The Devineness of Andy!

[mackdaddyg]

As for Andy's "Jelly" blooper, what's the date of that show? Does it still exist?

December 13, 1936 and yes.

Thanks, Gumlegs. I'll go check it out right now.

[helloagain]

Of all the Benny 'regulars', Andy Devine is my least favorite. He was a good actor. I liked him in movies and other TV shows, but on the Benny show he was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[Jhammes]

This is just an historical footnote, one learns something new everyday.
The historians at the college here inform that the term "jelly" was a slang euphemism for... well, it was a slang euphemism at the time, let's just leave it at that (this is mentioned only for historical cultural reference).

Andy Devine's ridiculous delivery, combined with that word accidently going over the 1936 airwaves, would explain why everyone completely lost it. Accidents happen though, and hopefully Jack did not have to deal with an angry NBC censor (think the 1947 Bing Crosby incident).

[mackdaddyg]

This is just an historical footnote, one learns something new everyday.
The historians at the college here inform that the term "jelly" was a slang euphemism for... well, it was a slang euphemism at the time, let's just leave it at that (this is mentioned only for historical cultural reference).

Andy Devine's ridiculous delivery, combined with that word accidently going over the 1936 airwaves, would explain why everyone completely lost it. Accidents happen though, and hopefully Jack did not have to deal with an angry NBC censor (think the 1947 Bing Crosby incident).

Well!! I've heard of that sort of term usage before, but it didn't even cross my mind in this situation. Puts the whole thing in a new light to me. By the way, what is the Bing Crosby incident you speak of?

As for Andy's voice, I don't mind him, but he makes my throat feel tired if I hear too much, almost like I can imagine how tired my vocal chords would be if I tried to talk like that. Granted, it came naturally to him, but still....whew!

[Mandolynn]

I think this was the time Bing was trying to sing with Dennis and two others (when Jack had fired the Sportsmen and was looking for a new quartet) and Bing had trouble hitting the notes. And Bing said, "Who the hell picked this key, Dennis Day?" It was kind of an odd thing to my ears because I don't think that Bing was joking at all, he sounded pretty perturbed to me. But for someone who had as much experience as Bing, I was pretty surprised he got flustered.

[helloagain]

I'm very familiar with the Bing Crosby incident, and I never got the impression that he was perturbed. It just sounded like a 'slip of the lip' to me. I always wondered if anyone got called on the carpet for it, because even words like 'hell' and 'damn' were strictly taboo at that time. Maybe he got away with it because Bing was such a popular personality, where a lessor performer may have been permanently banned from the airways. Everything was really live back then, without even a few seconds delay. I listen to a lot of old time radio and I'm surprised that I never heard this happen at any other time.

[Moose Hatrack]

Can't remember the source, I think it may have been Jack himself in Sunday Nights at Seven, but I think Bing's slip melted the network switchboard. Jack was called on the carpet. As I recall, the execs demanded apologies and Jack dismissed the idea with an observation something along the lines of: Bing will just have to wear his collar backwards in his next movie.

[JohnM]

even words like 'hell' and 'damn' were strictly taboo at that time.

In a 1940 episode broadcast from New York, one of the characters mentions seeing a Broadway Show: "Zapoppin'".

"There isn't a Broadway show called "'zapoppin'"!

"This is radio".

[Greg]

Interesting thread. I thought I'd mention that, according to Laura's book, Andy only appeared on the show about 7 times after Kenny left the show and Dennis joined the show.

As for the Buck Benny sketches, they seem to be synonymous with Andy Devine, but the sketches numbered only about a dozen or so in total. For the most part, Andy was just a friend [and Mayor of Van Nuys] who popped in for visits from time to time.

-Greg

[Yhtapmys]

Can't remember the source, I think it may have been Jack himself in Sunday Nights at Seven, but I think Bing's slip melted the network switchboard.

I looked to find the Bing story in papers of the day but couldn't.

However, here's a part from Hedda Hopper's column of April 26, 1941, relating the story of someone readers will know:

Bill Demarest hasn't been on the radio for years. I finally asked him why, and did I get an earful! Several seasons ago he, Frances Langford and Guy Lombardo had an air show. He was nervous about that little mike, and when the producer said "stand by," he thought it was for rehearsal, instead of which they were going on the air.
They had monkeyed with his script, so he said, "Where in the hell is that joke I wrote?" Just then he saw a man, behind a piece of glass put his finger over his mouth. Bill said, "Don't give me the finger, you so-and-so-I want my script! That was the alpha and omega, of his radio career.
A year later he was booked with Bing Crosby, but the guy who had headed the other show was in the studio, and said, "Get that man out of here!” And for the second time he was checked out.

Yhtapmys