History Radio / BobAndRay

* OperatorsAreStandingBy: Parodied as far back as the 1940's when B&R turned a sponsor's real commercials into a series of spectacularly unsuccessful efforts to 'make a simple phone call' to contact the 'trained operators' who were, according to the copy, standing by to sign customers up for a free trial TV set. "No, no, they mean we'll be out at what time's convenient to ''us'', pal. Yeah, they don't say that, do they?"

-->'''Pronto:''' Me go Harvard. Me [[IncrediblyLamePun Boston brave.]]

Bob handled the old men, young children, petty officials and other generally nebbishy types; he was a master at projecting a kind of intellectual opaqueness. This made him also the ideal one to handle most of their beat reporters and announcers, the most famous of which is inept roving reporter Wally Ballou ("-ly Ballou here!"), whose nose for news was [[KentBrockmanNews permanently stuffed up.]] Ray's characters were not particularly smarter, but much better at bluffing. Thus he handled most of the businessmen, doctors, sports heroes and general 'man-on-the-street' types Wally interviewed. He also provided all the female voices, notably for housekeeping 'spert Mary Margaret [=McGoon=] -- basically Martha Stewart via ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' -- [[LarynxDissonance using a startlingly authentic coloratura falsetto.]]

They created spoof serials - complete with fictional producers, writers, announcers and casts - with titles like "One Fella's Family" and "Jack Headstrong, All-American American" and "Lawrence Fechtenberger, Interstellar Officer Candidate" (brought to you by 'Chocolate Cookies With White Stuff In-Between Them'). {{Soap opera}}s included "The Life and Loves of Linda Lovely" (played on TV by a very young Creator/AudreyMeadows) and "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife" - the latter a broad sendup of the wildly popular "Mary Noble, Backstage Wife". It was on this show that they took aim at Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=] during the Army hearings, recasting him as an oily-voiced petty official and in the process becoming among the very few high-profile performers (possibly the only ones beside Walt Kelly with ''ComicStrip/{{Pogo}}'') to tackle him directly.

Meanwhile, they had also parlayed their vocal dexterity into a very successful side career as commercial producers and voice-over artists, beginning with an iconic five-year stint as Bert & Harry, the Piel Brothers, whose bickering proved far more popular than the beer they were pitching (at the campaign's peak, upcoming spots were actually listed in ''Magazine/TVGuide''). Along with friend and fellow satirist Creator/StanFreberg, Bob & Ray went on to popularise the use of product-deprecating humour in TV & radio advertising.

Together (and, later on, with the help of various supporting writers) they introduced, perfected and then endlessly refined the then-revolutionary idea of 'comedy as conversation', telling stories rather than jokes. Their metier was {{parody}}, and their target was [[RadioDrama the medium they worked in]]: "Our original premise was that radio was too pompous." The material was clean and on the surface unthreatening, a kind of gently inconsequential drollery that hid a razor-sharp satirical edge. They could be called the first modern [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarkers]].

Together (later, with the help of various supporting writers) they introduced, perfected and then endlessly refined the then-revolutionary idea of 'comedy as conversation', telling stories rather than jokes. Their metier was {{parody}}, and their target was [[RadioDrama the medium they worked in]]: "Our original premise was that radio was too pompous." The material was clean and on the surface unthreatening, a kind of gently inconsequential drollery that hid a razor-sharp satirical edge. They could be called the first modern [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarkers]].

Eventually they proved so popular that they were given their own half-hour afternoon slot, ''Matinee with Bob & Ray'' (hence the billing; as Bob once put it, "If the word had been 'Matinob', it would've been 'Ray & Bob'"). Eventually ''that'' proved so popular that ''The Bob & Ray Show'' moved to New York and a national audience -- including a weekly NBC television series, from 1951–53.

Robert Brackett "Bob" Elliott (March 26, 1923 – February 2, 2016) and Raymond Walter "Ray" Goulding (March 20, 1922 – March 24, 1990) first met in 1946, at radio station WHDH-AM in [[HollywoodNewEngland Boston]]. Bob -- the slight one with the big blue eyes -- was the morning DJ; Ray -- the burly one with the splendid baritone -- was the newly-hired announcer. After reading the news on Bob's program, Ray would stick around and the two would riff off their particular corner of the Establishment; shows, sponsors, guests and interviewers alike.

