The Chevrolet Program & The Grape Nuts Program

[Fred Allen]

Hi,

In my opinion, other than Jack's Lucky Strike series (10/1/44-6/1/52; the shows with Phil), The Chevrolet Program is my second favorite run of the series. Many of the Chevrolet episodes equal (and sometimes surpass) the quality of episodes in the Jell-o series. I love the 4/1/34 Easter episode, in which Jack is questionning Mary's whereabouts, and she replied that she was up in Harlem, looking for colored eggs. WOW!

However, my LEAST favorite is the entire run of The Grape Nuts and Grape Nuts Flakes Program. Was the show written by amateurs at this point? Almost none of the episodes are humorous....what was the story behind the poor writing at this point? Does anyone else agree with me in my dislike of the Grape Nuts series?

[Yhtapmys]

It's a shame there aren't more of the Chevrolet shows around. At times, they have a manic pace to them as Al Havrilla jumps in plugging cars.

As for the Grape Nuts ones, I get the impression the writers had run out of ideas in the stage-and-skit format and hadn't developed the sitcommy format yet. They tried some new characters that just didn't work as well as they might have.

Yhtapmys

[scottp]

"a manic pace to them as Al Havrilla jumps in plugging cars."

I hadn't heard of Mr. Havrilla until I got some of the "Riding High" 1937 music series sponsored by the bicycle manufacturers. But I couldn't figure out his first name... "Al" is short for ????

[Yhtapmys]

"a manic pace to them as Al Havrilla jumps in plugging cars."

I hadn't heard of Mr. Havrilla until I got some of the "Riding High" 1937 music series sponsored by the bicycle manufacturers. But I couldn't figure out his first name... "Al" is short for ????

Alois. He uses his full first name on the show. He did one-reel travelogues, too. Can't remember for which studio off-hand.

The music series is a new one on me. Is there a link on-line to these? I'm always up for hearing music OTR.

Yhtapmys

[helloagain]

I can't say that I share your opinion that the Grape-Nuts Flakes shows were particularly bad. I've been listening to the Benny library more or less in order and I feel that they kept getting better as they went along, hitting the top with the Lucky Strike shows ( with Phil ). Bob Crosby was a pleasant enough guy, but he wasn't funny at all. The shows from the early 30s don't do much for me because it was just too green. The characters developed over the years and understanding them makes the program a lot funnier to the listener. This is why the following got such a long laugh: Jack: 'Well, I thought...' Mary: 'Oh, Shut up!' Not funny on paper, but knowing the characters makes all the difference.