of the Lodge Magazine. But it’s hard to write a compelling biography of someone whose biggest claim to fame — other than being a singer, which has been barred by Headquarters as a theme — is that he’s just an all-around nice fella. Perhaps Vic could have said something about Hank’s innovation. Although you couldn’t truthfully call him “hard-working,” he does seem to be quite the “idea man.” Never mind that the ideas are often bad and impractical. The readers of the Lodge Magazine don’t need to know that.

I enjoy the colorful story about Black Hawk coining the word “Ouch” that Vic manufactures from whole cloth in this episode:

VIC: Black Hawk was standin’ on the side of the mountain gazin’ down into the valley. He was lookin’ for enemy Chippewas. An enemy Chippewa snuck up behind him with a hatchet. The hatchet flashed through the air and Black Hawk’s skull was cracked open. “Ouch,” said Black Hawk calmly. “Ouch.” Just that one word. And now all over the world whenever a human bein’ is injured he says “Ouch.

Since Black Hawk’s tribe, the Sauk, lived in what is now the Midwest, I’m not sure where he found a mountain to stand on. And the Chippewa (Ojibwe) and Black Hawk were both allied with Britain against the United States in the War of 1812 (ah, the war that public school history classes forgot…). Good thing for Vic that Sade and Rush aren’t very good fact checkers.

Black Hawk is a prominent figure in the history of the Illinois/Iowa area, so it’s no surprise that Rhymer selected him as the subject of Vic’s questionable history lesson. But since Black Hawk came from my neck of the woods, and was laid to rest very close to my hometown, I’d be remiss if I didn’t link to some of his real, beautiful and bittersweet words at the end of his life. "I liked my towns, my cornfields and the home of my people. I fought for it. It is now yours. Keep it as we did— it will produce you good crops."  (“Ouch” is not among them…but who knows?)

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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We probably all know someone like Hank. I know I do. Usually people like Hank can at least excel at some physical prowess; the man I know who is a bit like Hank can do very little except he is regularly taking care of his lawn; seems he mows his yard maybe twice a week and does it better than anyone I've ever known.

A funny episode; especially some of the feats of the other Little Dippers that Vic mentions.

Vic and Sade fan Dave Duckert wrote a short bio about Hank Gutstop:

Hank has applied his many talents to a variety of industries, including business development and entertainment. He specializes in in the financial area of monetary debt structuring. In his spare time he pursues indoor sports and spends countless hours perfecting his skills in this area. If there is one thing that can be said about Hank, it is what all his employers have said, “You’ll be lucky to get Hank to work for you!” 

Trivia:

+ At the beginning of the program, the announcer says Sade and Rush are reading sections of the newspaper but once the action begins, Rush is actually reading a Third Lieutenant Stanley adventure.

+ In this episode, Hank Gutstop is 39 years old.

+ Sade saw Hank sleeping outside on the Illinois-Central platform this very day. [You wonder why Sade would be at or near the train station, as nothing else was mentioned about it...]

+ Sade says Charlie Razorscum and Mr. Sludge use the Royal Throne 25 Cent barbershop.

+ Although I have heard many stories about the cast laughing during the scenes, I hadn't been aware of any in the surviving episodes. But we get a taste of it in this one as Vic chuckles a bit during one of his lines: {{{HEAR}}}

A try at finding a Hank attribute: {{{HEAR}}}

And another stab: {{{HEAR}}}

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40-07-04 Mr. Sludge Calls His Mother

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mr. Sludge needs to make a long distance call to his mother and sisters but since two of roomers at the Harris house are home, Sludge feels quite embarrassed and thinks they might ridicule him. He asks Sade if he can make the call from their home. Sade agrees.

This sets it up for Rush and Vic to mock the man as they stay in the kitchen while he is in the living room.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Once a mama’s boy, always a mama’s boy.

I probably spend more time than I ought to thinking about the psychology of Mr. Sludge. I think he’s such an intriguing character, not just for the way he acts but for how others respond to him. I think we see Sade at her moral best when she is interacting with childish characters like Mr. Sludge and Ruthie Stembottom. She’s not always terribly kind and forgiving to her own family (who should know better than to act so foolish), but she has a soft spot for lost souls on the outside.

SADE: It’s not your place to make fun! Remember, you’re just a little boy, and Mr. Sludge is a grown man.

SADE: It’s not smart to laugh at people. Not the least bit smart.
VIC: [chuckling] No, but a guy forty-three years old…
SADE: I guess a guy forty-three years old can have feelins! […]

SADE: […] All his life he’s been babied and coddled. His mother and sister idolized him. Why, up until he was twenty years old, nobody’d ever said a mean word to him. It was a shock to learn there was meanness in the world. That’s why he cries.  […]

SADE: I don’t think it’s our place to criticize. He can’t help the way he feels. I’m sorry for him and glad to do all the favors I can. It’s cruel to laugh at a poor fella that’s blue and miserable.

I notice that she approaches Mr. Sludge in the same way she approaches Ruthie. She acknowledges that yes, perhaps what they are upset about might seem childish and foolish to us — but people’s feelings are their feelings and they can’t help what they feel and it’s our job to help them without judging them. Sade has no patience with people who are disingenuous and deceptive, like the oily Mr. Erickson, or flaky and manipulative, like Hank Gutstop — but any innocent who gets battered by the meanness of the world has a place under her wing. She’s always had an overwhelming maternal instinct, and it’s not just Rush who falls under her protection.

