46-08-15 Thimble Club Emergency (AFRS)

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

This is the day Sade is to host the Thimble Club meeting but she's completely forgotten about it. When she realizes the ladies are on their way, she gets Rush, Uncle Fletcher, Vic, Harry Dean, Mr. Sprawl and even Mr. Ruebush (he runs the carpet sweeper) to help her clean up the house.

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The sound isn't the best in this episode but it's mostly tolerable.

This is like a mish-mash of some other scripts together.  The one good thing about this episode is a couple Uncle Fletcher stories.

Trivia:

+ This was an Armed Forces Radio broadcast.  To my knowledge, this is the only AFRS broadcast made of Vic and Sade.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Owen V. Coonbreef He traveled extensively in the eastern part of North Dakota. He became an armed guard at the Ohio Home for the Obstinate but later changed positions to become an armed guard at the Missouri Home for the Agreeable. He converted all of his money into nickels and dimes to "make it convenient." He married a woman 21 years old - he was 24. Died in 1909.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells a story about Charley H. McSpillter from Belvidere. He married a woman 38 years old (he was 42.) He divided his time between Little Rock, Arkansas and Somerset, Kentucky. He sat aside every Thursday afternoon to practice on the automatic valve trombone, which he could play by ear. He could also play the violin, pipe organ, rope and steam [unintelligible] by ear. He loved cold oatmeal - preferred it to beef steak.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells another story near the end of the broadcast but it's just too muddled to make out what exactly is being said.

+ The Thimble Club meets on Thursdays.

+ Mrs. Thomas (who lives on West Chestnut Street) and Mis' Adams (of N. Stockton Blvd.) are members of the Thimble Club and were mentioned for the first time, as were their streets.

+ Mr. Sprawl, as always is obsessed with his "peanuts with the chocolate smeared on the outside" and is seeking his daughter (Mis' Harris) - something else he seems to be doing often.

+ Harry Dean comes over.  He brings homemade ice cream that his wife had made and had left over.

+ It's not known who played the part of Mr. Ruebush. 

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46-08-29 Pre-arranged Meals

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

Uncle Fletcher arrives at the Gook house and announces he's in "open rebellion against his landlady (Mis' Keller.)"

She's going out of town for a few days and in a classic Vic and Sade moment, Uncle Fletcher reveals (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

Mis' Keller has laid out all his meals for 5 days!

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This is one of the best of the post-original series episodes. It's unfortunate the sound cannot be better than is here.

Though Uncle Fletcher plans on showing his muscle, it's Mis' Keller who inexplicably winds up breaking up everything in a show of violence.

Trivia:

+ Sade saw Mr. Erickson in the alley and he told her he got a hold of some lumber and promises to be there the next morning with carpenters to rebuild the railing on the front porch.

Rush is going to remove the old porch before the workmen get there.

[Considering that the swing is on the front porch, might it be the railing has been compromised by Rush, Russell and Uncle Fletcher sitting on it through the years?]

+ Uncle Fletcher is so mad at Mis' Keller that he seems to want to threaten violence. Rush brings him a rickety, old card table so that he can destroy it front of her when she arrives at the Gook house.

He also planned to kick the porch railing, since it's going to come down anyway.

The plans quickly went awry after Mis' Keller came to the Gook house and took over.

+ Mis Keller was played by actress Viola Berwick.

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46-07-11 Chief of Police Visits

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

Vic has offered Chief of Police William Cullerson the use of his front room for his office while workman are at work at the police station.  The Chief is on the lookout for a man with endless aliases.

Vic wants to help and gets a hold of a uniform.  This gives him a chance to play a tough Irish cop.

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Uncle Fletcher told stories like crazy when he first joined the cast.  They gradually tarried off into no stories at all (during the end of the "Series 1.")  "Series 2" saw a smattering of stories but none of them really worth writing about.

This episode, however, harkens back to the first days of Uncle Fletcher, in that he tells a bunch of stories.  Some of them are rehashes of previous stories - or at least he uses elements of things that he's previously used.

Still, this is the Uncle Fletcher we got to know and love when he came aboard.

Trivia:

+ The narrator says Rush is mending his seam on his "indoor baseball." This was the same thing Russell was doing at the beginning of episode 44-07-26 Sade Pleads to See a Movie. And I still don't know what an "indoor baseball" is.

+ Uncle Fletcher talks about F.L. Rodgisherly, who gave the advice of, "Never go to sleep." His life seems to parallel those of Eugene Parklow and George McFulferm (or perhaps Uncle Fletcher just has his names mixed up.) He ran for coroner and got beat. Ran for sheriff and got beat. His one big ambition was to run for mayor and get beat; he realized that ambition.

+ Uncle Fletcher talks about Virgil K. McSneese who married a woman 38 years old, hit her on the head with a straw suitcase in disgust, poked her father in the jaw, wore his shoes on the wrong feet and held a section gang at bay with a 2x4 plank.

+ Uncle Fletcher talks about Bobton L. McQuirk who invented a vinegar bottle that had a button.  Married a woman 19 years old.  Deserted the powdered rabbit business.  Painted his house and barn without the use of either paint or paintbrush.  Died.

+ Uncle Fletcher talks about Mervin L. Melkowitz who refused all drinking water that didn't come from a stream in Idaho.

+ Police Chief Cullerson is on the lookout for Cortney Van Corlick (aka The Cunning Culprit from Covington, Kentucky, aka The Intrepid Evildoer of El Dorado, Arkansas, aka Ronald Rudman the Ruthless Ruffian from Radford, Rhode Island, aka Irving Ishouwood the Injurious Ingrate from Indianapolis, Indiana, aka Phillip Peggles the Purloined Pickpocket from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- whose real name is Pete McPunker.)

+ In a fun swipe at Uncle Fletcher, Vic tells Rush to "Go down cellar."

+ Mr. Sprawl shows up looking for his daughter Mis' Harris. When he notices Chief Cullerson and then Vic dressed up as a cop, he tries to flee under the davenport, spilling all of his peanuts with the chocolate smeared on the outside of them.

+ Vic, who somehow has a police uniform for himself, puts it on and talks now and then with an Irish accent: {{{HEAR}}}

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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.

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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.

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45-12-06 Rainy Day Fun in Kitchen

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

Sade is trying to entertain her Thimble Club ladies on a weekday only to have oceans of interruptions and guests in her kitchen.

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This episode has the same spirit and style of the older episodes, probably due to the fact that there is a lot of interaction between Rush, Vic and Uncle Fletcher. Rush actually gets some lines in this play.

Trivia:

+ Sade says Vernon Korkell came by (the day before) to read the gas meter. Mr. Gertner was also there the day before to check on the water. She also mentions the Brick Mush man was there the day before as was Mr. Erickson, checking on the back porch.

This sounds a whole lot like episode 45-11-27 Parade of Interruptions which is dated 10 days before this episode. I'm not saying someone along the line that the person who dated this episode (either in the official Vic and Sade logs or whatever) got this wrong -- but this seems like compelling evidence that it could be wrong.

+ Mis' Appelrot tries to give an essay to the Thimble Club ladies about "The Big Trees of California."

+ This is one of the few episode where it is mentioned that it is raining outside. Other episodes include 42-07-xx Thunderstorm and 44-08-01 Rotten Old Overshoes.

+ Uncle Fletcher rode over to the Gook house in the back of Mr. Gumpox's wagon, scrunched down, with a tarp over him as he tried to avoid the rain. This created steam and he talks about it almost the entire episode.

+ Mr. Sprawl has a whistle he got at the Ten Cent store. He calls it a "siren" and says it will be used for getting his daughter's attention when he wants soup or nuts with chocolate smeared on the outside. He blows it in the kitchen, twice, alerting and disturbing Sade during the Thimble Club meeting.

+ Jimmy Custard arrives and he is more confused than ever, referring to Vic, Uncle Fletcher and Mr. Sprawl all by the wrong names - he even thinks Mr. Sprawl is the "lady of the house" and calls Sade, "Mr. Montgomery."

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45-11-30 Dwight Twentysixler's Scrapbook

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

Uncle Fletcher shows Dwight Twentsixler's personal scrapbook to Mis' Harris while Dwight, Sade and Rush look on.

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Not much to this but Uncle Fletcher does tell one small story.

Uncle Fletcher is trying to start a romance between Dwight and Mis' Harris. For whatever reason, Mis' Harris already seems to be enamored with Dwight, although how she can understand him with the nails in his mouth is beyond me.

Trivia:

+ Rush tries to tell about a recent Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman and Gloria Golden film only to be drowned out by Uncle Fletcher.