The pair quickly discovered that their shared understanding of the absurd went well beyond the casual. Without ever quite meaning to, they became a natural -- and entirely unique -- comedy team.

Thus they managed to stay together as a team for nearly forty years, influencing an entire generation of seminal American comics -- [[Series/TheBobNewhartShow Bob Newhart]], Creator/JonathanWinters, Creator/GeorgeCarlin, Creator/WoodyAllen, Creator/DavidLetterman, et al.; Creator/TheFiresignTheatre credit them as direct ancestors. They were also Creator/KurtVonnegut's favorite comedians; he mentions them with surprising frequency in his work. More recently, broadcaster Creator/KeithOlbermann has credited them as a major influence, especially on his "Worst Person in the World" segment.

* CriticalResearchFailure: One sketch has an InUniverse example, with Bob interviewing the author of a ''History of the United States''. It turns out that the 1,100-page tome contains numerous glaring errors, including Abraham Lincoln driving to his inauguration in an automobile, the Civil War breaking out in 1911, and the nation's original capital being located in Bailey's Mistake, Maine. The author readily admits it's "a shabby piece of work", but quickly adds that it's leather-bound.

* {{Corpsing}}: They were occasionally prone to this; a good example can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4B-nHs6YYE here]].

** Parodied in the radio shows, often supposedly sponsored by makers of steel ingots, flypaper, and other items of dubious glamour.

** Played straight when B&R wrote and performed in the Piels beer commercials of the late '50s, featuring animated OddCouple siblings Bert and Harry Piel. Widely conceded to be far superior to the product itself; at the campaign's peak, upcoming spots were actually listed in ''Magazine/TVGuide''.

** Played straight when B&R wrote and performed the Piels Bros. beer commercials of the late 50's, featuring animated OddCouple siblings Bert and Harry Piel. Widely conceded to be far superior to the product itself; at the campaign's peak, upcoming spots were actually listed in ''Magazine/TVGuide''.

* {{Ruritania}}: The "funnies in the news" announcer Peter Gorey (Bob, using a Lorre accent: "Een other news, only vun man vas keeled attempting suicide today...") hailed from Lower Schizophrenia.

Their last broadcast series on Creator/{{NPR}} was only cut short in 1987, when Ray was forced to retire due to illness. He died in 1990 of kidney failure. Bob continued to perform by himself and occasionally with his son, comic actor and writer Creator/ChrisElliott (most notably in ''Series/GetALife'' and ''Film/CabinBoy'', where Bob and Chris played [[RealLifeRelative father and son]]). Chris' daughter, Creator/AbbyElliott, is a former cast member on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', making for the only tri-generational comedy family ever to appear on ''SNL'' (Bob was a guest star on a 1978 Christmas special, Chris was a cast member during the show's [[SeasonalRot much-maligned 20th season]], and Abby was in the cast from 2008-12 [[note]]first getting hired when Creator/AmyPoehler was on maternity leave, along with short-lived cast member Michaela Watkins. Watkins was let go, but Elliott stayed[[/note]]). Bob died of throat cancer in 2016.

Eventually they proved so popular that they were given their own half-hour afternoon slot, ''Matinee with Bob & Ray'' (hence the billing; as Bob once put it, "If the word had been 'Matinob', it would've been 'Ray & Bob'"). Eventually ''that'' proved so popular that ''The Bob & Ray Show'' moved to New York and a national audience -- including a weekly Creator/{{NBC}} television series, from 1951–53.

Eventually they proved so popular that they were given their own half-hour afternoon slot, ''Matinee with Bob & Ray'' (hence the billing; as Bob once put it, "If the word had been 'Matinob', it would've been 'Ray & Bob'"). Eventually ''that'' proved so popular that ''The Bob & Ray Show'' moved to New York and a national audience - including a weekly TV series, from 1951-53.

Eventually they proved so popular that they were given their own half-hour afternoon slot, ''Matinee with Bob & Ray'' (hence the billing; "if the word had been 'Matinob', it would've been 'Ray & Bob'"). Eventually ''that'' proved so popular that ''The Bob & Ray Show'' moved to New York and a national audience - including a weekly TV series, from 1951-53.

The duo quickly discovered that their shared understanding of the absurd went well beyond the casual. Without ever quite meaning to, they became a natural -- and entirely unique -- comedy team.

