Episode:  Appleby’s Bearded Boarder
Original Air Date: 1962/03/06
Guest Stars: John Carradine, Marie Windsor

Show theme:  fake Indian Shieks - (maybe the Beatles should have seen this episode) - and their power of concentrations on things like dieting…

The monologue is diet themed. Hard to quote a pantomime, but it was fun watching him making fun of the diet scene at West Palm Beach.

The cast is singing about ’signs, signs, everywhere signs’ (but not that song). It’s this kind of choreography that makes me wonder if Danny Kaye ever guest starred on the Red Skelton Show and if he did, then whether or not he danced with the cast. That’d be worth the price of admission.

Ahh…song leads into the skit with the “Room for Rent” sign. And Appleby’s Bearded Boarder begins…

Red runs through the laundry list of items he picked up at the store for his wife and became dumbfounded at the cue card, “Cooking Vodka?” as if it was supposed to be cooking, “Sherry.” I don’t think Red had the heart to make an alcoholic joke out of the line.

“Now gimmie the rest of your paycheck.”

“Well how you have it? Heads or tails?”

Marie Windsor doesn’t break character despite Red’s attempts to crack her up. She plays a great bitter wife. She just rolls her eyes at him as she stays in character about how they need more income. Perfect domestic housewife stereotype (my apologies).

Her practicality has her decide that they should rent out the back bedroom. Red still can’t crack her. She’s good.

After the commercial break the scene cuts to the couple in the bed room.

“Ohh, I’m kinda sorry we’re shooting this show. The rehearsals were so much better.” - and with that Red line, he finally got Marie to crack. She was a tough nut to crack. There must be an inside joke I’m not privileged to.

Now he has fun with the censors, “This is what is known as the CBS honor system. Of course with that big Eye lookin’ at you, what can you do?”

“Oh, well. On to the funny stuff…”

Once the scene starts you see that the shot was zoomed in way to close for the snoring gags.

Persistent door ringer at 3am.

“Time is a fraud perpetrated on the human race by the manufacturers of wrist watches,” Yeah, George and the boarder will get along in that ying & sardine sort of way.

‘Towelhead’ jokes aplenty. Phrases you couldn’t say in today’s world.

“I couldn’t let him see me like this.”
“Well, I wish you would show me the same courtesy.” - wife and husband banter aplenty.

The boarder, of course, hasn’t paid and needs sundries every 5 minutes. Now he’s making phone calls to Calcutta.

The boarder has got the wife doing workouts. ‘Old hindu exercises.’

“That’s the first time I’ve seen him go out of character,” Red says of Carradine as Carradine struggles to get up from the exercise.

Now the wife is quoting the boarder.

Now, after a hard day’s work, his dinner consists of a lima bean.

Uh, oh, the boarder is a con man and is on the front page of the paper.

Nice, the producers start the end music and cut the scene short. The downside of waiting for the laugh. That steak must have been tough.

Red uses the con man’s getup and gets his dream…the episode was shot on the 50th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts.

Final Thoughts on Appleby’s Bearded Boarder:

Enjoyable. It wasn’t as aggressive as some of the other episodes I’ve seen. But in the same breath, I don’t know if they could use the them in today’s world. Not as many zingers either. And the sharp zingers are not PC by today’s times. But I enjoyed it.

Episode: Appleby’s Office Party
Original Air Date: 1961/12/26
Guest Star:  Marilyn Maxwell

Once again, I had to see who the guest star was…Ohh, dear. After getting a glimpse of Marilyn Maxwell and having seen the teaser clip, I have a good idea where this skit is going.

Wow, David Rose got to stand out for a moment and get a shot.

The theme of Appleby’s Office Party will be the office New Year’s Party.

“It’s also the time of year to find out you’ve been giving the wrong dictations to your secretary.” - Red holds his laughter in a second to make sure people got the joke.

“One department store I went to last year was so crowded that the lady in the back of me crashed my back and the lady in the front of me said, ‘thank you.’…and the lady on the floor said, ‘You’re welcome.’”

The dancers are doing a quasi-50’s new years eve ball dance. Still very much in Kennedy’s 1960s - the last remnants of the 1950s.

No pantomime skit. Just down to business..

George Appleby (Red) is trying to work during the office New Years Party. Uh, oh, threatening to report the drinking in the office.

Ouch, feedback on the ringing sound…

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to talk louder. They’re not making any noise in here,” Red laughs as he waits for the rest of the office to catch up to their missed cue.

First call to the wife (Marilyn Maxwell) - George makes it sound to his wife like girls are everywhere.

The staff wants get George, “high as a kite.” They’re gonna use hypnosis to make George think he’s drunk. Now every time George gets tapped, he thinks he’s drunk. He gets tapped again or hears, “wife,” he sobers up. And the fun is beginning…

Second call from wife - The hypnotist touches taps him again time to sober him up:

Red’s just going to town with the drunkeness. The office enjoys it at poor George Appleby’s expense.

Back from what would be the commercial break - George’s wife is home and madder than the devil. George stumbles home, still hypnotized n ‘drunk.’ Red is blending his skills of pantomime, physical comedy and magic beautifully.

“I’m wearing somebody else’s feet.”

A neighbor shakes his hand and snaps him out of it.

Wife goes to town on George - with iron bookends. Somehow George didn’t get drunk again (the bookends must have canceled each other out since she hit him with both of them at the same time). He’s cracking up the mad wife and she’s having trouble staying “mad” at him.

She lost it and starts laughing while trying to hide - “I’m proud of that one,” claims Red. “Of course, if anything happens before now and the first of the year we can edit.”

She pats him on the shoulder before she goes and gets ready for their dinner with the boss. Of course, now he’s drunk. Poor furniture props.

And, of course, he’s ‘drunk’ when his boss comes by. The boss says “wife,” and George sobers up. Red’s switching up the script to crack up the boss.

The boss gives George a cigar. George enjoys the scent, “M’mmm. They must have caught Castro.”

Final Thoughts on Appleby’s Office Party -

Red Skelton’s skill set reminds me a little of John Belushi. Joh was such a great conductor of a skit and could keep orchestrating the elements of the scene under most any situation. Both Red and John’s ability to keep in character while ad-libbing lines in attempts to get the co-stars laugh is the my favorite reason to watch these shows. The Red Skelton Show is getting addicting.

More to come next week!