The Mel Blanc Show (1946-47) aired “Thanksgiving Party” on November 26, 1946, as the 13th of its 43 episodes. This is but the second of this entertaining program we have run, the first coming back in January of 2016. Mel Blanc (1908-1989) was already a huge hit in 1946 due to his Looney Tunes voice characterizations of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and a whole host of other characters including, later on, Roadrunner, Marvin the Martian and Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century (an obvious spoof of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). Much as famed film actor Lon Chaney was known as the Man of a Thousand Faces, so Mel Blanc was known as the Man of a Thousand Voices.
The Mel Blanc Show revolves around Mel’s Fix-It Shop, where one of the handymen (also played by Blanc) is Zooky. Mel belongs to the Benevolent Order of the Loyal Zebras (the only Fraternal Order in this small town, which functions as the major hub of social activity). This episode is focused on the unusual main dish Mel has decided to offer to family and friends instead of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. Which I find slightly ironic in that this year of 2022 has, with its ever-increasing inflation and the price of food rising precipitously, sporadic calls for cheaper fare to grace Thanksgiving tables, one of which I have heard mentioned several times recently is pizza of all things. So when Mel’s main dish is made known, Mel of course receives grief from his soon-to-be father-in-law, who wishes only the best for his daughter and not the cheapskate Mel appears to be. Of course Mel has an honorable reason for not serving a big turkey, but you’ll have to listen to this humorous episode to discover what his substitute main dish turns out to be. Along with some possible insensitive jokes at a certain wife’s expense and a few other chuckle-inducing lines of dialogue here and there, this turns out to be a satisfying Thanksgiving story well within the spirit of the season, one I think you’ll find worthy of a listen and that will hopefully set the mood for this year’s Thanksgiving, this coming Thursday, November 24, 2022.
Play Time: 24:45
In Mel’s own timeless words, Bde-bde-bde-bde…that’s all folks!
To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.