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45-11-29 Uncle Fletcher Arranges Phone Calls

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

The Gooks entertain elderly Mr. Sprawl while his daughter (Mis' Harris) is out for the evening. But the evening is constantly interrupted by telephone calls as Uncle Fletcher has directed his friends to call him at various locations around town just to make him look important.

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There are 7 phone calls for Fletcher at the Gook house!

Not a funny or interesting show although some trivia is imparted.

Trivia:

+ Mr. Sprawl was born in Boston. Or so he says.

+ Ernie Fadler wears green eye shadow, a cigarette behind his ear and has black dots on his chin due to him accidentally marking on himself with indelible pencil.

+ Uncle Fletcher referred to Vic as his "husband."

+ Pelter Unbleet's imaginary brother was mentioned again by Uncle Fletcher.

+ Uncle Fletcher got phone calls from: Ernie Fadler, B.B. Baugh and Y.I.I.Y Skeeber and there were 3 phones where no message for Uncle Fletcher was taken.

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45-11-27 Parade of Interruptions

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

Sade complains to Vic that she can't get any work done because visitors keep interrupting her.

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And she aint kidding! Sade is interrupted by a total of nine people, including Vic.

This is a better than the average show, although, it's not one of the better ones.

Trivia:

+ Vic came home early from work because workmen were hammering on the steam pipes.

+ Sade complains to Vic about the visitors simply walking in the house without knocking. This was never a problem before 'Series 2' because there were no real people (save the Brainfeebles and Leland "I Want My Mommy" Richards.) This "problem" was created by Paul Rhymer!

+ Those who had bothered Sade before Vic arrived:

• The Brick Mush man
• Mr. Sprawl (he came to bring embroidery hoops that Mis' Harris had borrowed.)
• Vernon Korkell (not to read the meter but to kiss-off time.)
• Mr. Gumpox (he just noticed the big chip knocked out of the garbage box. That incident occured July 28, 1944, almost a year and a half prior to this incident!)
• Mr. Erickson (wanted to see if the back porch really needed to be fixed.)
  
• Rishigan Fishigan (came by to see if the Gooks needed their windows washed.)
  
• A cosmetics saleman (he had some stuff to smear on your face to make you look pretty.)

Once Vic got to the house, more visitors (all real characters) arrived:

• Orville Wheenie (he came by looking for Vernon Korkell who was long gone)
• Uncle Fletcher
• Mr. Gertner (The City Water Inspector; his first appearance. He seems to know Uncle Fletcher pretty well, since he calls him "Fletch.")
• Jimmy Custard (Still confused, he's lost his glasses and thinks Sade is called, "Mrs. Emerson.")
• Harry Dean (A telephone repairman; his first appearance.)

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45-11-23 Five Sleeping Beauties

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

It's late November and quite chilly but Uncle Fletcher and Dwight Twentysixler plan to sleep on the courthouse lawn. They hope to persuade Vic and Rush to join them and also plan to invite Mr. Sprawl, who is over 90 years old.

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It's amazing what fame will do to the common sense of some people (that's not to say that Fletcher Rush and Dwight Twentysixler have any common sense at all.) Ernie Pompell, one of the writers at the newspaper, has promised the men a story (maybe even on the front page) if they'll brave the elements.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Mr. Twentysixler, a man who always has roof shingles in his mouth. Everything he says is a mumble, yet the Gooks and Uncle Fletcher seem to have figured out his language.

Trivia:

+ The Donahue attic mystery continues: The previous night, Sade says she saw the Donahue's leave for the Bijou at 7:15. Mis' Harris claims at 8 pm, she was the lamp swinging in the attic!

+ Uncle Fletcher lists all of the men who like to sleep on the courthouse lawn during the warmer weather: Sweet Corn McBlock, Y.I.I.Y. Skeeber, Hank Gutstop, B.B. Baugh, Pelter Unbleet and his imaginary brother(!), Roy DelFino and Rishigan Fishigan.  Delfino is a name we have not come across before. He can rub his bare feet together and produce a clear blue flame!

+ Uncle Fletcher has made a habit in "series 2" of calling Rush, "Rushie."

+ We find out Mr. Sprawl's first name is "Mervin."

+ When Fletcher asks Vic and Rush if they would care to join them on the lawn, each answer in the negative before the question can be fully asked.

+ Twentysixler has a married daughter who lives in Dismal Seepage. Ohio.

Voice of Twentysixler: {{{HEAR}}}

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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.

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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.

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