Billboard vs Jimbo: Burns and Allen

1942

Burns and Allen is sometimes pretty good (usually in the late 1940's) and sometimes not (early 1940's and before.)

While George is fine (not funny but not getting on your nerves, either - unless he's "singing") Gracie is a wound-up toy with decent comedic timing (like her husband.)

It's just a bit too bad that most of the jokes are stale.

I have no idea who put a talking duck on their show (early 1940's) but it was such a bad idea...  I'm not too fond of Mel Blanc as the depressed postman either -- he's almost as bad as the talking duck.

The early forties (and particularly prior to this) is pretty annoying stuff.  It seems that if radio got a good idea - such as Gracie running for President -  that they ran it into the ground (just like Jack Benny did to Buck Benny.)  I can't take another episode of Gracie and the President theme, although it's kind of funny how George Burns got thrown under the bus during the whole schtick.

Similar characters [#02]

Dick LeGrand (Mr. Peavy)

Today I have a list of four similar characters.  All seemed "tired" or lacking energy and testosterone:

Waldo Binney (Dink Trout, The Life of Riley.) He was the guy who always moaned, "Oh, my aching back!" - in the mid to late 1940's.

Mr. Anderson (again, Dink Trout, husband of Mrs. Anderson, Dennis' girlfriend on A Day in the Life of Dennis Day.)  Pretty much a sissy - his wife wore the pants in the family.

Mr. Peavy (Richard Legrand, drug store owner on The Great Gildersleeve.  He was the originator of the woeful, "Well now, I wouldn't say that" line in every Gildersleeve show he was on.) It seems for the most part, Peavy was the head of his house but on 99% of every other occasion, he was a mealy-mouthed push over (although he would certainly disagree -"Well now, I wouldn't say that!")

Peavy has been known to get extremely angry. Craig Bullard, a youngster who lived near Gildersleeve, once made him so mad, he really showed his evil side (Gildersleeve episode 450513 Meet Craig Bullard - the real fun starts about 16:45 or so.)

Mel Blanc (Mailman)

Mailman (Mel Blanc of Jack Benny and Bugs Bunny/Warner Brothers' cartoon fame; Mailman appeared on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.) Yes, he was a mail man.  He never had many lines. Sadly, his lines usually weren't very funny either.

Wallace Wimple (Bill Thompson on Fibber McGee and Molly.)  Wimple always walked around with a "Bird Book" (why that's funny, I'll never know - but it is funny, anyway!) and was always complaining about his "Big ole wife" and the abuse he had to take from her.