# Fan mail from some flounder? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707 "2004-12-02T16:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/1 "2004-12-02T16:09:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/2 "2004-12-02T16:10:10Z")
Rocky and Bullwinkle. And it’s “fanmail from _a_ flounder.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/3 "2004-12-02T17:46:40Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/4 "2004-12-02T17:49:01Z")
:smack: Not only wrong – but wrong for 40 years. :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/5 "2004-12-02T18:21:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/6 "2004-12-02T18:30:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 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?) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/7 "2004-12-02T18:47:32Z")
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 … 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/8 "2004-12-02T18:52:39Z")
“Fan mail from SOME flounder?” :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/9 "2004-12-02T19:12:28Z")
Steven Furst was sending fan mail to Rocky and Bullwinkle? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/10 "2004-12-02T19:55:06Z")
I don’t give a damn what Google thinks it is. Fan mail from **A** flounder. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/11 "2004-12-02T20:02:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/12 "2004-12-03T02:00:31Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I don’t give a damn what Google thinks it is. > > Fan mail from **A** flounder. :mad: C’mon, **Biffy the Elephant Shrew**! You’ve got the DVDs of the episodes. Settle this! Please? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/13 "2004-12-03T02:03:21Z")
I can confirm. It’s “some,” not “a.” I’m watching the DVDs right now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/14 "2004-12-03T02:54:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/15 "2004-12-03T03:57:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/16 "2004-12-03T09:25:29Z")
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! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dboeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@Dboeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dboeye)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/17 "2013-10-10T01:47:04Z")
[Fanmail from some flounder - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u2c9-LDP0t0)"][http://https](http://https)://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_embedded&v=u2c9-LDP0t0 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/18 "2013-10-10T01:50:15Z")
[Fan mail from _some_ flounder.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2c9-LDP0t0) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/19 "2013-10-10T02:15:53Z")
Damn! Before I clicked on this and read the date, I thought Otto was back. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707/20 "2013-10-10T02:22:20Z")
But could Rocky and Bullwinkle _ever_ be a zombie??? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-mail-from-some-flounder/277707.md?page=2)