# You Bet Your Life - the Lost Episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919 "2004-01-06T00:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/1 "2004-01-06T00:39:42Z")
Do you Marxians know of the new [You Bet Your Life - The Lost Episodes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000ALFZ0/qid=1073339984/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5262139-2844953?v=glance&s=dvd) DVD? 18 episodes, many of which were not part of the syndicated package. Lots of extras, including the outtake “stag reels” that were compiled of remarks too suggestive to air (mild as they are), the radio audition tape, and more. More? Yes, fans, more. The big news isn’t the “lost” episodes, but the lost radio excerpt. You know the one I mean: the legendary, lost, ad lib contest between Groucho and Bob Hope on the Walgreen show in 1947 that lead to Groucho’s being offered the hosting job on a new radio quiz show. (Again, pretty mild. And given how awful the script was, too much of a temptation to pass up.) Where this comes from is never said. I know that I’ve been searching for it for years. The beautiful packaging also includes a booklet by Marxian Robert Bader whom, he lets drop in an extremely modest way, I met at an Open House of the Marx Brotherhood a few years back. And a warning: Be aware that the [Marx Brothers Collection](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DJYPL/qid=1073349426/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6159199-7463955?v=glance&s=dvd) is **not** the promised five movies but evidently a lot of junk that only hardcore collectors like me would want - and I already have it all on video. ---
**Author:** ![Titan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Titan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Titan2)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/2 "2004-01-06T04:22:12Z")
Looks like a buy to me. I remember when I saw the reruns ca.80s (why are these not out there anymore?Seems like a natural for Nik At Nite),I saw the “Feesh got To Svim” episode and still cracked up over it after about a 30 year lag. Question:I have a DVD slot on my PC,but not a regular DVD player hooked to a TV.Any problems? ---
**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:** [January 6, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/3 "2004-01-06T04:28:13Z")
When you said “the lost radio excerpt” I had a dream that it would the the line about the woman with 10 children. _sigh_ Forever lost to history, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Marks\_1st\_wife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Marks\_1st\_wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marks_1st_wife)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/4 "2004-01-06T05:58:12Z")
Julius, is it really lost? Seems like I remember hearing it in Groucho’s voice. (heh, seems funny to ask Julius a question about Julius) I’ll have to dig around in my brain and see if I can remember where or when. Exapno, Mark said, ‘Great name.’ I say, “Thanks for the links.” (anyone ever see any Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel stuff for sale?) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/5 "2004-01-06T19:26:47Z")
“I love my cigar too but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” > [@](#): > > In December 1950 DeSoto distributed a twelve inch 78rpm recording featuring highlights from _You Bet Your Life_ and a holiday message from Groucho to their dealers. The nine minute recording includes an excerpt from Groucho’s November 17, 1947 radio interview with Mr. and Mrs. Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children. This interview has become legendary for a portion of it that never aired. Bonus track on Disk 3. **Mark** , thanks and you’re welcome. And see [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=233180). ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/6 "2004-01-06T20:30:30Z")
I recall seeing Phyllis Diller on “You Bet Your Life” as a contestant before she became famous. Any other celebrities make an appearance? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/7 "2004-01-06T21:28:43Z")
**Exapno Mapcase** , you seem like an expert. Why aren’t any of the Marx Brothers’ films currently available on DVD, and will they ever be? I know they made movies at at least two different studios, but I can’t imagine what the hold-up is. I’d love a nice box set of Marx movies, or at the very least, A Night At the Opera on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/8 "2004-01-06T22:16:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*I recall seeing Phyllis Diller on “You Bet Your Life” as a contestant before she became famous. Any other celebrities make an appearance? \*\* One episode featured a pair of girls, one of whom was Candice Bergen. I’ve forgotten the name of the other but she was probably some other celebrity’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/9 "2004-01-06T23:00:09Z")
**Lou** : The fact that there are two different studios (four, actually: _Room Service_ was made by RKO and _A Night in Casablanca_ by United Artists) to deal with is a problem. The fact that the rights to the films have been sold all over the place is another problem. That said, everybody thought the Marx Brothers Collection would be the major release of the Paramount films. I don’t know what happened there. It still might come out, though. From a 12/14/03 New York Times article on Most Wanted DVDs: > [@](#): > > “Duck Soup” is an instructive case. In 1997, Universal Studios, which owns the film, leased the DVD rights for it and two other Marx Brothers comedies - “Horse Feathers” and “Animal Crackers” - to Image Entertainment, which released > all three in a boxed-set edition. > > That was the first year of the DVD. Nobody knew whether the format would succeed. The lease lasted three years. When it expired in 2000, Universal resumed ownership, and the Image box went out of print. (It has since become a collectors’ item, with some stores selling the few remaining copies