Fibber McGee And Molly 36-01-27 (0042): "McGee Tangles with a Tough Chef"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Release Date: September 4, 2025
Original Airdate: January 27, 1936
Host: Harolds Old Time Radio

Episode Overview

This charming episode takes listeners back to the heyday of golden age radio comedy with "Fibber McGee and Molly," as Fibber embarks on a hilariously doomed attempt to work in a fancy restaurant run by Nick De Populous. Lively banter, slapstick mishaps, and witty wordplay abound as Fibber contends with new job duties, a language-challenged boss, and—most memorably—a very tough and temperamental chef.

Key Discussion Points & Episode Breakdown

1. Fibber’s Next Career Scheme (03:50–05:12)

• Setting: "All American Restaurant in West Pak"
• Issue: After failing at various odd jobs, Fibber lands a gig at a restaurant, with Molly tagging along as his adviser.
• Early Jokes: Quips about the restaurant's "high class" status, hat-and-coat jokes, and confusion over "New Deal Soup" (04:27).
• Memorable Quote:
  • Fibber: "That's Alphabet soup with three A's took out of it. You get it, Molly?" (04:29)
  • Molly (deadpan): "That ain't funny, McGee." (04:34)

2. Meeting Nick De Populous (05:10–07:02)

• Nick’s Introduction: Warm, cheerfully broken English, endless optimism about the restaurant business.
• Job Position?:
  • Nick’s logic: everyone in the restaurant must be versatile—wait, wash dishes, cashier, etc.
  • Hilarity as Fibber's “experience” lands him a dishwashing gig, bruising his pride.
• Notable Exchange:
  • Nick: "No, the populace is for to have no head. Waiting, just await." (05:19)
  • Fibber: "Just to wait for what?" (05:23)
  • Nick (earnest): "Just waiting on the tables. Mr. Magee. Are you having some experiments? I guess not. You hope." (05:24)

3. Slapstick with Dishes (07:02–11:49)

• Carrying the Tray Challenge:
  • Nick insists Fibber demonstrate his serving prowess.
  • Fibber boasts wildly about feats from his past, then nearly collapses under the weight of the loaded serving tray.
  • Molly and Nick offer half-support, half-sarcastic commentary.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Nick: "He's not very good restaurant peoples. He's for putting little dishes on the bottom under beneath the big dishes. This will make for tiddle topplings and pretty soon fastings on the floor. And bang goes a prophet." (08:27)
  • Nick: "Hey, remembering Peter, the waiters always pay for their own breaking." (08:38)
• Physical Comedy: Fibber manages to pile and carry the dishes (barely), requiring Molly to push him to get moving (09:26), and ultimately, chaos erupts as Fibber collides and falls in the kitchen (11:00–11:49).

4. Restaurant Tour & Fibber’s Curiosity (18:20–23:13)

• Kitchen Inspection:
  • Molly marvels at the cleanliness and abundance (18:31).
  • Fibber tries to sample a roast chicken and discovers it’s just for display—made of cardboard (19:05).
  • Nick: "Those chickens is not for eating. He is for the people putting in the front window." (19:11)
• Refrigerator and Meat Jokes:
  • Nick brags about his massive fridge with enough meat "to feed the army and Navy" (20:00).
  • Jokes about not serving seafood and wordplay with "biffs" (21:13).

5. Clash with the Tough Chef (20:45–24:57)

• Warning about Chef:
  • Nick and Molly build up the chef’s fearsome reputation ("he is undoubtful to killing you with a cleaver" (20:54)).
• Fibber’s Bravado:
  • Initially unimpressed by the chef’s size and supposed wrestling lineage.
  • Unwittingly squirts whipped cream in the chef’s face (22:13–22:20), triggering silent rage.
  • Physical comedy escalates; the chef takes silent revenge by sharpening his knives menacingly.
• Cutting Up:
  • More chaos as Fibber tries to demonstrate cabbage-chopping and accidentally hits the chef (24:30).
  • Nick and Molly comment on the chef's immense strength (“look at his muscles, Miggy…” (24:35)).
• Chef’s Limited English:
  • Amusing exchange on the chef’s inability to understand Fibber's threats (25:13–25:18), spurring Fibber to bluster behind the chef’s back.

6. Tall Tales and Final Disaster (25:38–27:10)

• Fibber’s Wrestling Boasts:
  • Tells an exaggerated story about wrestling “four top heavyweights at once” and using “basket weaving” holds (26:15–26:29).
  • Molly and Nick’s skepticism is palpable.
• Catastrophic Finish:
  • Fibber demonstrates a wrestling move, accidentally hitting the chef with a stool (27:03).
  • The chef “comes for him,” and panic erupts in the kitchen (27:05–27:18).
  • Memorable Exit:
    • Nick (exasperated): “That stool is for landing on the chef's bun… [he’s] coming forth to make mincemeats of you, pizza cookies.” (27:03–27:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nick’s fractured English:
  • “Huckly Duckly, come on out in the restaurant, Mr. McGee.” (07:30)
  • “Dishwashing. Who me? No, sir, not me, Nick. Why that'd be like hiring this here fellow Professor Einstein to do little Willie's homework.” (06:30)
• Comic reversals:
  • Molly, on the dummy chicken: “That's what you get for trying to pull its leggie.” (19:21)
• On the restaurant’s complexity:
  • Nick: “Parts time, wash dishes. Parts time, wait stablies, Parts time exchanging for to be cashiers. Always got to keep him plenty busy in the restaurant business.” (06:49)
  • Nick, about kitchen doors: “One door is for going out from one door is for coming inside... it is very fine ideas with trace full dishes to use door for properly usefulness.” (11:29)
• Physical Comedy, Sound Effect Cues:
  • Molly: "Get up McGee and scrape the gravy off your face." (11:02)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------|---------------| | Fibber & Molly enter restaurant | 03:50–05:12 | | Nick De Populous introduced | 05:10–07:02 | | Carrying trays/dish disaster | 07:02–11:49 | | Kitchen/metaphorical chickens | 18:20–19:13 | | Refrigerator meat jokes | 19:45–21:13 | | Tough chef run-in | 20:45–24:57 | | Fibber’s wrestling story | 25:38–26:38 | | Final kitchen chaos | 27:03–27:18 |

Final Thoughts

This episode is a showcase of the classic radio comedy style—quick-witted, pun-laden, and delightfully physical (in an audio sense). The interplay between Fibber, Molly, and Nick delivers laughter through misunderstandings, overblown bravado, and situational slapstick, culminating with Fibber's narrow escape from the kitchen—reminding all that perhaps dishwashing is not his true calling.

For fans of old-time radio, “McGee Tangles with a Tough Chef” is a prime example of why Fibber McGee and Molly was a household favorite, with timeless laughs, sharp timing, and lovable characters.