# ... 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:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/21 "2016-02-06T00:38:36Z")
I used to listen to Bob and Ray every afternoon on WOR AM in New York when I was much younger. Bob was one of the greatest straight men of all time. Chris must have been adopted. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/22 "2016-02-06T01:32:52Z")
Their “Komodo Dragon Expert” routine was used in a training session on how to listen to people. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/23 "2016-02-06T03:35:08Z")
I have over 15 hours of their comedy stuff on ÇD. Love the dry wit. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/24 "2016-02-06T04:30:50Z")
Just try to find comedy like that these days. It’s a lost cause. ☹ ---
**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 6, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/25 "2016-02-06T04:35:30Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > If you can, watch _Between Time and Timbuktu_: Bob and Ray merged with Kurt Vonnegut. They were at their top form then. Available on YouTube! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/26 "2016-02-06T04:53:52Z")
With Ray he was one of my favorite comedians. I was fortunate enough to see them in _The Two and Only_ on Broadway in 1970. > [@cochrane](#): > > Father of Chris Elliott, by the way. And grandfather of Abby Elliot of SNL. ---
**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, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/27 "2016-02-06T12:43:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > And grandfather of Abby Elliot of SNL. Someone told me the Elliotts hold an SNL record – having three generations on the show, with Bob and Chris having both appeared at some point. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/28 "2016-02-06T15:51:02Z")
Another trivial factoid: Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person In the World” award was inspired by Bob and Ray, who made up the title “The Worst Person in the World” for theater critic John Simon. Simon truly WAS a major asshole, and a very valid contender for the title in real life. He was the type of critic who’d spend paragraphs telling us how ugly a perfectly attractive lead actress was, while never getting around to telling us what a play was about (I have no idea why National Review kept him on staff so long, since he wasn’t even a conservative). “The Worst Person in the World” occasionally turned up as a villain in their ongoing mock serials like “Mary Backstage, Noble Wife.” ---
**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 6, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/29 "2016-02-06T17:14:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Someone told me the Elliotts hold an SNL record – having three generations on the show, with Bob and Chris having both appeared at some point. Chris Elliott spent a season as an SNL cast member. I can’t find when or if Bob appeared on SNL _per se_, but he was in the spinoff special _Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine, and Gilda_, whence the clip in **Zeldar** ’s Post #7 above—[see here for a description of the show](http://splitsider.com/2013/10/bob-and-ray-team-up-with-jane-laraine-and-gilda/). Right now I can’t think of any other two-generation SNL appearances, let alone three. Anybody? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/30 "2016-02-06T19:18:20Z")
My dad was a big Bob and Ray fan. I didn’t really appreciate Bob until I saw Get a Life. The episode with Chris starring in “Zoo Animals on Wheels” (basically Cats meets Starlight Express) was hysterical. Chris (playing his son) says, “Oh wise old Jellicle Hippo…” and Bob tells his wife, “I’ll give you a million dollars, just shoot me now!” ---
**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:** [February 6, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/31 "2016-02-06T20:48:13Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > My dad was a big Bob and Ray fan. I didn’t really appreciate Bob until I saw Get a Life. The episode with Chris starring in “Zoo Animals on Wheels” (basically Cats meets Starlight Express) was hysterical. Chris (playing his son) says, “Oh wise old Jellicle Hippo…” and Bob tells his wife, “I’ll give you a million dollars, just shoot me now!” You keep quiet. He doesn’t have to shoot you now! 😃 ---
**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 6, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/32 "2016-02-06T22:56:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Chris Elliott spent a season as an SNL cast member. > > I can’t find when or if Bob appeared on SNL _per se_, but he was in the spinoff special _Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine, and Gilda_, whence the clip in **Zeldar** ’s Post #7 above—[see here for a description of the show](http://splitsider.com/2013/10/bob-and-ray-team-up-with-jane-laraine-and-gilda/). > > Right now I can’t think of any other two-generation SNL appearances, let alone three. Anybody? Bob & Ray appeared on _SNL_ [S4E09](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0694938/). Easy enough to look up on IMDb. There have been times when cast member’s family have briefly appeared on the show. If you want to expand the definition of “_SNL_”, there’s some nice examples such as the 1992 [Mother’s Day Special](http://www.hollywood.com/tv/the-2nd-annual-saturday-night-live-mother-s-day-special-59515295/) where several mothers of then cast members appeared giving interviews. There was a cast members’ mothers walk-on last Mother’s Day when Reese Witherspoon hosted. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/33 "2016-02-07T02:03:19Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > [Bob & Ray: “If You Think I’m Sexy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1-zihbZpC0) is hard to beat! Was that broadcast live, with a redo for the west coast? Because my wife and I both remember the two of them sitting with their legs spread with a finger pointing at their crotches. Perfectly disgusting! ---
**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 7, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/34 "2016-02-07T14:10:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Someone told me the Elliotts hold an SNL record – having three generations on the show, with Bob and Chris having both appeared at some point. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Chris Elliott spent a season as an SNL cast member. > > I can’t find when or if Bob appeared on SNL _per se_, but he was in the spinoff special _Bob and Ray, Jane, Laraine, and Gilda_, whence the clip in **Zeldar** ’s Post #7 above—[see here for a description of the show](http://splitsider.com/2013/10/bob-and-ray-team-up-with-jane-laraine-and-gilda/). > > Right now I can’t think of any other two-generation SNL appearances, let alone three. Anybody? My friend may have been thinking of the spin-off special. I didn’t know Chris Elliott was ever a regular on SNL, but I pretty much stopped watching about 1980. That first season after the original cast left really stank, then I got too busy to watch anyway, then I left the country. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/35 "2016-02-07T14:51:05Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I used to listen to Bob and Ray every afternoon on WOR AM in New York when I was much younger. Bob was one of the greatest straight men of all time. > > Chris must have been adopted. My link to them as well. Bob and Ray and Gene Shepard will always be linked to my father in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/36 "2016-02-07T15:22:14Z")
Bob and Ray were one of my regular programs I’d listen to on NPR, via Sat Radio. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075/37 "2016-02-08T16:49:51Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > You keep quiet. He doesn’t have to shoot you now! 😃 Pronoun trouble! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ly-ballou-signing-off/745075.md?page=1)