One of the greatest feuds of OTR was that between Jack Benny and Fred Allen, resulting in constant comedic jabs at each other on their respective shows for nearly a decade. Fans of the shows were often completely convinced that the two harbored deep resentment for each other, but the truth was far less interesting: they were the best of friends, and played up on the feud to get laughs, and when one was guesting on the other’s show they would even pass along the best gags of the night to the “rival.”
Allen himself was quite a sharp wit, and was frequently embattled by the censors because of his political and social commentary, often ad-libbed to cover flubs in the program. (Most shows had to be carefully scripted before being approved by the overly nit-picky network censors.) Although his shows don’t today carry the timelessness of Benny’s, it’s usually because his references to American and world events were more frequent, and barely covered by a thin veneer of satire, unfortunately lost on most modern audiences.
Since I posted a show of Benny as Sherlock, it seems only fitting that I offer his rival as yet another incarnation of the sleuth, this one named Fetlock Bones. This episode of the Texaco Star Theater certainly falls under the zany madcap category. (Those wanting to skip ahead to the parody can find it around the 18 minute mark, but will miss part of the set-up.)
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