Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel

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Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel
Genre Situation comedy
Running time 30 minutes
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Languages English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Michael Roberts
Frank Lazarus
Lorelei King
Spike Milligan
Dick Vosburgh
Creators Nat Perrin
Arthur Sheekman
Directors Dirk Maggs
Producers Dirk Maggs
Air dates 2 June 1990 to 22 August 1992
No. of series 3
No. of episodes 19
Audio format Stereophonic sound

Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel was a short lived radio situation comedy aired for 26 weeks beginning in November 1932 on the NBC Blue radio network, and which starred two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico. Groucho played attorney "Waldorf T. Flywheel" and Chico played "Emmanuel Ravelli", a character lifted directly from the film Animal Crackers (1930). According to Stefan Kanfer in his biography Groucho (2000), Harpo was paid a weekly salary for not appearing on the show.

Part of an NBC series known as Five-Star Theater, involving a different presentation each night of the week, the show actually garnered respectable ratings for its early evening time period, but -— according to Michael Barson, who edited a 1988 collection of the show's scripts -- sponsor Standard Oil, promoting Essolube motor oil and Esso gasoline, was unimpressed, comparing the higher ratings drawn in later time slots by other shows, such as Ed Wynn's Texaco Star Theater. The sponsor and NBC executives convinced themselves Flywheel was a comparative flop.

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 attorney named Beagle complained and, according to Barson, may have threatened a lawsuit.

The shows included material from both earlier and later Marx Brothers films. The show's writers usually included Nat Perrin, Arthur Sheekman, George Oppenheimer, and Tom McKnight.

Despite the fame of the stars, the show lived only one season, with scripts and recordings believed 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.

Contents

[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 kidnapped		 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 5, 6 and 16 with song from Horse Feathers
2 1 Dr Hackenbush
in which Flywheel becomes a Medical Man		 11 May 1991 7
2 Uncle Abner
in which Flywheel nearly buys the Farm		 18 May 1991 13
3 Convict Ravelli
in which Ravelli falls foul of the Law		 25 May 1991 6
4 The Big Store
in which Flywheel runs a Department Store		 1 June 1991 15
5 Captain John Smith
in which Flywheel and Ravelli find an old geezer		 8 June 1991 3
6 Going Hollywood
in which Flywheel and Ravelli go onto pictures		 15 June 1991 25
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

[edit] References

  • Gerald Nachman: Raised on Radio. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998
  • Michael Barson, editor: Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel: The Marx Brothers' Lost Radio Show

[edit] External links

Languages