JUST PLAIN BILL
1933-1955 CBS, BLUE, NBC Red
JUST PLAIN BULL
Panic #4, August-September 1954
w: Al Feldstein
a: Joe Orlando
One of the first radio soap operas, called that because most were sponsored by soap companies, though this one was sponsored by a toothpaste. The show centered around the barbershop of Bill and the talk surrounding his community, and his family's helping their neighbors.
This first story parodies the daytime radio genre as a whole.
The names Stella Dallas, Perry Mason, Ma Perkins, Lorenzo Jones, Young Dr. Malone are punned, which were also the names of daytime radio series.
Comedians Bob and Ray are now mentioned, and pictured as well.
“Write if you get work, and hang by your thumbs” was how Bob and Ray would sign off their program. Richard Nixon's 'Checkers Speech', named after his dog, was what he was most known for in the fifties, and before that other thing I can't remember about him.
Coincidentally, Bob & Ray had a recurring bit that was a parody of
Just Plain Bill called
Just Fancy Dan.
The final line was the punchline to every story in that issue of
Panic.
JUST PLAIN HARRY'S OTHER WIFE
Crazy #7, July 1954
w: Stan Lee
a: Al Hartley
A joke Stan Lee always used was to mention that a big name was behind something and then mentioned that it was a different person by that name.
In the Panic story, another of the shows referenced on page 3 is This Is Nora Drake.
ReplyDeletePage 4, panel 1 references Front Page Farrell. And panel 2 references Mary Noble, Backstage Wife. This is where Bob and Ray are brought in, probably because this was another of the shows they spoofed; they called their version Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife.
Come to think of it, there was also a story called Just Plain Bull in an issue of Bughouse. I didn't know about the radio show when I read it, but that must be what it was parodying.
ReplyDelete