 |
 |
|
Issue #5
This was one of the more frustrating issues, offering a funnier script than the previous outings but, unfortunately, the return of the substandard, as-yet unidentified artist from #2. The lead story, "Polly Wants A Cooley," had a very silly premise: Buddy's neighbor is going out of town for a while so he gets Buddy to take care of his parrot. The parrot can't bear to be alone for very long so Buddy winds up bringing it to work every day and keeping it in the office. (Rob asks, "Why can't you leave it home with your wife?" and Buddy replies, "Being at home with Pickles is the same thing as being alone.") The parrot is a slight nuisance until one day, producer Mel Cooley walks in while Buddy has his mouth full, eating a pastrami-and-tongue sandwich. Buddy can't get an insult out but the parrot, repeating something he heard Buddy say earlier, asks Mel, "Is that your head or is your neck blowing bubbles?" Everyone thinks this is hysterical. Even Mel does, at first. But then Buddy starts teaching the parrot all his bald jokes. Every time Mel walks into the room (or even when a shiny object passes), the parrot says something like, "Quick! Call the forest department and ask if they can reseed your scalp!" or "I never saw a bowling ball wearing glasses before." Mel is just getting fed up with it when Alan Brady hears about it, thinks it's a terrific act and decides to put the parrot on the show and to bring Mel on to be insulted, coast-to-coast. Rob, Sally and even Buddy try to talk him out of it but Alan is adamant. Mel, of course, is furious and embarrassed but he has no choice. He steels himself and goes on live TV to endure the humiliation of being insulted by a trained bird. Well, as it turns out, the parrot doesn't insult Mel but instead repeats all the things Rob, Sally and Buddy said in their office about Alan being a monster! Alan's ready to fire everyone over this until the sponsor calls up, says it's the funniest thing he's ever seen on the program, and renews The Alan Brady Show for another year, providing they make the parrot a regular. Alan instantly agrees to this but then Buddy's neighbor returns and claims his parrot, and it turns out the neighbor is an agent and now the parrot wants more money, equal billing with Alan, and a dressing room full of crackers! A very clever script. This issue also contains a short story, "Millie the Meter Maid." With Laura's encouragement, Millie Helper gets a part-time job as a meter maid, checking parking meters and issuing tickets. Naturally, the first ticket she writes is for Laura's car and it prompts an argument, and this story wasn't as funny as the parrot one. By the way: As some of you may know, a man named Walter Zwart had a brief but memorable stint as Western Publishing's main cover editor. He was hired in May of 1962 and as this issue went on sale in January of '63, either this issue or next would represent his first cover design. He managed to continue traditional Gold Key art direction for a little over a year until the problems started. I'll go into them in more detail when we get to those issues. |
 |
 |
|
© 2007 Mark Evanier Hosted by Dreamhost |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |