February 1, 2010

            The other day, I was in the jock-a-teria pouring myself a cup of coffee.  I spilled a little on the countertop, but since there were other people within earshot, I refrained from swearing.  Instead, I just muttered, “Oh, fiddle-faddle” under my breath. 

            As I was returning to the studio with my fresh cup of coffee, I started to wonder where on earth it was that I picked up the expression “Oh, fiddle-faddle” to express displeasure or frustration.  First, I though of my Grandfather, but it wasn’t him, though sometimes, when I’d get under his skin, he’s say, “Ahh, you farmer, you!”  In retrospect, I think he has another F-word in mind.

            And then, the revelation came.  It was from Mr. Wilson on the old Dennis the Menace show where I first heard “Oh, fiddle-faddle.”   

Now, why I was thinking about Dennis the Menace, Fiddle-Faddle, and old TV shows, I can’t say, but since I was already wasting time, I stayed with it.  Do you recall that there were two Mr. Wilsons? 

Joseph Kearns played George Wilson.  He also, who also provided the voice for both Ed, the vault security guard, on Jack Benny’s radio show, and the Doorknob in Alice in Wonderland.  But Kearns died in 1962, right in the middle of the 3rd season of Dennis the Menace.    

            His replacement was Gale Gordon, who later played Mr. Mooney on The Lucy Show.    

            Gordon played George’s brother John Wilson, who was house-sitting for George and Martha while they were way on a cruise.  But, the first set of Wilsons never returned from that cruise and John Wilson never left their house.  In fact, he later brought his wife, Eloise, to his brother’s home,  yet no one ever got suspicious or asked questions.  That always bothered me.

            Everyone remembers that Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darren Stevens on Bewitched, but no one I asked remembered the two Mr. Wilsons.  Why such a fascination with Dicks?