[Borrowed from a free post at Slayed by Voices]
Hello there. And a very pleasant half-hour program, wherever you may be.
I’ve known for some time that Vin Scully hosted a talk show in the 1970s, but I had never seen a full episode. Well, take that off the bucket list.
This half-hour edition of The Vin Scully Show, with cigar-smoking Carroll O’Connor as the special guest, was taped January 24, 1973, when Vin was 45. The 48-year-old O’Connor literally came downstairs for the interview from the studio at CBS Television City where All in the Family was taped. Not surprisingly, Vin brings out the best in him. While sitting very close to him.
In case you were in any danger of forgetting that Vin’s voice was perfection, here’s your antidote.
Like any good ballgame, there are big moments building toward a slam-bang finish.
You might think the best moment with Vin is the joke he tells in his opening monologue.
You might think the best moment with Vin is when he says to O’Connor about playing the notorious sexist racist Archie Bunker: “You are such a natural for the role.” Then Vin, realizing what he said, adds with a laugh: “And I don’t mean as a bigot.”
You might even think it’s the sketch where Vin plays a suitor for a grumbly old man’s daughter — like Archie and Gloria, but not exactly — capped by a genu-ine Old School rim shot.
But stay tuned until the very end, when Vin spins a tale about an Irish gambler in a perfect brogue. That’s a Hall of Fame moment. That’s our Vin.