for $229, more than five times the original price.) > > Meanwhile, one studio executive said, Universal has quietly been assembling a respectable new DVD - creating a new negative (the original nitrate negative no longer exists) and searching the archives for bonus-feature material. > > " `Duck Soup’ is a special movie," said the executive, who asked not to be identified because Universal has not yet announced the reissue. “We want to treat it specially.” And on the Yahoo Crazy For The Marx Brothers group, we heard this: > [@](#): > > It is pretty certain that Warner Bros/Turner will be releasing all the MGM/RKO/UA [i.e. all the MGM flicks,plus ROOM SERVICE and A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA…] films on DVD early in the year. Rumor? Wishful thinking? Who knows. Here’s an international listing of [the Marx Brothers on DVD](http://www.marx-brothers.org/watching/dvd.htm). Current availability may be spotty. **Jeff** : The other girl was Groucho’s daughter, Melinda. **plnnr** : Lots of other celebrities appeared on the show. The boxed set includes Ernie Kovacs, Art Linkletter, bridge guru Charles Goren, pioneer aviatrix Ruth Elder, decathlon champ Bob Mathias and boxing champ Archie Moore, Miss Sweden, and Gary Cooper’s mother. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/10 "2004-01-07T00:05:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marks 1st wife \* > \*\*Julius, is it really lost? Seems like I remember hearing it in Groucho’s voice. (heh, seems funny to ask Julius a question about Julius) I’ll have to dig around in my brain and see if I can remember where or when. > Exapno, Mark said, ‘Great name.’ > I say, “Thanks for the links.” > > (anyone ever see any Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel stuff for sale?) \*\* I have the scripts, but I’ve never seen it on tape or CD. I did find a CD of Duck Soup as done on the radio - very odd. (I got it in a thrift store for $.25) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/11 "2004-01-07T00:41:29Z")
> **[The Marx Brothers](https://www.marx-brothers.org/media/radio.htm)** > > Find out about the Marx Brothers, online since 1996 > [@](#): > > Most information in this list comes from Wayne Boenig. He has also got many radio shows on tape. \*Email him if you are interested in obtaining copies. Thanks also to Stephan Herschung. Excerpts of some programs can also be found on regular LPs or CDs. \*Click here to see what is available. \*Links available on the page. I don’t know how old this page is, though, or if the shows include FSF specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/12 "2004-01-07T00:52:41Z")
Posted too soon. This link came up in Google: [Old Time Radio Shows](http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ahmintz/old-time-radio-shows.htm) > [@](#): > > Complete lists of all my vintage radio/tv audio/video is at: > [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ahmintz/index.htm](http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~ahmintz/index.htm) > > These old time radio shows are of various quality. I have listed everything I have so I can use this as my own list but be aware some of these have excessive hiss and are too low volume to trade. If interested, I will always check them before trading. Any show with a t number over 550 will have good sound but those below 550 may have hiss. > > Flywheel,Shyster+Flywheel w.Marx Bros.,1932-33 NBC Comedy > 5/22/33 t2224 [Another Marx site](http://www.whyaduck.com/sounds/streaming.htm) has streaming audio of some excerpts and that 5/22 show. The scripts were redone by the BBC in 1990, and a cassette of those are [available](http://www.britishcomedy.org.uk/comedy/flywheel.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/13 "2004-01-07T05:23:42Z")
[www.radiogoldindex.com](http://www.radiogoldindex.com) says that, in addition to the complete and aforementioned episode that aired on 5/22/1933, eight minutes of the episode that aired on 5/8/1933. Other than that, it appears that “Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel”, like so much of early radio, is completely lost (other than the scripts, which, if I recall correctly, are all extant). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/14 "2004-01-07T18:35:14Z")
Yeah, the shows were recorded onto disks, but they were all destroyed. And a [book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0701134232/qid=1073500579/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/102-5262139-2844953?v=glance&s=books) of the scripts is available, if out of print. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/15 "2004-01-07T19:48:09Z")
Thanks, but I meant before they were celebrities ala Diller (she did say that she wanted to be a comedian and Groucho asked her to tell a joke, which went over pretty well). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/16 "2004-01-09T19:11:03Z")
The closest font I have to a cyrillic one is Symbol and it does give you a bit of the Exapno Mapcase effect. Harpo Marx ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/17 "2004-01-09T22:10:46Z")
In “Harpo Speaks!”, there was a picture of the headline with his name in a Russian newspaper. IIRC it looked almost exactly like “XAP[symbol]P[/symbol]O MAPKC”. ---
**Author:** ![Marks\_1st\_wife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Marks\_1st\_wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marks_1st_wife)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-bet-your-life-the-lost-episodes/222919/18 "2004-01-10T01:40:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Voyager \* > \*\*I have the scripts, but I’ve never seen it on > tape or CD. I did find a CD of Duck Soup as done on the radio - very odd. (I got it in a thrift store for $.25) \*\* I told Mark what you had found, and Mark says, “See if you can sweet talk him into burning us a copy?” We would cover your initial outlay. 😉 Judging from the amount of people around here (in real life) who don’t even know who Zeppo is, its pretty fun to see so many people who enjoy them.