Vic & Sade - OTR Friday

Now that the holidays are past, it's time to seek the comfort and relaxation of our own homes and check in with America's home folk in the little house half-way up on the next block. It's time to check back in with "Vic & Sade" and the understated world of Paul Rhymer.

Here's a little big time show bizness to get you in the mood. The March 1935 issue of Radio Stars magazine to help us "Meet Vic & Sade".

Our first episode today is from February 2, 1940 and begins with a standard set up of Vic doing some work at home. Sade interupts because she's as "excited as a horse" about the big promotion their neighbor, Mr. Donahue just received to be "Traveling Inspector of Locomotives". Sade spreads the exciteming news she got from Mrs. Donahue to her brood and they watch out through the window to see Mr. Donahue leave for work all dressed up in his blue serge suit and derby hat.

Ah the big doin's of neighborhood life. Enjoy!

Our second half of todays OTR 1/2 hour is from February 20, 1940. Grump! All those missing shows. It's really a shame that Proctor & Gamble destroyed so much of this show. Frustrates me every time.

This episode has a minute or so pause after the introduction, but stick with me, it's well worth it when the dialogue finally kicks in. This is Rhymer working with words at his finest. It has to do with Rush's opinion of his own good looks, played out as a teen age boy would...I won't describe further because I won't be able to do it justice.

It's hard to tell if the pause is a technical problem with the surviving audio or not. There are references from both Vic and Sade about a kind of deja vu...them remembering this evenings happenings happening exactly the same way a few months ago. I have read stories that there were days (remember, this was a daily show 5 and sometimes 6 days a week performed live) when the script wasn't finished on time and Rhymer would be handing the cast finished pages as he wrote them right on air. The pause in the audio may be from them scrambling without a script and then beginning as pages were passed to them, as Rhymer recycled an old story. Self-aware and self-effacing, the deja vu references being tossed in by Rhymer as a nod to the production demands to the audience who was paying attention.

At least that's the possibility I see. Anyone?

Oh, before I leave you today...don't forget to smoke plenty of Chesterfields.

Talk to you soon.