79 Wistful Vista

I'm a fan of OTR (Old Time Radio.) Being of the age in the 1950's, I was lucky enough to be able to listen to some of the best shows first hand during the waning years for this type of program. With the advent of television, what is now called OTR was soon replaced with music, news & local programming with an occasional network show thrown in.
My interest in OTR was rekindled in the late 60's when I came across some old vinyl (33 1/3) records the featured the adventures of "The Shadow". This soon evolved into a search for other programs, which luckily were starting to become part of the nostalgia craze. More & more companies were reissuing these programs on vinyl & cassettes.

I started to collect shows like "The Lone Ranger", "Jack Benny", "Dragnet", "Gunsmoke" & more. Thanks to MP3's, I now have in excess of 3,000+ episodes. I am by no standard considered a serious collector, I leave that to those who have tens of thousands of episodes. After decades of listening (I can't fall asleep without listening to the OTR mp3's), I have opined that of all the shows that I have heard, (and some of them do not hold up or are just plain dreadful), the best & most timeless is "Fibber McGee & Molly".

Fibber McGee & Molly ran from 1935 - 1959. It was sponsored for the majority of its run by Johnson Wax. The show was rated #1 or #2 throughout the 1940's. It is honored
with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Fibber McGee & Molly was also the first radio show to spin off two of their supporting characters into their own shows.
("The Great Gildersleeve" & "Beulah").
The premise of F&M was what is now standard for sitcoms. The blowhard bumbling husband, the long suffering understanding wife who could put the spouse in his place with one withering word.
Beyond the simplistic story line, Fibber & Molly was quite topical for its time. Many episodes centered around the home front during WW II. Plots involved Red Cross & scrap drives. The importance of voting etc. McGee always trying to ingratiate himself in to the current event. His ego was boundless. He could do everything better than anyone on the planet. Foot in mouth was his basic dilemma. Fibber preceded Ozzie Nelson of Ozzie & Harriet fame as never working for a living.

Featured in the best supporting cast in radio were Bill Thompson(The Old Timer,Wallace Wimple plus multiple roles.) He was second only to Mel Blanc for versatility. Gale Gordon (Mayor LaTivia) Gordon is best known for his roles as Osgood Conklin on Our Miss Brooks & Mr. Mooney on various versions of The Lucy Show. Arthur Q. Bryan (Doctor Gamble) Bryan also supplied the voice of Elmer Fudd for Warner Bros. cartoons. Bea Benaderet (Millicent Carstairs) Benaderet went on to play Blanche Morton on Burns & Allen and Kate Bradley on Petticoat Junction,both on TV. She also provided the voice of Betty Rubble on The Flinstones.
Fibber & Molly was one of the first shows to work the sponsors commercials into the action. Harlow Wilcox was the announcer & pitchman. Wilcox was one of the busiest announcers in all of radio. Amos N' Andy & Suspense are just a few of his credits. Music during the golden years of Fibber & Molly was provided by Billy Mills Orchestra, a very tight band with a somewhat Latin influence in later years. These guys could cook. Vocals were performed by The King's Men lead by Ken Darby. Darby became a conductor & composer who won 3 Academy Awards & 1 Grammy. He also co-wrote
"Love Me Tender" for Elvis. Obviously, the most talented group of performers from top to bottom, in all of show biz history.

Often uttered by Molly in response to a terrible pun issued by Fibber was what became a catch phrase even to this day, "T'ain't funny, McGee". Contrary to those classic words, it was & is, Damn hilarious McGee.

Your pardon please

I have been remiss in tending to this blog. What began as a semi-egotistical bit of whimsy has unfortunately become too often, a showcase for personal histrionics.
A very dear friend, & sometime follower of this blog told me that I seem so angry in my postings.
The original intent of this blog was to show the absurdities in the world around us & to comment upon the same, hopefully with a bit of humor. There is certainly a profusion the ludicrous around us today. The last thing that is needed in these cheerless & inflamed times is a third rate hack as myself to add "fuel to the fire."
Yes, there are enough events in the world, especially in the political arena to make anyone become another Charles Whitman. The time has come for me to dial it down.
Occasionally, I will rant on about some jackhole who in my opinion has crossed the line of civility. However, I plan in the future to limit these outbursts to a minimum & return to be the sarcastically humorous SOB that has become my trademark & hopefully endeared me to my family & friends. I will periodically toss in a joke, no matter how much in poor taste it may seem,& completely unrelated just to make someone smile. Thank you for your indulgence.

Outsourced

NBC has a new "comedy"called Outsourced scheduled this fall 2010. From previews,it looks like they are using every East Indian stereotype they can to garner laughs.
I don't give a rat's behind about stereotypes, if I did, I'd be pissed about how fathers have been portrayed since the advent of sitcoms. Fathers(husbands)are easily manipulated by the family, condescended to by the "smarter" wife. Dumb as a bag of bricks etc.
But, I digress.
How does NBC think offshore outsourcing is a good premise for a comedy? According to the Halogen Corporation, "Outsourcing statistics show that the largest percentage of jobs being outsourced is in Information Technology, by around 28%. The next largest field is human resources taking 15% of the outsourcing market, followed closely by sales and marketing outsourcing with 14% and financial services outsourcing at 11%. The remaining 32% is made up of other different processes such as administrative outsourcing." These stats are just for India.
In this day of a trashed economy & thousands upon thousands losing their livelihood due to outsourcing, I don't get NBC's concept of comedy. Current guestimates are that the U.S. has lost between 4- 6 million jobs directly due to offshore outsourcing, with another 14 million at risk.
The best that can be said about this "comedy" is it is offensive on multiple levels.
NBC has had the lowest ratings they've for years (Zucker you suck). Their ratings are right in the toilet. What else is in a toilet...crap...like the "comedy" Outsourced.