h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Listen, bud, how b****y old do you think we are?

Groucho was the guest host the night Johnny Carson took over the Tonight Show in 196? ah, I'll have to check. My mind is saying '62, but I better check.

Groucho's initial run of "You Bet Your Life" on the radio was so successful for the sponsor, Elgin American, that they ran out of powder compacts and cigarette cases.

If I remember correctly, Art "Ham" Fisher was not the namer of the "Marx Bros", but he was the inspiration with his "Sherlocko the Monk" comic strip for the names the brothers were given, as all the characters in the strip had 'o's on their names...

It's been such a long time...

Yep, 1962.

http://www.lambiek.net/mager_g.htm

I'm sorry, Gus Mager was the cartoonist for the characters with the 'o' on their names.

Thanx tonsilrevenge!
Thought it might jog your ancient memories!
Oberon2001

Ok, on the advice of Polidari Wormwood I've split the entry so that someone can add another Marx Bros biog if they so wished. This entry is now the general Marx Bros one and at the bottom there is a link to the new Groucho one. The Groucho one is in CWW at F57152?thread=227602
Hope this helps people follow the entry a bit better.
Oberon2001

Always butting in...

Anyway - did you know that out of respect for their mother (Minnie), all of the brothers named their daughters with names beginning with the letter 'M'?

And - and just a bit about 'The Story Of Mankind' (1957) : Harpo plays Isaac Newton, Chico plays a monk and Groucho plays Peter Minuit, who buys Manhatten from the Native Americans. Unfortunately they don't appear with each other.

Has anyone seen that scene from the American version of 'What's My Line' where Harpo turned up as the celebrity, and the panel had to guess Harpo's secret? And what was the secret? That it wasn't Harpo after all, but Chico in Harpo's get up...

Thanx for the info on the Story of Mankind and their Mother, I've added it to the entry.
Oberon2001

Sheesh, you take a couple of days off and when you come back a blank page turns into a Biography Channel script!
Good stuff...

You want some quotes? Try these:

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.

Remember men, we're fighting for this woman's honour - which is probably more than she ever did.

There are another 38 like those at the Groucho Random Quote Generator:
http://www.therightside.demon.co.uk/quotes/groucho/

"I love my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth every once in awhile."

Used the link and added your quotes in
Any holes anyone can fill in?
Oberon2001

*phew* just filled in all the movie info... anything else?
Oberon2001

OKay - I've got some more Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel info for you - use as much as you want :

26 episodes were made and all were broadcast. Groucho and Chico earned $6,500 per week (not a bad wage at all!) for the half hour's work. The first 3 episodes were broadcast as 'Beagle, Shyster and Beagle' but then a real lawyer called Beagle threatened legal action and so Groucho's character was changed to Flywheel (later used in Duck Soup, but with a different first name). Not only were a lot of the jokes recycled from previous films, but a lot of the jokes from FS&F later turned up in subsequent films like Duck Soup.

Sponsored by Esso, the reason why the show only lasted one 26-week season is now a subject of conjecture, with reasons including low ratings (they didn't have the best time-slot, though the ratings were actually pretty decent), and the fact that the Marx Brothers moved on to their next movie pretty soon after (Duck Soup).

And if anyone's interested (!), I've managed to get my Duck Soup entry into Peer Review. Please check it out and let me know if you have any comments :

A888447 - Duck Soup.

for the info!
I've added pretty much all of it.
Oberon2001

Erm - hello!

Just to be outstandingly annoying, I've now started a separate piece on Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, as I'm afraid your piece forced me into re-reading the radio scripts and digging out my copy of the BBC tape of the show...

Anyway, here it is : A897320.

Sorry again!

I dunno! You go to all that trouble then someone makes a seperate entry
I'll link to it if it goes into the EG before this does.
Oberon2001
PS, your entry looks good so far btw.

Hello one and all that can be bothered to read this thread!
I've updated the entry again, mainly putting in sub- headersand adding little tid-bits. Although I have added a great Groucho quote, it's right at the bottom.
Oberon2001

I'll be honest, I can't see any gaps in this entry (though maybe it's just me) so is it to send this to PR?
Oberon2001

Not that I'm getting confused or anything, but which one do you mean? Or both?

Anyway - quick correction from one of the entries - Groucho used the name of 'Flywheel' in 'The Big Store' and not in 'Duck Soup' as stated in the entry (he was 'Firefly' in Duck Soup).

On the entry on the Brothers in general do you think it's worth putting in a bit about where they got their nicknames???

Just the general Bros one, the Grouch one I'll probably put in sometime during the week.

I think I've already put in a bit about where the names came from...



Ah, here we are
"The name "The Marx Brothers" was coined by comic Art Fisher on May 15, 1914 and the inspiration for having all the brothers change their names so they had an "o" on the end came from Gus Mager a cartoonist who did the same thing with most of his characters"
Suppose it's a bit sparse... I'll try and find out where the names came from properly (Groucho's came from the comic strip "Groucho the Monk" by Gus Mager).


Right, here is what I can find on the names (which I'm putting in the entry also) -
- Chico: Allegedly got it from chasing "chicks", Chico was the Marx Bros who was most popular with the ladies, and the gambling dens.
- Groucho: As previously stated, from the comic strip by Gus Mager.
- Zeppo: Hard to find out, but I'll keep looking
- Harpo: Came from him playing the harp in the act... When he felt like it.
- Gummo: Bit like Zeppo, being the straight man of the act, little can be found on him. Well, that and he left the act in the 1910's

Oberon2001
PS, something else I found out whist researching, the Marx Bros were "inducted" (shurely that can't be the right word?) into the Motion Picture Hall of Fame on 16th January 1977