Catch Phrase/Radio

Examples of Catch Phrases in Radio include:

• Most classic radio comedies produced by The BBC had numerous catchphrases.
• The Goon Show had lots and lots. The best remembered include:
  • Bluebottle: "Enter Bluebottle..."; "Harm can come to a growing lad like that"; "I don't like this game"; and "You rotten swine, you!" and "You have deaded me!" In that order.
  • Neddy Seagoon: "No thanks, I'm trying to give them up" when offered something other than a cigarette.
    • "Picture of Queen Victoria?"
    • Subverted in one show, when the object on offer is a tree, "No thanks, I'm trying to cut them down" followed by hysterical laughter...
    • Another variation was for Neddie to be offered a gorilla and to reply, "No thanks, I've just put one out".
  • Eccles: "Shut up, Eccles!"
  • Grytpype-Thynne: "You silly, twisted boy, you!"
  • Little Jim: "He's fallen in the water!" This catchphrase was the character's only purpose.
  • Henry Crun: "You can't get the wood, you know."
  • Also "Yuckabakakakoo", "Needle-nardle-noo", and of course "Ying Tong Iddle I Po", which was the basis for their hit record "The Ying Tong Song".
• ITMA has been described as "consisting entirely of Catch Phrases. And no actual jokes." The one remembered today is Mrs Mopp, the charlady's "Can I do you now, sir?"
  • Others included the perpetually inebriated Colonel Chinstrap's "I don't mind if I do" in reply to any remark which sounded the least bit like one homophone or another for the offer of a drink ("Is this the first-class refreshment room?" "A first glass of refreshing rum? I don't mind if I do!"), the Middle Eastern postcard seller Ali Oop's departing "I go...I come back", the overweight character Atlas' "What, me? In my state of 'ealth?!" and the perpetually glum Mona Lott's ironic "It's being so cheerful as keeps me going", among many, many others.
  • This was parodied in a 1970s The Burkiss Way sketch, followed by a phone call from a listener complaining about the parody because ITMA was the one thing that gave his troops the morale to carry on fighting during the war. No prizes for guessing that the caller is Adolf Hitler.
• Julian and Sandy, the Camp Gay double act on Round the Horne had "Ooh, isn't he bold?" (on the rare occasions Kenneth Horne made a Double Entendre before they did) and various phrases in Polari.
• DJs Mark and Lard created loads of Catch Phrases during their run on Radio 1. ("Get to Bed!" "Fancy a Brew?" "Whhhhhoooo?" "Stop!...Carry on." etc.) Many were Running Gags from sketches they did, which often became unattached when the sketches ended and were borrowed by other DJs or requested by listeners.
• Comedy team Bob & Ray had a couple: inept reporter Wally Ballou's sign-on, "-ly Ballou here!" and the duo's closing signature. "This is Ray Goulding reminding you to write if you get work/And Bob Elliott reminding you to hang by your thumbs." Also possibly their habit of referring to their fictional staff as 'our Bob & Ray Organization', which by the end of their forty-year career in media parody ran to an empire AOL Time Warner might envy.
• The intro to each episode of The Shadow would begin with the The Shadow dramatically intoning "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?... The Shadow Knows." The series also included the catchphrase "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit." Both were used in the 1994 movie as well.
• Most of Superman's best known catch prases actually originated in the highly popular radio show that lasted the entire decade of the 1940s, including the openings: "Faster than a speeding bullet!" and "Look! Up in the sky!", etc. Two of the best known are actually audio cues that helped listeners fill in the blanks of their own imaginations. "This looks like a job for Superman!" let the listener know that Clark Kent had just turned into Superman. "Up, up, and awaaaaaayyyyy!!!!" let the listener know that Superman was now flying.
• The Howard Stern Show has spawned a number of catchphrases over the years. Some develop naturally on the show, while others come from the repetition of sound clips from other shows. Most are short-lived, but a few end up enduring. Examples of the latter include: "Baba-Booey" and "Hey Now!"(which itself was a catch phrase from The Larry Sanders Show).
  • "Baba Booey" is the nickname of Howard's producer. Whenever Stern fans prank-call other shows, they will usually chant "Baba Booey, Baba Booey!" as a sort of "gotcha!" to the victims.
• Fibber McGee and Molly had a few- among others, Fibber's Incredibly Lame Puns were often followed either by Molly's "Tain't funny, McGee", The Old Timer's "That's pretty good, Johnny, but that ain't the way I heared it!" or Beulah's hysterical laughter followed by "Love that man!", Horatio K. Boomer's attempts to search through his pockets for a given object almost always ended with "And a check for a short beer- well, well, imagine that, no [object]!", Beulah, when summoned, usually entered with "Somebody bawl fo' Beulah?" and the Swedish Elk's Club janitor Ole was always "yust doo-natin' my time."
• The Jack Benny Program had whichever character Frank Nelson was playing almost always come in with "Yeeeeeeeeessss?" as a response to another character's query. Also famous was the introduction exchange between Benny and Eddie Anderson:

"Oh, ROCH-ester..."
"YES, Boss?"

• • The Simpsons features a parody of the Frank Nelson character, voiced by Dan Castenella. In one episode Homer asks him why he talks like that, and is told "I've had a strooooooooooke."
  • "Well, honestly."
  • Jack's signature "Well!"
• Joe Penner, a now-obscure radio comedian of the 1930s, had several catchphrases, the best-remembered of which is "You wanna buy a duck?" Others included shouts of "YOOOOOOOUUUU NAAAAAAAASHTY MAAAAAANN!" and "DOOOOOOON'T EEEEEEVER *DOOOOOO* THAAAAAAT!"
• The two hosts of NPR's Car Talk end each show with "Don't drive like my brother!" "Don't drive like MY brother!"
• In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, as well as other incarnations: Marvin's "Life! Don't talk to me about life!"
• From Radio City in Midtown Manhattan, third most listened to show in all of America. Hello, you sick twisted freak. Welcome to the Glenn Beck program.
  • (From the TV show) But here's the one thing:
  • The "sick twisted freak" part is a Shout-Out to another conservative talker named Bob Grant.
• How could anyone have not heard "the latest news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."? Well, I guess "now you know . . the rest of the story."
• Hard to believe the list has gotten this long without someone shouting "MAKEUP!"
• In The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, Alice's brother Willie had two: "Goooood morning, Philip!" and "Yes, indeed. Mmmmhmmm!"
• Comedienne Cass Daley would sometimes follow a particularly bad joke with a shout of "I SAID IT AN' I'M GLAAAAADDD!!"
• On Hello Cheeky, most of the catchphrases were Share Phrases or Mad Libs Catch Phrases. The only catchphrase that belonged to one character and was never altered was "Silence in court! Silence in court!" which Denis announced at the start of every sketch that took place in a courtroom. It was constantly lampshaded. ("Silence in court! ...Ahh, I still do that better than anybody else.")

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