# ... ly Ballou, signing off. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075 "2016-02-03T18:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/1 "2016-02-03T18:36:43Z")
The NYT is reporting that Bob Elliot has passed away, > **[Bob Elliott, Half of the Deadpan Bob and Ray Comedy Team, Dies at 92...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/arts/television/bob-elliott-of-bob-and-ray-comedy-fame-dies-at-92.html?_r=0)** > > The comedian and his partner, Ray Goulding, specialized in low-key humor that debunked gasbags. Goodbye, Wally Ballou. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/2 "2016-02-03T19:20:25Z")
Aw gee. I guessed from the thread title what this was about. ☹ Sad, but he had a good long life & career. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/3 "2016-02-03T19:28:15Z")
I’m sorry for his passing. If this was the 70s, I’d gather friends to mourn his passing. If this was the 80s or the 90s, I’d try to get friends to train to NYC to light candles at a significant location. Sadly its 2016. So, does This mean that the NYT is now Hiring…?\* \*\* \*I’m ashamed that I asked today. \*\*I’m even more ashamed that in America today, I’d HAVE to ask today. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/4 "2016-02-03T19:28:40Z")
92 isn’t a bad run. I remember loving Bob & Ray when I was a kid. Pfui. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/5 "2016-02-03T19:36:25Z")
Loved him and Ray back in my radio days (60s) when their promos for radio were the funniest things going. Their SNL appearances are also memorable. A sample of his eternal wit and cleverness can be heard at > **[Bob Elliott](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/bob-elliott)** > > In his one-hour-and-forty-five-minute interview, Bob Elliott (1923-2016) talks about his early experiences in radio in the wake of World War II and working for radio station WHDH in Boston. He recalls meeting Ray Goulding at the radio station and... Some fun reading about their careers at [Bob and Ray - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_and_Ray) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/6 "2016-02-03T19:37:35Z")
The film “Cold Turkey” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/7 "2016-02-03T19:41:14Z")
[Bob & Ray: “If You Think I’m Sexy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1-zihbZpC0) is hard to beat! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/8 "2016-02-03T20:05:24Z")
I got to watch the Burt and Harry Piels commercials in NY when I was a kid, which were great. One of the rare cases where the ad was far better than the product. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/9 "2016-02-03T20:09:59Z")
Father of Chris Elliott, by the way. They co-starred in the Fox TV series _Get A Life_, along with Elinor Donahue. I remember when Bob and Ray did a series of commercials for a bank in Arizona in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/10 "2016-02-03T20:53:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Father of Chris Elliott, by the way. They co-starred in the Fox TV series _Get A Life_, along with Elinor Donahue. Yeah, Bob got typecast as Chris Elliott’s father not only in _Get a Life_ but in Chris’s movie _Cabin Boy_ and his shocking tell-all book [Daddy’s Boy](http://www.amazon.com/Daddys-Boy-Shocking-Account-Famous/dp/0385297300/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454532900&sr=1-1&keywords=chris+elliott). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/11 "2016-02-03T23:03:01Z")
If you can, watch _Between Time and Timbuktu_: Bob and Ray merged with Kurt Vonnegut. They were at their top form then. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/12 "2016-02-03T23:32:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Father of Chris Elliott, by the way. Greatest example of generational decline since _Buddenbrooks_. Sayonara, Bob. Remember to hang by your thumbs… ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/13 "2016-02-03T23:59:01Z")
_"Jelly_ from cranberries?!?" ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/14 "2016-02-04T00:25:51Z")
How sad. I’m just reading Chris’s book “Daddy’s Boy” about life with a famous father. Bob Elliott wrote rebuttals, including one for the prologue. Some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever read. And I’ve been listening to Matinee with Bob and Ray for awhile now, downloaded from the net. When asked why Bob got top billing, Ray Goulding answered, “Because ‘Matinee With Bob And Ray’ sounds better than ‘Matinob With Ray and Bob’!” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/15 "2016-02-04T00:54:27Z")
RIP, Mr. Elliott. Another one of comedy’s greatest gone… [sigh] ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/16 "2016-02-04T05:02:23Z")
He’s taken his slow-talk routine to a new level. RIP, though I suppose we could be happy that you’re together with Ray again. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/17 "2016-02-04T13:00:26Z")
This makes me sad. 2016 has just been awful for deaths of people I admire. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/18 "2016-02-04T17:38:23Z")
So very sad (although obviously expected). I have hundreds of hours of their old shows from Boston and New York, though I think the 1980s recompilations by The Radio Foundation are the best stuff. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/19 "2016-02-04T18:04:50Z")
I’m sorry to see him go. But I have to admit, I never found Bob and Ray the least bit funny. I’m quite serious. Their work leaves me completely unmoved. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/20 "2016-02-06T00:22:13Z")
RIP, Bob. They don’t make them like you anymore. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075.md?page=2)