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Showing posts with label Oakland Avenue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oakland Avenue. Show all posts

44-05-31 The Fascinating Allen McClutch

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER
Russell plans to study algebra with Allen McClutch. Allen is the most fascinating character that Russell ever met.
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Allen can make his elbows touch behind his back, he's had his tonsils out twice, he's never been to a dentist, has never tasted strawberries, uses a whole teaspoonful of stickum on his hair on Sundays. Also, a chunk of ice in his mouth don't make his teeth ache, and he's got a grandmother with a black mustache. (Lives at 1218-1/2 West Oakland Avenue, way out past the railroad tracks - if you stroll under the Olive Street viaduct and glance at the concrete abutment you'll see printed in letters 3 feet high in bright red paint the name "Allen McClutch.") In all probability he'll be wearing a bandage on his head, which he does to mystify the public. His father's a machinist at the C & A shops. His family moved from Sanderson, Minnesota. He swallows ice cream without either leaving it melt in his mouth or chewing it. When he uses the telephone in public he holds the transmitter to his ear and talks into the receiver to further mystify people. He enjoys annoying people by poking them in the stomach and saying, "How's the old breadbasket?"

Russell: "Allen McClutch wouldn't any more lower himself to use the back door than a rabbit." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

44-04-12 Russell, the Reluctant Knight

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND  DAVID WHITEHOUSE
Russell's been invited to a party at a friend of Anabel Hemstreet. He's agreed to escort Annabelle, but feels no need to be a gallant gentleman, since he feels like he is doing her a favor. When Blue Tooth invites him to the YMCA, he thinks he can get Heinie Call to do the escorting for him. Vic and Sade find him callous.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)
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This is a remake of a script very similar to this (date unknown) where Bill Idelson plays the part of Rush.  In this episode, Russell has plans to have Heinie escort Miss Hemstreet; we know very clearly that Heinie is Russell's sworn enemy.  One has to wonder if Bulldog Drummond or Nicer Scott might have been Rush's choice to replace him in the earlier production?

This play seems a wee bit out of character for Rush but certainly seems in line for Russell, who often seems to tiptoe the alley between respectability and anarchy.

Trivia:

+ The Hemstreets lives on Oakland Avenue between Mercer Avenue and Douglas Streets.  This is a high class area of the neighborhood and a dozen or so blocks from the Gook house.

+ Russell referred to Annabelle's friend (the one having the birthday) as "some baboon".

+ Champion bowlers who will appear at the YMCA: Red Donaldson and Curly McFormer.

39-06-19 Nicer Scott Has a Ten Dollar Bill

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
RUSH: I don't want Nicer runnin' around loose with a ten dollar bill.  He's liable to do something unwise.

VIC:  Like spending it on himself.


Rush: Yeah.


Rush has informed his parents that Nicer Scott was given a $10 bill by his Uncle Frank this evening - only his parents don't know it.  Nicer is afraid if he reveals this to his parents that they will want to do something crazy with it such as put it in his savings account.  Nicer needs Rush's support during the night, or so says Rush.

There seems to be another story that Rush is not coming right out and saying: Rush is afraid the money will somehow be spent before he can go across the street and keep an eye on him.

SEE THE SCRIPT
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This episode, unlike any before it or any after it, puts Rush in a very bad light.  We all can be greedy and selfish but it's not often the bad part of us shines through for everyone to see.  This episode though shows off the worst of Rush.

While reading the script, I fully expected Sade to tell him he could go spend the night at Nicer's house and he wasn't to come home until late the next day.  Then I expected her to say - "and you are not to play with one toy or eat one item of food that is bought with that ten dollar bill."  Seems to me, that would kind of mess with Rush's greedy conscious for a while.

Rush was planning on talking Nicer into buying two high-powered squirt guns from Yamilton's (2 for 75 cents.) Rush had his eyes on one of the two guns.  He also had plans for Nicer to buy a couple of dozen red bananas from The Greek (they are 3 for a dime.)  Rush also mentions a little store on S. Center Street that sells a 4" x 4" x 4" brick of licorice for 35 cents.  He also mentions he might come home with an aviator's helmet, a couple of Third Lieutenant Stanley books, a lucky ring and an automatic pencil.

It was mentioned that Rush needs new clothes, for he is going to go to Carberry to visit his Aunt Bess, Uncle Walter and cousin Euncie.

Rush quotes word-for-word from a Third Lieutenant Stanley novel: Third Lieutenant Stanley on the Campus or The Thrilling Capture of the Bank Robbing Professors at Yale College.

Rush has 31 cents owed to him by his friends.

Sade mentions Bertha Joiner, a lady who read so many dime novels that she went loopy.  Would only wear one shoe.

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



44-09-06 Muted Silver Moonbeam Chimes

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

ping tinkle tinkle ping tinkle
Vic is once again busted by Sade for his extracurricular activities with Lolita di Rienzi and Pom Pom Cordova. While Vic is certainly not fooling around with either woman, he does seem to be around the women often and without Sade's knowledge.

