Vic and Sade is an American radio program created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was regularly broadcast on radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957.
During its 14-year run on radio, Vic and Sade became one of the most popular series of its kind, earning critical and popular success: according to Time, Vic and Sade had 7,000,000 devoted listeners in 1943. For the majority of its span on the air, Vic and Sade was heard in 15-minute episodes without a continuing storyline. The central characters, known as "radio's home folks", were accountant Victor Rodney Gook, his wife Sade (Bernardine Flynn) and their adopted son Rush (Bill Idelson). The three lived in "the little house halfway up in the next block."Frank Buxton and Bill Owen, The Big Broadcast, p. 321, The Viking Press, 1972
Broadcast history Dates Format June 29, 1932, to September 29, 1944 15 minutes daily August 21, 1945, to December 7, 1945 15 minutes daily June 27, 1946, to October 26, 1946 30 minutes weekly July 11 to July 25, 1949 three half-hour television episodes replacing Colgate Theatre, Monday nights. c. spring 1957 seven 15-minute television episodes for WNBQ, Thursday nights.
Vic and Sade was first heard over NBC's Blue network in 1932 and originated in Chicago. At the height of its popularity, it was broadcast over all three major networks and as often as six times a day.
Overview
Vic and Sade was written by the prodigious Paul Rhymer for the entire length of its long run. The NBC radio series premiered on June 29, 1932, on its 15 affiliated stations. The principal characters were a married couple living in "the small house halfway up in the next block". On July 8, 1932, Vic and Sade discussed the plight of nine-year-old Rush Meadows, who was the son of one of Sade's school friends. On July 15 Rush arrived, and soon listeners forgot that the boy had been adopted by the Gooks.John Dunning, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, pp. 696–698 Oxford University Press, US, 1998 Juvenile actor Bill Idelson was 12 years old when the show began.
It was in this format, with only three characters, that the program thrived for the next eight years and won many awards for the writer, actors and sponsor.
In 1940, the actor who played Vic, Art Van Harvey, became ill, and Sade's Uncle Fletcher (Clarence Hartzell) was added to the cast to fill the place of the missing male lead. When Van Harvey recovered his health, Uncle Fletcher was kept on as a fourth character. During World War II, the actor who played Rush, Bill Idelson, was called into military service, and he left the show. The spring months of 1943 were a tumultuous period, but eventually a second son figure, Russell Miller (David Whitehouse), was brought in, and the program continued as it always had. Idelson later returned as Rush.
Paul Rhymer frequently gave each of the principals a day off, by confining his scripts to only two of the main characters. Vic and Sade would discuss a domestic problem while Rush was in school; Sade and Rush would review the day's events while Vic was still at the office; Vic and Rush would tackle some project while Sade was out shopping. Several episodes deliberately make no forward progress whatever, as the cast introduces the episode's premise but gets bogged down in endless details.
In the mid-1940s, Rhymer evidently felt some pressure from the sponsor's advertising agencies to include more romance and human interaction in his scripts, like the other daytime dramas on the air. He complied -- on his terms -- by adding ridiculous touches (his romantic lead, Dwight Twentysixler, always speaks with his "mouth full of shingle nails"!) and oddball characters (Orville Wheeney, the slow-witted gas-meter man; Jimmy Custard, the crochety town official who never quite makes clear what he does as the City Calistalker with the statistics he collects; Mr. Sprawl, the frail old man who wears a baby's bonnet and dotes on "peanuts with chocolate smeared on the outsides").
Vic and Sade left the air on September 29, 1944, with the final episode striking a melancholy note: Vic, Sade, Rush, and Uncle Fletcher, discussing their plans, are all going in different directions. Each actor takes the microphone at the very end, and says "Goodbye" in turn.
This was not the final curtain for Vic and Sade, however; the show was revived three times over the next two years. In 1945, the cast was augmented to include many characters who were previously only talked about. In 1946 it was a summer replacement series, now in a half-hour format and played in front of a studio audience. Later that year it became a sustaining (unsponsored) feature on the Mutual network, still in half-hour form but without an audience; this was the final incarnation of the 14-year-old radio series.
Attempts at television adaptations In 1949 three television episodes were made (with only Flynn remaining from the original cast), using an elaborate set that included the whole house as well as the front and back yards; the three episodes replaced the Colgate Theatre anthology series, with the same company as sponsor. In 1957 a series entitled The Humor of Vic 'n' Sade ran for seven weeks, returning to the original three-character format with 15-minute episodes, a multi-camera setup and a small, stripped-down, bare set. Both Flynn and Van Harvey reprised their roles, with teen actor Eddie Gillian as Rush; the revival was cut short when Van Harvey died in July 1957.
Characters All of the action of Vic and Sade, all of the people and all of the places in the town were created strictly through the dialogue. Listeners heard just the voices of the three, later four, principal speaking characters, embellished with very few sound effects. This intimate effect was lessened as the series progressed and more and more voices were added.
