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Thanks for the trivia. Wow! You know your stuff. I'm going to have to look some of that material up. I've heard of Easy Aces mostly because I'm a fan of George and Gracie and their work is sometimes compared to it. I haven't heard or seen it though, so now I'll have to go looking. I haven't heard of Vic and Sade either. Another for the list.

As it happens, my library includes all four of Goodman Aces' books: three collections of pieces from his years writing a weekly humour column for the old Saturday Review and one collection of the old radio scripts, Ladies and Gentlemen---Easy Aces. Easy Aces actually beat Burns and Allen to radio by a couple of years, but there was another difference: with Gracie it was illogical logic, with Jane Ace it was clever malaprops that inserted actual words instead of the kind of made-up words that characterised most malaprops of the time (Amos 'n' Andy, for example: malaprops like "I's regusted!"). In later years, Goodman Ace swore Jane came by some of her original malaprops honestly and gradually became a near-full blown malapropper out of the occupational hazard of having delivered them on radio for fifteen-plus years. (It was Jane who first uttered, by the way, "Time wounds all heels.")

I'm a big Burns and Allen fan, too, and my collection includes all the installments of the "Gracie for President" gag campaign of 1940. (The sad part today is that we'd probably be better off with Gracie Allen in the White House, but let's not go there for now.)

Do you remember the following from Burns and Allen's Maxwell House Coffee Time show? Howard Duff guested as Sam Spade . . .

Announcer: Many people say that Gracie is responsible for George being where he is today. And that's certainly true. Gracie is also responsible for Sam Spade being where he is today. You see, George and Sam Spade are both in jail. How did it happen? Well, let's listen as George is being questioned by a police lieutenant.
Regan: Alright, let's start at the top. Name?
George: George Burns.
Regan: Occupation?
George: I'm married to Gracie Allen.
Regan: No. No, no. What do you do? What keeps you busy?
George: I'm married to Gracie Allen.
Regan: Let me put it this way. What's your source of income?
George: I'm married to Gracie Allen.
Regan: Alright, skip it. What's your age?
George: Approximately 42.
Regan: How come you look older?
George: I'm married to Gracie Allen.
Regan: What's your address?
George: 360 North Camden.
Regan: Alright, Burns, now suppose you tell me why you're in this jam.
George: I'm married to Gracie Allen.
Regan: You're in a rut. Hey, Spade, how come you're in this jam?
Sam Spade: He's married to Gracie Allen.

You know, I found some old Burns and Allen in a dvd discount rack and it is excellent. My favorite part is watching them hawk Cold Evaporated Milk to make things like whipped cream as part of the plot. It is just so funny to me and I can't imagine it tastes all the good. Ha!

You should have heard Henry Morgan lampoon his sponsors on the air. Adler Shoes wasn't thrilled with his barbs about Old Man Adler until the company discovered hundreds coming into their stores demanding to meet Old Man Adler. Later, Morgan was sponsored by Eversharp, who made the pens and the Schick razor blades. During a show saluting school days, Morgan jibed, "Schick injector blades. They're educational. Try one. That'll teach you." (His sketch of the old "Take It or Leave It" radio game show as the BBC might crack it---Morgan called it "Take It; or, If You'd Rather Not"---is a classic. Small wonder Fred Allen championed him; Morgan guested on the Allen show several times, including the final Allen show, a hilarious sketch about Morgan having about no time left to get his furniture payment to the finance company . . . whose president just so happened to be Mary Livingstone's husband. ;) )