They quickly discovered that their shared understanding of the absurd went well beyond the casual. Without ever quite meaning to, they became a natural -- and entirely unique -- comedy team.

They created spoof serials - complete with fictional producers, writers, announcers and casts - with titles like "One Fella's Family" and "Jack Headstrong, All-American American" and "Lawrence Fechtenberger, Interstellar Officer Candidate" (brought to you by 'Chocolate Cookies With White Stuff In-Between Them'). {{Soap opera}}s included "The Life and Loves of Linda Lovely" (played on TV by a very young [[Series/TheHoneymooners Audrey Meadows]]) and "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife" - the latter a broad sendup of the wildly popular "Mary Noble, Backstage Wife". It was on this show that they took aim at Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=] during the Army hearings, recasting him as an oily-voiced petty official and in the process becoming among the very few high-profile performers (possibly the only ones beside Walt Kelly with ''ComicStrip/{{Pogo}}'') to tackle him directly.

The pair also served as hosts/moderators of the ABC game show ''[[Series/TheNamesTheSame The Name's the Same]]'' in 1955, parodied several news reporters in the 1971 film ''Film/ColdTurkey'', and appeared as the financiers of a play written by Creator/AlPacino's character in the 1982 film ''[[Film/AuthorAuthor1982 Author! Author!]]''. In 1979 they starred in their own late night NBC special along with ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast members Creator/JaneCurtin, Laraine Newman, and Creator/GildaRadner and musician Music/WillieNelson.

The pair also served as hosts/moderators of the ABC game show ''[[Series/TheNamesTheSame The Name's the Same]]'' in 1955, parodied several news reporters in the 1971 film ''Film/ColdTurkey'', and appeared as the financiers of a play written by Creator/AlPacino's character in the 1982 film ''Author! Author!''. In 1979 they starred in their own late night NBC special along with ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' cast members Creator/JaneCurtin, Laraine Newman, and Creator/GildaRadner and musician Music/WillieNelson.

Bob handled the old men, young children, petty officials and other generally nebbishy types; he was a master at projecting a kind of intellectual opaqueness. This made him also the ideal one to handle most of their beat reporters and announcers, the most famous of which is inept roving reporter Wally Ballou ("-ly Ballou here!"), whose nose for news was [[KentBrockmanNews permanently stuffed up.]] Ray's characters were not particularly smarter, but much better at bluffing. Thus he handled most of the businessmen, doctors, sports heroes and general 'man-on-the-street' types Wally interviewed. He also provided all the female voices, notably for housekeeping 'spert Mary Margaret [=McGoon=] - basically Martha Stewart via ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' - [[LarynxDissonance using a startlingly authentic coloratura falsetto.]]

Meanwhile, they had also parlayed their vocal dexterity into a very successful side career as commercial producers and voice-over artists, beginning with an iconic five-year stint as Bert & Harry, the Piel Brothers, whose bickering proved far more popular than the beer they were pitching (at the campaign's peak, upcoming spots were actually listed in [=TVGuide=]). Along with friend and fellow satirist Creator/StanFreberg, Bob & Ray went on to popularise the use of product-deprecating humour in TV & radio advertising.

They quickly discovered that their shared understanding of the absurd went well beyond the casual. Without ever quite meaning to, they became a natural - and entirely unique - comedy team.

Robert Brackett "Bob" Elliott (March 26, 1923 – February 2, 2016) and Raymond Walter Goulding (March 20, 1922 – March 24, 1990) first met in 1946, at radio station WHDH-AM in [[HollywoodNewEngland Boston]]. Bob -- the slight one with the big blue eyes -- was the morning DJ; Ray -- the burly one with the splendid baritone -- was the newly-hired announcer. After reading the news on Bob's program, Ray would stick around and the two would riff off their particular corner of the Establishment; shows, sponsors, guests and interviewers alike.

Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990) first met in 1946, at radio station WHDH-AM in [[HollywoodNewEngland Boston]]. Bob -- the slight one with the big blue eyes -- was the morning DJ; Ray -- the burly one with the splendid baritone -- was the newly-hired announcer. After reading the news on Bob's program, Ray would stick around and the two would riff off their particular corner of the Establishment; shows, sponsors, guests and interviewers alike.