Speaking characters Vic Victor Rodney Gook was the chief accountant of the Consolidated Kitchenware Company Plant Number Fourteen. He was the Exalted Big Dipper of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, a fraternal order founded by R.J. Konk. Vic's passion was parades, alarm clocks, cigars, wide-brimmed hats and doorbells. He was often asked to submit articles to the Kitchenware Dealers Quarterly and the lodge magazine. Rush's/Russell's nickname for Vic was "Gov." Vic's good deed was always looking out to help Hank Gutstop get a job, allowing Hank to pay Vic back (Sade thought little of Hank, a constant source of friction with Vic). Vic's opening line upon entering the house through the kitchen screen door was usually, "Hi-dee-hi, Ho-dee-ho," a borrowing from Cab Calloway's version of "Minnie the Moocher."
Sade Sade, the straightwoman of the cast, was a housewife who took pride in her housekeeping. Her interest outside the home was primarily focused on the Thimble Club sewing circle where she and the thimble ladies would get together to sew and gossip. She was very pragmatic about things and had little sense of humor. Her world extended to a very small radius and she cared little for anything outside her tightly drawn circle. Vic addressed his wife as Sade or Sadie, or as "Uncle Harry" or "Corporal Johnson," but his usual nicknames for her were "Kiddo" and "Dr. Sleech". Rush/Russell just called her Mom or Ma. Her unfulfilled goal was to go shopping with Ruthie and have each come out even in their money when they got home; it never balanced as she felt Vic and Rush would make fun of her money struggles.
Rush Paul Rhymer had intended to introduce Rush by having Sade give birth to an eight-year-old boy, but the sponsor objected. On July 8, 1932 Vic and Sade discussed the plight of nine-year-old Rush Meadows, who was the son of one of Sade's school friends. On July 15th Rush arrived, and soon listeners forgot that the boy had been adopted by the Gooks. Rush's favorite activities were playing baseball (and football) in Tatman's vacant lot, watching the fat men play handball down at the YMCA, taking in the moving picture show at the Bijou Theatre (pronounced, "By-Joe"), and reading "vigorous fiction" about the adventures of Third Lieutenant Clinton Stanley. Rush was always looking for ways to make a quick buck and had an angle on everything; doing homework, and especially algebra, was not high on his priority list. Sade's usual nickname for Rush was "Willie" (perhaps based upon Bill Idelson's actual name) and Vic might make a nickname out of another boy's name (e.g. "Roscoe"), a girl's name (e.g. "Margaret", or "Marjorie"), or a compound noun (e.g. "Brain-Fog" or "Stove-Poker").
Russell While Bill Idelson was in the armed forces, his "Rush" character was put on hold by Paul Rhymer for the duration. In Rush's stead came young Russell Miller, who served the same function in the Gook household. Some scripts featuring Rush were recycled to feature Russell, such as "Working on Hank Gutstop's Debts", "Sleepers Beware", and "Mr. Chinbunny Wants to Smoke Cigars". However, "Rush Tenders His Resignations" involved Rush's plan to alert his school's faculty that he was resigning from social clubs to focus on academics, so the teachers would reward his new resolve with better grades; "Russell Tenders His Resignations" is less in character. Russell enjoyed school and did well (but sometimes spoke with imperfect grammar) despite the fact he was more the dreamer, the naive young romantic; he was always willing to lend a hand no matter how impractical his outlook was. Russell was also addressed by family nicknames, including "White House" (based on the actual surname of actor David Whitehouse, and used in "Christmas Suggestions for the Boss" on Nov. 26, 1943). When Bill Idelson returned from the service, Rush also returned to the family group.
Uncle Fletcher Uncle Fletcher was a long-winded talker who had an outrageous story and advice about everything. If there was one activity, outside of telling stories, that he can be noted for, it would be riding on Gumpox's garbage wagon, and he even got a special pass to allow him to do so. He would sometimes fall into the garbage. He especially enjoyed discussing the interesting facts and statistics about such things as his watch fob collection, key collection, photos and snapshots, and his landlady's washrag collection. And he liked popping popcorn. He was always bringing up names of people he assumed Sade knew, whom she never did. Uncle Fletcher liked to bring up the fellow who walked to his own funeral: "He made his plans, walked to the mortuary. There he later died." Uncle Fletcher would often address the family as "Vic/Sadie/Rush/Russell Honey," but once he denied Sade her "Honey" appellation because she had expressed impatience when he tried to relay some not-so-important news. He frequently told anecdotes about characters with names such as Rishigan Fishigan of Sishigan Michigan.
Non-speaking characters The following characters were not portrayed by actors until very late in the show's run (and rarely even after that) but were frequently discussed by Vic, Sade, Rush, and Uncle Fletcher.
Bess, Walter, and "Yooncie" Sade's sister and her husband. Walter ran a barber shop in Carberry, Illinois (possibly a mispronunciation of Cabery, Illinois), and Bess would send letters and postcards that always began "Dear sister and all, Thought I would write and see how you are feeling." Bess and Walter's daughter "Yooncie" (apparently a misreading of "Eunice," although Rush referred to his classmate Eunice Raypool correctly) was learning to play the piano; the pieces invariably found her stomping on the loud pedal with both feet and dragging her fingernail down the white or black keys. Walter always had twinges in his kneecap.
Fred and Ruthie Stembottom