Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel

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Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel was a short lived radio situation comedy aired during the 1932-1933 season on the NBC Blue radio network, and which starred two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico.

The premise was about misadventures of a small time law firm starring the comedians' usual characters. The original series title was Beagle, Shyster, Beagle, but were forced to change when an actual law firm called in part Beagle complained.

The shows included material that the brothers later used in their films.

Despite the fame of the stars, the show was short lived and the scripts and recordings were thought lost. However, a researcher discovered that all but one of the series' scripts were stored in the Library of Congress. The found copies were printed in a book and were later performed with Marx Brothers impersonators on BBC radio (see below). At least one complete original episode of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (the last episode) and a couple of partial episodes are known to exist, recorded on transcription disks while the program was being broadcast.

Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel

Genre	Situation comedy
Running time	30 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Michael Roberts Frank Lazarus Lorelei King Spike Milligan Dick Vosburgh
Creator(s)	Nat Perrin Arthur Sheekman
Writer(s)	Mark Brisenden
Director(s)	Dirk Maggs
Producer(s)	Dirk Maggs
Air dates	2 June 1990 – 22 August 1992
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	19
Audio format	Stereophonic sound

[edit] BBC Radio adaptation

During the early 1990s, adaptations of recovered scripts from the original Marx Brothers radio show were performed before modern audiences and broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

This experiment proved highly successful, and two further series followed. The lead roles were taken by professional soundalikes Michael Roberts (playing Groucho Marx, as Waldorf T Flywheel) and Frank Lazarus (playing Chico Marx, as Emmanuel Ravelli); the cast also included Lorelei King playing all the female roles, and the show attracted guest stars of the calibre of Spike Milligan and Dick Vosburgh.

[edit] Episode list

Series	Episode	Title	First broadcast	Based on 1930s episodes
1	1	The Stolen Rembrandt in which Flywheel and Ravelli investigate a Crime	2 June 1990	1, 4 and 17 with material common to Animal Crackers
	2	Flywheel And Juliet in which Flywheel Treads The Boards	9 June 1990	14, with Lydia from At the Circus
	3	Big Joe Crookley in which Ravelli is kidnappped	16 June 1990	1 and 12, with song from Horse Feathers
	4	Finding Foo Foo in which Flywheel and Ravelli become Dog Catchers	23 June 1990	3 and 9
	5	One Round Gombatz in which Ravelli takes it on the chin	30 June 1990	10 with song from Cocoanuts
	6	The Election in which Flywheel and Ravelli fix some votes	7 July 1990	Episode 5, 6 and 16 with song from Horse Feathers
2	1	Dr Hackenbush in which Flywheel becomes a Medical Man	11 May 1991	(Information not currently available)
	2	Uncle Abner in which Flywheel nearly buys the Farm	18 May 1991	(Information not currently available)
	3	Convict Ravelli in which Ravelli falls foul of the Law	25 May 1991	(Information not currently available)
	4	The Big Store in which Flywheel runs a Department Store	1 June 1991	(Information not currently available)
	5	Captain John Smith in which Flywheel and Ravelli find an old geezer	8 June 1991	(Information not currently available)
	6	Going Hollywood in which Flywheel and Ravelli go onto pictures	15 June 1991	(Information not currently available)
3	1	Crexton Mansion in which Flywheel and Ravelli sleep over with a ghost	11 July 1992	24
	2	The Laughing Hyena in which Flywheel and Ravelli go prospecting	18 July 1992	11 and new material
	3	Fly By Wheel Tours in which Flywheel and Ravelli inherit a bus	25 July 1992	20
	4	The Chicago Clarion in which Flywheel and Ravelli get a scoop	1 August 1992	22
	5	Coney Island in which Flywheel and Ravelli join the carnival	8 August 1992	18
	6	Miracle On Eatwell Street in which Flywheel and Ravelli cook up a Christmas	15 August 1992	5