Fibber McGee and Molly's best years were probably those in the early 1940's. Previously they had been in Vaudeville, but broke into radio on a program called Smack Out. The two played all four characters. Don Quinn was their writer. The same person who would write the Fibber McGee and Molly shows for the first dozen years of the run.
To start out I actually have two fragments of the old Smack Out show. They are a bit scratchy, and cut off sharply. They give a glimpse into early radio, and at how Jim and Marian Jordan sounded some 10 years before our feature.
At first, Jim and Marian were unwilling to be on radio. When they did get their show, the team of Jim, Marian, and Don were paid a salary of $320 per week. Marian was a union pianist and was paid something like $150 of the total amount. Don Quinn was paid roughly $100, and Jim recieved the remainder.
Moving on along, our show has Fibber coming upon the opportunity to sell wrist watches. The Old Timer appears, bsed on the original character of Uncle Luke, but now voiced by Bill Thompson. After Fibber has an incident involving his closet, and Billy Mills plays, Fibber runs into Teeny. Teeny is still oiced by Marian, and even more sassy than ever. After Harlow Wilcox delivers the mid-show commercial, Fibber tries to sell his watches to the local jewelry store. Suddenly things turn serious when a bandit holdsup the jewelry store, making off with jewels but not Fibbers watches. It looks as Fibber might have some explaining to do. The Kingsmen sing, Coming Through the Rye. Fibber has to spend the remainder of the show in courtroom drama, defending himself. Fibber's neighbors try to come to help him, including: Boomer, Mrs. Uppington, and Gildersleeves. Will they manage to help? I predict that things will get worse before they get better. It all works out in the end.
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