In the Ass Ponys song, Kung Fu Reference, the lyrics include:
*"Poor old John Carradine
Before he met his maker
He got to play a part
That stands the test of time
Shouting he held aloft
The miracle elixir
The townspeople ran him off
And the sunlight took his eyes"*
I can’t figure out the part. Casting around Google, I figure it has something to do with the TV series Kung Fu but John played a preacher not named Sonny Jim. Anyone know what part they are referring to?
I can’t recall exactly, but I thought Sunny Jim was someone hanging around with the preacher. And I think the preacher was blind. It was a long time ago, but maybe the preacher was a snake oil salesman before he found salvation.
He played Reverend Serenity Johnson in 3 episodes of Kung Fu - Rev was blind. I vaguely remember the series but have no real memory of the plotline.
The only episode of the three that I’ve seen is “Dark Angel,” the third episode of the first season. Serenity Johnson, played by John Carradine, is a preacher of uncertain sincerity and without his own church. Greed gets the best of him, and he goes off with his mute companion Sonny Jim (played by Robert Carradine) to find a gold mine using a map Caine gave him. Caine had gotten the map from a dying miner whom he tried to save. Unfortuantely for Serenity, the mine is on Indian land. The Indians capture him and lash him to a cross with his face held toward the sun and his eyelids sewn open. When Caine, led by Sonny Jim, finds and rescues him, Serenity is blind and barely alive. While recovering, Serenity gets to feeling sorry for himself. Caine convinces him he is not as useless as he believed. Serenity is inspired to build the church he has always wanted to have. This is also the episode where Caine meets his grandfather.
The bit about magic exilir and angry townspeople must come from a different episode.
I think it was the elixir part that threw me. Anyway, thanks for the added info.
I think bibliophage has the synopsis right, but I believe the character was named Serendipity Johnson.
“Sunny” or “Sonny” Jim was a character in the song that the drunken Rev was singing. Went sumpin’ like this" “Luly had a baby. His name was Sonny Jim. She put him in a teapot, to teach him how to swim.”