Summary: Archie Wants To Patent Electricity (02-23-49) Duffy's Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of the title establishment's malaprop-prone, metaphor-mixing manager, Archie, played by the writer/actor who co-created the show, Ed Gardner. In the show's familiar opening, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," either solo on an old-sounding piano or by a larger orchestra, was interrupted by the ring of a telephone and Gardner's New Yorkese accent as he answered, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy ain't here — oh, hello, Duffy." Duffy, the owner, was never heard (or seen, when a film based on the show was made in 1945 or when a bid to bring the show to television was tried in 1954). THIS EPISODE: February 23, 1949. NBC network origination, Nostalgia Broadcasting Corporation syndication. "Archie Wants To Patent Electricity". Commercials added locally. Slippery McGuire sells Archie a patent on electricity! Alan Reed appears as "Slippery McGuire." Don't miss Archie speaking Yiddish to a Chinaman! Ed Gardner, Eddie Green, Charlie Cantor, Alan Reed, Florence Halop (as "Miss Duffy"), Matty Malneck and His Orchestra, John Morris (producer, director). 28:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.
