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SEE INFO SECTION AT END OF THIS DIGEST FOR UNSUBSCRIBE AND OTHER INFORMATION. 
		====  INFO SECTION UPDATED 8/19/95  ====
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	    [removed]   Volume 95 : Issue 441


Articles in this issue of [removed]:

	 The Bickersons
	 Bickersons correction
	 Kemo Sabe

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 23:52:35 -0500
From: DavidLHsl@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: The Bickersons
Message-ID: <951209235234_49697258@[removed]>

  Gregg asked about info on The Bickersons.  This is from The Handbook of OTR
by Jon D. Swartz and Robert C. Reinehr:
---(quoting)---
   The Bickersons (NBC, CBS, 1946-1951)
   A 30-min. comedy-variety program featuring Don Ameche and Frances Langford
as John and Blanche Bickerson, a quarrelsome husband and wife.  The
characters were a spin-off from a very popular skit on The Charlie McCarthy
Show.  The program was called Drene Time (for the sponsor, Drene shampoo) for
the first year of the run, and included comedians Pinky Lee and Danny Thomas,
with music by the Carmen Dragon orchestra.  The announcer was Marvin Miller.
 The next year the program moved to CBS, and the name changed to The Old Gold
Show, featuring Bickerson skits and monologues by comedian Frank Morgan.  The
show went off the air after the 1947-1948 season, returning briefly in the
summer of 1951 with Lew Parker playing the part of John.  This was the only
program that was actually named The Bickersons, although that is the name by
which most people remember all three shows.  At least 18 episodes are
available.
---(end quote)---

   This is one of the shows that ushered me into the world of OTR, and the
show continues to crack me up, especially John's snoring.  The skits
themselves center on John's snoring waking up his wife Blanche, who then
wakes up John for their nightly arguments.  I have heard some 2-part skits,
presumable taken from their 30 minute shows, where the first takes place
during the day and the second taking place at night.  The dialogue is rapid
fire sarcasm and can be a jolt to those who have the impression that old time
radio was always quaint and corny.
   I have only one tape featuring Lew Parker, and was so unimpressed that I
have avoided getting anything further from the series not featuring Don
Ameche in the lead.  Almost all tapes I have feature the skits only, which
last approximately 10-15 minutes each, but a 30-minute version appears in the
Radio Spirits "OTR's Greatest Shows" collection.
   My only criticisms of the show are that many of the jokes are recycled too
frequently, and the character of Blanche Bickerson's brother Amos (played by
Danny Thomas) is more "mean" than funny.

David Hassell
John: "Don't worry, the cat's fine.  I put him in the canary cage."
Blanche: "The canary cage!  Where's the canary?"
John: "In the cat."
(from The Bickersons)

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 23:53:47 -0500
From: JRayb71827@[removed]
To: otr@[removed]
Subject: Bickersons correction
Message-ID: <951209235346_129458391@[removed]>

I'm sure several others will respond to Gregory Colan's question about "The
Bickersons."  First of all, it was Don Ameche with Frances Langford, not
Florence Henderson.  It all started on the Chase and Sanborn Hour (Edgar
Bergen & Charlie McCarthy) and became popular enough it went on its own as a
separate show for a couple of years.  There were various people added now and
then in attempts to broaden the scope, among them being Danny Thomas, who
played Blanche Bickerson's brother, Amos.  In the 1947 CBS version, Frank
Morgan did some monologues.  Marsha Hunt got in a bit of time as Blanche at
one point and Frances Langford teamed with Lew Parker on CBS in  1951.
 Parker just didn't have the Ameche pizazz.  John Bickerson loved to drink
and sleep and Blanche did her darndest to keep him getting either.  The show
had some wonderful lines and Ameche did some voice-over commercials as late
as the 1970's in the persona of John Bickerson.  Incidentally, did you know
that Ameche's family name was originally spelled "Amici."  Not only was he
the brother of Jim Ameche, who was the first "Jack Armstrong,"  but was also
related to the great Wisconsin and Baltimore Colts fullback, Alan "The Horse"
Ameche (Uncle, I think).  Don and Jim's voices were amazingly alike.  Two
other thoughts, Don also appeared on "Jack Armstrong" for a while as Captain
Hughes.  And still another note, the Ameches were from Kenosha, Wisconsin,
which was also the home town of Orson  Welles.  That ought to be enough
trivia for this time.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 Dec 1995 00:59:58 +0001 (EST)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Kemo Sabe
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

> Date: Fri, 08 Dec 1995 18:18:02 -0600
> From: bensmanm@[removed] (Marvin R. Bensman)
> To: [removed]@[removed]
> Subject: Kemo Sabe
> Message-id: <v01530500acee83339ae0@[[removed]]>
> 
> All that is known of Tonto is his name, which is Spanish for "crazy," or
> "foolish," and one expression in his own language, "Kemo sabe," which is
> reputed to mean "faithful friend" or might be the Spanish "Que Mas Sabe,
> "one who knows,"-but if not Spanish, in what Native American tongue? None,
> apparently.

I thought it was "Que No Sabe" -- one who doesn't know.

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

------------------------------

    


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---- 
End of [removed] Digest V95 Issue #441

