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"And Awa-a-a-y we go!" -
The trademark bellow of comic Jackie Gleason as
he began his Saturday night comedy variety
program THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW/CBS/1952-70.
After a short chat with the audience, and a
refreshing cup of some beverage (of suspicious
nature), Gleason asked his bandleader, Sammy
Spear for "a little traveling music." Then with
elbows akimbo, he side-stepped off stage yelling
his now famous expression, "And Awa-a-a-y We
Go!" Gleason also recorded a song entitled "And
Awa-a-a-y We Go" in the 1950s. When Jackie
Gleason was laid to rest at Our Lady of Mercy
Cemetery in Miami, Florida (at 11411 NW 25th
Street), the phrase "And Away We Go" was
chiseled into the marble steps leading up to his
Greek-style mausoleum. See also
CATCHPHRASES:
"How sweet it is."
"Be a good bunny!" - Signoff of one-time
Hollywood starlet Wendy Barrie who hosted THE
WENDY BARRIE SHOW/DUM/ABC/NBC/1949-50, a
celebrity interview and gossip show where stars
dropped into her supposed Manhattan apartment to
chit-chat with her.
"Be good to yourself" - Trademark
signature phrase of popular radio and early
television show personality Don McNeill, who
first appeared on DON McNEILL TV
CLUB/ABC/1950-51, a musical variety program.
"Be nice to your furniture" - Closing
comment of fix-it show hosts Ed Feldman and Joe
L'Arario who hosted a syndicated furniture
repair program THE FURNITURE GUYS in the 1990s.
"Bless your pea-pickin' hearts" - The
signature signoff of singer comedian Ernie Ford
who hosted the musical variety THE FORD
SHOW/NBC/1956-61. He was fond of ending his
program with traditional religious songs which
he called the "finest love songs of all". Born
Ernest Jennings Ford in 1919 in the town of
Bristol, Tennessee, "Tennessee" Ernie Ford was
the first country singer to appear at the
Paladium in London in 1953. His homespun humor
and corny country ways were evident in such
phrases like "Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a
room full of rocking chairs" and "Feels like
I've been rode hard and put away wet". Inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990,
Ernie Ford died of complications due to liver
ailments on October 17, 1991. His most popular
song was "Sixteen Tons" written by Merle Travis
in 1947.
"Bye-bye!" - Signoff line of John
McLaughlin, the boisterous host of the
fast-paced half-hour weekly news analysis
program THE McLAUGHLIN GROUP/SYN/1982+
"Ciaocito, baby" - Trademark signoff of
Daisy Fuentes, the hip Cuban born veejay hostess
of programming on the MTV cable network in the
1990s. Her sign-off is a combination of the
Italian "Ciao" and the Spanish "Cito"
"Courage!" - Arcane signature signoff
once used by CBS newscaster Dan Rather when he
ended his nightly news broadcast.
"Glad we could get together" - Nightly
signoff of newscaster, John Cameron Swayze for
NBC network in the 1950s. Another phrase he made
popular was "Takes a licking and keeps on
ticking" when he was the commercial spokesperson
for Timex Watch Company.
"Go Home!" - Closing words of
multi-talented British actress Tracey Ullman on
the comedy variety show THE TRACEY ULLMAN
SHOW/FOX/1987-90. At the end of each program,
Tracey sans makeup came on stage dressed in a
housecoat, talked to her studio audience one
final time and then as if throwing something at
her fans yelled "Go Home!"
"God love you" - The famous signoff of
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the Auxiliary Bishop of
New York who starred in the popular prime time
religious program LIFE IS WORTH
LIVING/DUM/ABC/1952-57 that taught lessons of
life and morality. In 1953 Bishop Sheen was
commenting on Communism and stated "Stalin must
one day meet his judgment." Stalin had a stroke
a few days later and died within the week.
"Uncle Fultie" Sheen aired opposite "Uncle
Miltie" Milton Berle of the TEXACO STAR THEATRE
on NBC network. Both Sheen and Berle worked for
the same boss: Sky Chief. (Sky Chief also being
a blend of Texaco gasoline).
