What’s the origin of this phrase? The first concrete use I can recall is from the Pee-Wee Herman special on HBO in the 80s, but the crowd reaction indicates that it was already a known joke/phrase.
Rocky and Bullwinkle.
And it’s “fanmail from a flounder.”
You sure?
I clearly remember it as “fan mail from some flounder” on the old R & B show.
Google has 449 hits for that, 322 for “fanmail from some flounder”, but only 4 for “fanmail from a flounder” and 92 for “fan mail from a flounder”.
Not a superscientific study, but it tends to confirm my recollection.
:smack:
Not only wrong – but wrong for 40 years.
:smack: :smack: :smack:
It’s so well known because it was used to introduce commercials on R&B and thus appeared many many times.
There was also “Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat,” which had at least three variations.
Four:
“Don’t know my own strength!”
“Wrong hat!” “I take a 7 1/2!”
“No doubt about it, I’ve got to get another hat.”
“Well, I’m getting close.”
(Yes, I just got the first two seasons of R&B on DVD. Wanna make something of it?)
Didn’t Rocky say, “Look, a message in a bottle”. Followed by Bullwinkle’s, “Fan mail from a flounder?”.
See, the bottle was floating in the ocean, and um, nevermind … 
“Fan mail from SOME flounder?” :smack: :smack: :smack:
Steven Furst was sending fan mail to Rocky and Bullwinkle?
I don’t give a damn what Google thinks it is.
Fan mail from A flounder. :mad:
Having seen this bumper dozens of times in the last couple of months while watching the above-mentioned DVDs, I can say with 100% certainty that it is “some flounder.”
Incidentally, I once used “Fan Mail from Some Flounder” as the title of a composition.
C’mon, Biffy the Elephant Shrew! You’ve got the DVDs of the episodes. Settle this! Please?
I can confirm. It’s “some,” not “a.” I’m watching the DVDs right now. 
I had a boss that would use that phrase every time he found something in his mailbox.
Once, I wrote a letter detailing how wonderful he was and signed it S. Flounder.
He told me it was one of the funnyest things he’d ever seen.
Like all the best cartoons, “Rocky and Bullwinkle” worked on two levels. Most of the cartoons I sat through as a child would be a painful noise to me now, but R&B is timeless.
And don’t forget Bullwinkle’s spot appearances as a juggler (“Three at once! one…two…[ball hits him on the head]…three!”) and an operatic singer (sounds like he sings “McNohhhh…” and his collar pops off. “Shoulda tried B-flat!”)
Oh–and match the “hat” line to the critter Bullwinkle pulls out; I think there was a lion, a tiger, and a rhino…oh my!
Fanmail from some flounder - YouTube"]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u2c9-LDP0t0
Damn! Before I clicked on this and read the date, I thought Otto was back.
But could Rocky and Bullwinkle ever be a zombie???