We find out a little more about Sludge’s background in this episode, like the following:

SADE: He got peachy marks in school, I know. Mis’ Harris’ was tellin’ me he’s got all his report cards stuck in the mirror of his dresser. Wonderful marks. Arithmetic a hundred, geography a hundred, history a hundred…everything a hundred. Shows he’s no ninny.

This is an old trope, the idea that kids who do well in school never make it in the real world. The truth is a lot more complicated than that, and in fact, good marks in school are still a predictor of later success — but Mr. Sludge is a fictional example of a real phenomenon taken to the extreme. Recent research shows that gifted children who are routinely given praise and feedback that focuses on how smart they are (rather than how hard-working they are or how they never give up) often suffer from low self-esteem and low perceptions of self-efficacy. They are more likely to give up when something is difficult — their self-worth is hung up on adults telling them they’re smart, and they don’t want to risk losing that status as a “smart kid.” Sometimes the wake-up call doesn’t come until they take difficult classes in college, or enter the workforce, but a childhood of everything being easy for you in school can lead to a rude awakening later on. This must be at least part of Sludge’s problem, although I’m sure he has social anxiety, too. The guy’s obviously got a lot of issues, and I have to agree with Sade that Vic’s being kind of a jerk about him. But it’s not Vic’s fault, really — he’s probably got some emotional repression himself…

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Sade again shows a lot of sympathy for Mr. Sludge while the boys have no use for him.

Trivia:

+ No surprise: Mr. Sludge was crying when he asked Sade if he could use the telephone.

+ Just as in a previous episode, Mr. Sludge got his feelings hurt at the Five and Dime. The incident this time was about the very petty difference in price over licorice buttons candy. [Note, in that previous episode the store was called the, "Five and Ten."  We can/will assume they are the same store.]

+ Rush obviously plays first base when he plays baseball because he has a first baseman's glove. It may have looked something like this:


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44-05-06 Rish Fish's Short Career

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER

Almost the very same story as 39-06-21 Hank's Job Royal Throne Barbershop, except Rishigan Fishigan gets the job instead of Hank Gutstop and Russell Miller is in the episode instead of Rush.

40-06-17 Mr. Sludge to Sleep Overnight at Gooks

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic: I hope he don't weep during the night and disturb our rest...

Mr. Sludge, as we all know, is a crier.  According to Sade in previous episodes, he's homesick, he misses his mother and sisters and on top of it all, he's a momma's boy.

His landlady, Mis' Harris, is away and Mr. Sludge is somehow alone over the house across the way.  He is frightened of this and Sade has made it known that Mr. Sludge is welcome to stay over at the Gook house and sleep on the davenport.

Sludge calls and is crying and frightened and is hopeful Rush will come and get him and escort him over to the house - for he too is afraid of the dark alleyway.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Mr. Sludge, alone and terrified in Mis’ Harris’ house, elects to spend the night with the Gooks.

The affection that most people in the Vic and Sade universe seem to have for Mr. Sludge is pretty touching. After all, male tears tend to make people uncomfortable, even in the twenty-first century — not to speak of the 1940s. Our perceptions about the way males “should” behave are deeply entrenched in our unspoken cultural rules and are laden with emotional intensity. But Mr. Sludge is lovingly accepted — well, by Sade, anyway; grudgingly by Vic. Sade is maternally protective of him and defends him against all scorn. Rush has always been tolerant of difference (look at some of the weird affectations his friends have), and he sees Sludge as just another colorful thread in the tapestry of life. He shows an ability to empathize with Sludge, to think like Sludge (“S’pose he went to a hotel?”) He even volunteers to go and walk Sludge across the alley (though he draws the line at giving him his bed). Vic’s a tougher case — he scoffs at Sludge’s unmanly tendencies, but even he accepts Sludge, albeit with quite a bit of bafflement and derision. He dislikes Mr. Sludge’s apparent weaknesses because he doesn’t understand them — but he’s still perfectly happy to have Sludge come and sleep at his house, because that’s what Sludge needs to do in order not to have a massive meltdown. Sludge must have some kind of severe social anxiety disorder that the Gooks don’t have the experience to recognize, or the language to describe (beyond words like “feeble-minded,” “mama’s boy,” “timid,” “bashful,” and so on), but they accept him as he is, warts and all — or, rather, uncontrollable tears and all.  And I think that’s a beautiful picture of society.

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Sade shows a lot of sympathy for Mr. Sludge again in this episode while both Vic and Rush don't understand how Mr. Sludge can be such a "sissy."

Trivia:

+ Intertwined in this episode is Rush reading from an exciting Third Lieutenant Stanley book.

+ Rush says that Sludge is a very good bowler. (He bowls at the YMCA.)

+ Do you ever think about the things that get said almost every episode that are ever rarely mentioned in Vic and Sade articles?:

• All: Telephone's ringin'!
• Rush: I'm just a normal, American citizen!
• Rush: (The phone rings.) It's probably ___ ____.  He said he had something of a very trivial nature to discuss.

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