"Goodnight..." (ear tug) - At the end of
each installment of the comedy variety program
THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW/CBS/1967-79, comedian
Carol Burnett sang her closing theme song "I'm
so glad we had this time together/Just to have a
laugh or sing a song/Seems we just get started
and before you know it/Comes the time we have to
say, 'so long'." As the lyrics ended, she said
goodnight to the audience and then tugged on her
left earlobe. This tugging gesture was the
silent personal message to her grandmother
(Nanny) that everything was all right. In
contrast, years earlier on the game show WHAT'S
MY LINE/CBS/1950-67 moderator John Daly would
tug on his ear when trying to let a panelist
know that things weren't all right and that
their conversation was getting a bit too risqué,
and that maybe they should change the subject
"Good night and may God bless" - Red
Skelton's trademark closing at the end of each
installment of his comedy variety program THE
RED SKELTON SHOW/NBC/CBS/NBC/1951-71. The full
text of his closing line originally stated "So
until next week I'll say good health, good life,
and may God bless. Goodnight." This signoff was
first spoken on a 1953 guest spot on THE ED
SULLIVAN SHOW.
"Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are"
- The classic closing comment of comedian Jimmy
Durante who starred on the comedy variety
program THE JIMMY DURANTE SHOW/NBC/CBS/1954-57.
At the end of each weekly performance, Jimmy
paused to say "Good night, Mrs. Calabash,
wherever you are" and then slowly exit offstage
following a pathway made from overhead spot
lights. Comedian Ernie Kovacs once did a parody
of this classic ending. Walking like Jimmy
Durante, Ernie moved away from the cameras and
proceeded to walk through pools of lights. As he
stepped into the last pool of light, he fell out
of sight through a trap door. According to a
Durante documentary, Durante's daughter C.C.
stated there was never a Mrs. Calabash but
rather Jimmy used the mysterious woman as a
message to "all the lonely women in the world."
Some people believed that the "Mrs. Calabash"
spot was either a message to a deceased/former
lover, or a coded way of saying "Hello" to his
real wife.
"Good night to all you boys and girls..."
- At the start of the 1949 television season on
the TEXACO STAR THEATRE as he attempted to
signoff his show, Milton Berle got a signal from
his floor man (the program was broadcast live)
that the show was running short by a few
minutes. Immediately, Milton requested a chair,
sat down and ad-libbed the remainder of the show
as follows: "Since this is the beginning of the
new season, I want to say something to any of
you kiddies, who should be in bed getting a good
nights rest before school tomorrow. Listen to
your Uncle Miltie and kiss Mommy and daddy
goodnight and go straight upstairs like good
little boys and girls." The ad-libbed reference
of "Uncle Miltie" caught on all over New York
City. Everywhere Berle went he was greeted by
thousands of newly adopted relatives.
Thereafter, every show signoff contained the
closing phrase, "Good night to all you boys and
girls, my nephews and nieces, this is Uncle
Miltie saying Good Night." The Uncle Miltie
nickname became so popular that once Bishop
Fulton J. Sheen, began his popular religious
program by saying "Good evening, this is Uncle
Fultie."
See also -
"Mr.
Television"; "Mr. Tuesday Night" and
"The
Thief of Bad Gags"
"Goodbye, Good Luck and May the Good Lord
Take a Likin' to You" - Catchphrase used by
cowboy star Roy Rogers when he signed off at the
end of each of his appearances on radio
television and in person. The phrase was turned
into a song "May the Good Lord Take a Likin; To
You" written by Roy Rogers and Peter Tintuin and
sung by Roy, Dale and The Riders of the Purple
Sage. The song was feature in the the western
film, Trigger, Jr. (1950).
"Grease for peace" - Closing line of Sha,
Na, Na, a 1950s style rock 'n' roll group who
hosted their own musical variety program SHA NA
NA/SYN/1971-81.
"Gwyn eich byd a dymunaf i chwi lawenydd bob
amser" - Traditional Welsh saying meaning
"May you always be well and be happy" spoken by
singer/host Tom Jones at the conclusion of his
weekly musical variety show THIS IS TOM
JONES/ABC/1969-71.
"Happy Trails..." - At the conclusion of
each episode of western series THE ROY ROGERS
SHOW/NBC/1951-57, Roy Rogers "The King of the
Cowboys" and Dale Evans "The Queen of the West"
sang their trademark sign-off duet of "Happy
Trails To You" (written by Dale Evans). The song
lyric intoned "Happy trails to you until we meet
again/Happy Trails to you, keep smilin' until
then.../Happy Trails to you, until we meet again."
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