Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for December 04, 2013

Skeezix as Jack Benny . . .

Ah – I was mixing him up with that actor who played several guest roles on I Love Lucy – or are they one in the same?

Now that is funny.

Frank Nelson info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625372/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t9

Frank Nelson did appear on many I Love Lucy episodes. Gale Gordon, who only appeared in 2 episodes of ILL was Lucy’s first choice to play Fred Mertz, but he wasn’t available. After ILL, Gale Gordon was in every show Lucy did. Frank Nelson, meanwhile, became a series regular in I Love Lucy after the Ricardos moved to Connecticut.

In terms of Jack Benny’s shows (radio and TV) the sarcastic Nelson (known for his drawn-out “Yeeeees!!!”) met Jack in stores, railroad stations, hotels and just about anywhere else Jack went. However, it was Mel Blanc who was driven crazy by the exchange of shoelaces, etc. Digging up the old Jack Benny Christmas shopping episodes is well worth doing!

Frank Nelson also played the same character on a few episodes of “Sanford & Son”. irritating Fred.

Jim has indeed chosen to do a characterization of actor Frank Nelson who appeared on tv to beleaguer Lucy, Jack Benny, Andy Griffith etc etc etc. Very funny Jim.

I said twice earlier, but it was actually three times in two roles. He appeared twice as Ricky’s boss, Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana Club where Ricky’s band played, and later as a judge on a Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode.

Those skits were so much fun to watch and now to read. I love Skeezix’s facial expressions and crossed arms. The green wreath and tree in the background among the black and white work very well.

Gayle Gorden played the Principal on Our Miss Brooks with Eve Arden on radio and TV. I think Frank Nelson also was on one or more of the Joan Davis shows doing the sarcastic or beleagered salesman character. His was a distinctive and familiar voice on radio and in early TV.

Loving it!

Wonderful! Jack Benny was great, Frank Nelson too. But…. I agree with some of you that Gale Gordon was the top.

Forget whether it was here the last time Skeezix went shopping, the week before Thanksgiving at “Heart of the City”, or both that I told this story: In a Jack Benny TV episode Jack telling his psychiatrist about seeming to run into Frank Nelson everywhere framed clips of their encounters in previous episodes. At the end he went out into the waiting room, where Frank was waiting to tell the shrink about seeming to run into Jack everywhere.

While frank Nelson was often the sales clerk/floor walker etc on most of Jack Benny shows (radio and tv), in this strip, the clerk is saying he is the son of the Mel Blanc character. No matter what department he moved to for the Christmas shopping season, Benny ALWAYS found him. Gale Gordon was on numerous radio shows, with regular co-starring roles on Fibber McGee and Molly (as Mayor Latrivia), Our Miss Brooks (as Principle Osgood Cronklin), and was the rexall drug spokesman on the Phil Harris-Alice Faye show, and the My Favorite Husband (as the Bank President Rudolph Atterbury) that show was the precursor to I Love Lucy as they would reuse the radio scripts for the TV show.

Gale Gordon was indeed Lucy’s first choice to play Fred Mertz, with Bea Benadaret to play Ethel Mertz, but Gordon was committed to playing the role of Osgood Conklin on “Our Miss Brooks” while Benadaret was George Burns’s neighbour on “The Burns and Allen” TV show and occassionally playing one of the telephone operators on Jack Benny’s TV show. In the days of radio it was possible for supporting players like Gordon, Benadaret, Frank Nelson and Mel Blanc to do roles several shows in a week or sometimes even a day because they were basically just reading directly from their scripts and the supporting parts were generally small. In TV where there was a lot of memorization and different shooting schedules, this simply wasn’t possible.

Whatever other faults she may have had, Lucille Ball was intensely loyal to people she worked with and liked. Gordon’s working relationship with Lucille Ball began with Jack Haley’s" Wonder Show" in 1938 and lasted nearly 50 years until her last series, “Life with Lucy” in 1986. He was her go-to guy.

“He also appeared on “Here’s Lucy” (1968-74) as Lucy’s uncle.” Not her uncle, her brother-in-law. He was the uncle of Lucy’s daughter (played by Lucy’s daughter, Lucy Arnaz).

Yeeeeeessss?

Bet he wouldn’t have given Rochester grief like that…..

One of the great comic character actors, Frank Nelson was known off-screen for his generosity and willingness to help fellow performers facing temporary financial difficulties. The Frank Nelson Fund was established to carry on this selfless tradition, helping union actors in the Western United States: sagaftra.org/aftra-foundation/frank-nelson-fund

Actually, Mel Blanc played to store clerk in both the radio and TV versions of the skit. The actor who played the floor walker was also frequent in both radio and tv versions. You can legally download a lot of these episodes on the net, google free old time radio.

The third panel & especially your comment made me laugh out loud. Thank You!

“The best part is how the three-panel comic strip medium is able to completely fail to capture Benny’s comic timing.”You, on the other hand are the only stinker in a bunch of funny & educated comments today.

This guy was on the ‘Flintstones too. Fred tried on a dino head and the guy said, "It’s you! It’s you!"