As in the past, it's once again music that brings the three in contact. And just as in the past episodes, Vic is subjected to embarrassment and slight ridicule by his wife.

Is Sade jealous?  Does she pretend to be jealous?  These are things we can only guess at for there is no way for us to know.
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This one unfolds pretty much like the others where Vic teams up with "the kids" at work - and there are no surprises here - the odd musical instrument (muted silver moonbeam chimes) being the one exception.

There's quite a bit of new information about the town in this episode and I always enjoy expanding my encyclopedia of characters, buildings, map, etc.

I can't imagine for the life of me that Sade is really jealous of the two young ladies.  Vic is just too goofy to be taken seriously by any female, it would seem to me.  Sure, he has charm at times and from everything we have heard, he's good looking and has pretty eyes and wrists, etc.  But come on, who would fall for Vic (aside from Sade?) 

Trivia:

+ We find out that the town Vic and Sade live in has a bus system. We never knew this before this episode. Sade and Mis' Trogle are taking the bus to Oakland Avenue to visit Mis' Schill. This is the first time she's been mentioned. Since she lives on Oakland Avenue, we can assume her husband makes a lot of money, since the street is referred to in previous episodes as being one of the more expensive neighborhoods.

+ Shoe laces are mentioned again. Specifically, brown shoe laces. This is at least the second time Sade mentioned brown shoe laces at Emson's shoe store. Careful listening to the series will provide enough mention of shoe laces to literally choke Billy Patterson.

+ Herder's music store was mentioned for the first time. It's owned by Mr. Herder and it's the first time he's been mentioned in the surviving series.

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

41-11-xx Crowded Car Ride

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Fred and Ruthie Stembottom have invited the Gooks to take a car trip up Route 66 to Chenoa.

Somehow, Vic invites Hank Gutstop and Sade gets backed into "inviting" Charlie Razorscum - without even asking Fred.

Sade can't stand Hank and Razorscum wants his car towed so he can find parts.  It's going to be embarrassing for the Gooks to have explain these situations to Fred and Ruthie.

It's simply bad news!  (((HEAR)))

Meanwhile, Rush is the object of his parents irritation as he spends the whole episode upstairs yelling downstairs inquiring about his lost pants.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Vic and Sade have both stuck their neck out so far, they can’t even get mad at each other. 
The car situation in this episode is funny, but for me the clear star of the episode is Rush, who spends the entire time upstairs, searching for his missing pants. Not only is “I can’t find my pants!” inherently funny (the word “pants” is funny and the thought of someone wandering around without pants is funny), but Rush performs wonderfully as a drama-ridden teenager, wringing increasing amounts of rage, frustration, and despair out of the line each time he delivers it. He also has a knack for interrupting at just the right time and just the right intervals for maximum annoyance. And few things are funnier to me than Rush interrupting with a loud “WHAT?” while Vic or Sade is in the middle of trying to explain something to him. Vic and Sade may have their own drama going on as they work out how to break the news to Fred that they’ve imposed terribly on him (and we all know how easygoing Fred is about his car), but the real show is upstairs.
SCRIPT (Transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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Other than the facts above, not much to this episode. The most fun is hearing Rush yell from upstairs but you'll probably get tired of it after about the first 20 or so calls of, "Mom?!"

Trivia:

+ Hank was invited along to talk over an important lodge ritual.  (Sade, of course, doesn't like Gutstop.)  (((HEAR)))

+ We find out that Hank Gutstop doesn't wear socks. That's not so surprising; the show's other "strange" regular, Mr. Sludge, doesn't wear socks, either.

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

40-xx-xx Mis' Appelrot Rearranges the Furniture

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Bossy Mis' Appelrot visits Sade and moves the living room furniture around (against Sade's wishes) to "conform with 1940's standards." Sade was so upset at herself for allowing Mis' Appelrot to push her around that when Rush came home, she was upstairs, crying.

