[Ads-l] Joke: Television: It's called a medium because it=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99s_?=never well done (UNCLASSIFIED)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks again to Bill Mullins. While updating the QI article I found
another slightly earlier citation dated October 9, 1949, Bandleader
and blender-maker Fred Waring received credit:

[Begin excerpt]
A definition from Fred Waring: Television: a new medium—rare, if well done.
[End excerpt]

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/07/24/tv/

[Begin acknowledgement]
Special thanks to Bill Mullins who located the valuable July 1950
“Easy Aces” citation.
[End acknowledgment]

This is a situation where the bag-of-words query construct available
at the Chronicling America database would be helpful.
Garson

On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 8:10 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks, Ben. While searching I came across pertinent wordplay in 1941.
> But the topic was politics not television. Also, the humor was very
> weak. So I did not include it as a precursor in the QI article.
>
> Date: October 16, 1941
> Newspaper: Meyersdale Republic
> Newspaper Location: Meyersdale, Pennsylvania
> Section: Classified Ads
> Title: HE'S THE MAN FOR YOU
> Quote Page 4, Column 7
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> If you like your political observers medium—neither too rare nor too
> well-done—you will want to read Mark Sullivan's deft,
> middle-of-the-road comments now appearing regularly in the Pittsburgh
> Post-Gazette.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 7:14 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > And then there's Richard Lederer's quip, "A good pun is like a good steak:
> > a rare medium well done." I see variations on that theme in the newspaper
> > databases going back to the '70s.
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 6:36 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks, Bill. That is great. The citation you found certainly fits
> > > into this set of wordplay jokes although I do not quite follow the
> > > humor. Inspired by your efforts I found a version of the joke that I
> > > do understand in November 1949.
> > >
> > > [ref] 1949 November 22, The San Francisco Examiner, Day and Night with
> > > Radio and Television by Dwight Newton, Quote Page 16, Column 8, San
> > > Francisco, California. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
> > > https://www.newspapers.com/image/458737600/?terms=medium
> > >
> > > [Begin excerpt]
> > > TAG LINES: Ed "Archie" Gardner on "Duffy's Tavern"--"Television is a
> > > medium where if anything is well done, it's rare."
> > > [End excerpt]
> > >
> > > I will add the citation you found to the QI article and acknowledge
> > > you soon, Bill.
> > >
> > > I came across the "Easy Aces" when I was researching "Time Wounds All
> > > Heels"
> > > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/09/23/heels/
> > >
> > > Garson
> > >
> > > On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 5:46 PM MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> > > CCDC AVMC (USA) <0000099bab68be9a-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > >
> > > > Somewhat related:
> > > >
> > > > _Milwaukee [WI] Journal_ 30 Jul 1950 Sunday magazine section p 30
> > > > "Television is called a medium because it's so rare. -- Easy Aces"
> > > >
> > > > "Easy Aces" was a TV show (formerly a radio show) on the Dumont
> > > network.  Both the radio and TV version starred Goodman Ace (see the 1953
> > > cite in your article).
> > > >
> > > > Fred Allen probably used the version you quote him as saying in 1950 on
> > > the radio broadcast _The Big Show_ which premiered on Nov 5.  See this
> > > review of the show:
> > > >
> > > > https://archive.org/stream/broadcasting391unse#page/n671/mode/1up
> > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
> > > > > ADSGarson O'Toole
> > > > > Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2019 9:13 AM
> > > > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > > Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Joke: Television: It's called a medium
> > > because it’s
> > > > > never well done
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > ----
> > > > >
> > > > > Here is another version of the wordplay joke in the subject line:
> > > > > Television is called a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.
> > > > >
> > > > > Comedian Goodman Ace wrote a letter to Groucho Marx containing an
> > > > > instance of the subject line quip in 1953. In 1973 “The Filmgoer’s
> > > Book of
> > > > > Quotes” by Leslie Halliwell credited the joke to comedian Ernie Kovacs.
> > > > >
> > > > > Many references attribute the joke to Goodman Ace or Ernie Kovacs while
> > > > > presenting one of these citations (or no citations), e.g.:
> > > > >
> > > > > The Macmillan Dictionary of Quotations (1989) The Best Guide to
> > > Humorous
> > > > > Quotations (2011) Encarta Book of Quotations (2000) Oxford Dictionary
> > > of
> > > > > Humorous Quotations (2008) The Yale Book of Quotations (2006)
> > > > >
> > > > > The Quote Investigator website now has an entry on this topic with a
> > > > > 1950 citation ascribing the joke to Fred Allen.
> > > > >
> > > > > https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/07/24/tv/
> > > > >
> > > > > Feedback welcome
> > > > > Garson
> > > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org