While venting to Rush, Sade insinuates she won't let Mis' Appelrot shove her around again. Then the phone rings and it's Mis' Appelrot - and she suggests Sade turn the easy chair to face the window. Sade agrees with her.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
One of my favorite episodes and a real showcase of Bernardine Flynn’s acting skills. She’s saying typical “Sade” lines, but she conveys so many things with just her tone of voice. You can here that she’s just on the edge of tears for the whole episode, that she’s putting on a show of strength for her son, and that the effort is exhausting her. And Rush’s concern for her and his desire to sit and listen to her is really touching.
I also like this episode for what it says about small-town, especially Midwestern culture. It’s a well-known phenomenon among Americans. Some people call it “Iowa Nice” (or “Minnesota Nice” or “Illinois Nice”); some people call it just being polite; some people call it passive aggression. People traveling through the Midwest from outside marvel at how friendly everyone acts towards total strangers; people who live here sometimes get frustrated that people don’t just say what they mean. But it all arose for a reason. In small towns, like Vic and Sade’s, everybody sees each other all the time. Everybody knows each other, and everybody talks about each other. It simply didn’t do to be confrontational with others, because you’ll surely run into them at church or at the grocery store or at your town’s only social club. It is your job to preserve the peace, in spite of whatever your feelings might be. Hence Midwestern Niceness:
RUSH: Did ya…have a fight?
SADE: ‘Course we never had a fight! Think we’re wild tigers or something?
RUSH: Did ya…part friends?
SADE: Well, naturally. Think I’d let on for the squillionth part of a second she got my goat?
Sade wishes she could stand up for herself in front of Mis’ Appelrot, but confrontation goes against everything in her nature, and that’s as much a product of her Midwestern upbringing as it is of her personality. It also explains why Mis’ Appelrot was at Sade’s house in the first place. After all, they’re “friends” (with the emphasis on those quotation marks). Even though “none of the ladies” like Mis’ Appelrot, there’s no way she could possibly know that. They’re all in the same Thimble Club and they have to make nice with her. So Mis’ Appelrot gets to walk all over everybody at will. If you live in a small town, I bet you know a Mis’ Appelrot!
 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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What was left out of this episode is paramount: why would Sade invite Mis' Appelrot over to her house to begin with? Why would the two be chumming around? It's been obvious since early in the surviving episodes that Sade doesn't like Mis' Appelrot, so why give her an opportunity to even come over?

Trivia:

+ Rush says that Mis' Appelrot once spoke at his school. (There is no mention about what subject she spoke about.)

+ Rush relays this story: When Rooster Davis was 13, he ran clean across town to do an errand for Mis' Appelrot. For his trouble, she gave him a nickel, told him to wash his ears and called him, "little boy."

+ Oakland Avenue was mentioned for the first time in the existing audio. Rush states that's on "the other side of town."

Rush tells Sade what she should have told Mis' Appelrot: {{{HEAR}}}
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH MIS' APPELROT?
Although there may be occasional tensions between the people who pass by the little house halfway up in the next block, by and large, they are well-meaning souls. With one exception. Mis' Applerot is the closest thing to a villain in the world of Vic and Sade.

She is a woman of poise, intellect, and distinction. Through these qualities, she holds the respect of the homebodies of the Thimble Club who are not so privileged. However, she uses her influence to belittle the weaker members (her deliberate forgetfulness of Ruthie Stembottom's name), to manipulate club members to promote her own pet projects (like the destruction of the Bright Kentucky Hotel as an eyesore); and continually reminds the ladies of her superior connections. Sade may be president of the Thimble Club, but Mis' Appelrot runs it.

Yet she likes Sade. Her admiration and compliance feed Mis' Appelrot's ego. Likewise, because Sade has little social status, and less than a high school education, it feeds her self-esteem to have such a prestigious woman deign to favor her with her attention. But Sade still gets, as she might say, "the dirty end of the stick." Circulation of the Thimble Club's petition to demolish the Bright Kentucky Hotel falls on Sade. On another occasion, Sade feels compelled to rearrange her furniture at Mis' Appelrot's enforced suggestion. She is then reduced to tears at her own weakness of character, yet is still too intimidated to confront this pretentious bully. When Mis' Applerot finally does get her public comeuppance – from Ruthie Stembottom, in the underwear department at Yamilton's, of all places – we get almost as much satisfaction out of it as Ruthie did.

Mis' Appelrot is most aptly named: she is indeed a rotten apple, who, if permitted, can spoil the whole barrel. - Sarah Cole
IS VIC AND SADE "COMEDY"?
Episodes like this make me wonder whether "Vic and Sade" is properly categorized as a comedy.  (This is not a criticism, by the way; it's a good episode.)  The only thing funny I can find in this episode is the name Appelrot, but such twistedly descriptive names occur even in real life, for example Bill Idelson plays the Gooks' adopted idle son -- which is not to say Rush is lazy, just that we only hear from him during his idle hours at home.  During those times he either tries to be supportive and helpful, as he does here, or he tries to be entertaining, as when he reads aloud from some absurd Third Lieutenant Stanley adventure.  When present, Vic also attempts to entertain the others with his witty remarks and stories of his absurdly-named acquaintances.  I don't think we can point to these absurd names as proof that this is a comedy, however, because in many cases we only have Vic's word for it that these are their actual names, and Vic cannot be trusted to use people's actual names, since he often refers to Rush and Sade with names that are manifestly not their own.    

So my own view is that "Vic and Sade" is not a comedy; it is slice-of-life fiction about realistic people who often entertain each other using their own comedic routines.  As to why they would go to such lengths, I would point out that while they do go to movies, this is before TV and as far as I can tell they don't have a radio.  Since they were not bombarded by entertainment every waking moment, they developed the skills to provide their own.  But they knew when to drop the comedy routines and help each other out in serious ways, as in this particular episode.


- "Dave from Kentucky"


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