Mack & Myer for Hire

[timmyb]

hey there.

this has bugged me for awhile.

when i was a kid living in joppa, md (about 20 miles ne of baltimore) in the late 60's, wbal channel 11 ran a show that i think was syndicated from the mid-50's called "mack & myer for hire." it was a rather slap-stick style sitcom about two handy men who always screwed up a fix-it job of some sort. a poor man's three stooges, if you will.

yet i can find nothing on this show in any reference book or journal. was this strictly a baltimore based show? or am i hallucinating?

if anybody can fill me in on this apparently lost "treasure" such who played mack & myer, when exactly the shows were made, etc., i'd be most appreciative.

tb

 

[clichemoth]

> hey there.
>
> this has bugged me for awhile.
>
> when i was a kid living in joppa, md (about 20 miles ne of
> baltimore) in the late 60's, wbal channel 11 ran a show that
> i think was syndicated from the mid-50's called "mack & myer
> for hire." it was a rather slap-stick style sitcom about two
> handy men who always screwed up a fix-it job of some sort. a
> poor man's three stooges, if you will.
>
> yet i can find nothing on this show in any reference book or
> journal. was this strictly a baltimore based show? or am i
> hallucinating?
>
> if anybody can fill me in on this apparently lost "treasure"
> such who played mack & myer, when exactly the shows were
> made, etc., i'd be most appreciative.
>
> tb
>

From 1963, according to IMDB. Apparently Australia's Channel 9 also aired it as part of their morning childrens' show.

<a href = "http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315031/"> The IMDB listing.</a>

 

[bpatrick]

> > hey there.
> >
> > this has bugged me for awhile.
> >
> > when i was a kid living in joppa, md (about 20 miles ne of
>
> > baltimore) in the late 60's, wbal channel 11 ran a show
> that
> > i think was syndicated from the mid-50's called "mack &
> myer
> > for hire." it was a rather slap-stick style sitcom about
> two
> > handy men who always screwed up a fix-it job of some sort.
> a
> > poor man's three stooges, if you will.
> >
> > yet i can find nothing on this show in any reference book
> or
> > journal. was this strictly a baltimore based show? or am i
>
> > hallucinating?
> >
> > if anybody can fill me in on this apparently lost
> "treasure"
> > such who played mack & myer, when exactly the shows were
> > made, etc., i'd be most appreciative.
> >
> > tb
> >
>
> From 1963, according to IMDB. Apparently Australia's
> Channel 9 also aired it as part of their morning childrens'
> show.
>
> The IMDB listing.
>
For those who don't want to go to IMDB, I can tell you that
it's mentioned in both Vincent Terrace's "Encyclopedia of
Television Programs, 1947-1976" and in Rick Mitz' "The Great
TV Sitcom Book." It was a 15-minute show that aired in 1963;
the stars were two Americans, Mickey Deems and Joey Faye, so
I don't know if it was produced in the U.S. or in Australia
(perhaps to save costs). Both Deems and Faye have long resumes
in character parts; I know I've seen Deems as one of the
hoods in "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre."

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

This goes back to when I was a small child, but didn't Mack and Myer ride around in a motorcycle with a sidecar, and wasn't the show originally distributed by Trans-Lux??

FYI: I suspect the reasons "Mack and Myer" isn't still seen in reruns are: (1) it was probably filmed in black-and-white, and, (2) it had an odd length, about fifteen minutes per episode.

Had "Mack and Myer" been filmed in color, and if each episode had been 23 to 25 minutes in length (without commercials), it's possible the reruns would still be syndicated today. A 23-to-25 minute per episode length would have filled up a half-hour timeslot once commercials were added.

 

[anoldradioguy1]

> This goes back to when I was a small child, but didn't Mack
> and Myer ride around in a motorcycle with a sidecar, and
> wasn't the show originally distributed by Trans-Lux??
>
> FYI: I suspect the reasons "Mack and Myer" isn't still seen
> in reruns are: (1) it was probably filmed in
> black-and-white, and, (2) it had an odd length, about
> fifteen minutes per episode.
>
> Had "Mack and Myer" been filmed in color, and if each
> episode had been 23 to 25 minutes in length (without
> commercials), it's possible the reruns would still be
> syndicated today. A 23-to-25 minute per episode length would
> have filled up a half-hour timeslot once commercials were
> added.

Mack & Myer was broadcast on WNYS (now WSYR) Ch 9 in Syracuse. It was part of the afternoon kiddie show The Baron & His Buddies. I was about 9 or 10. I didn't find it to be funny at all and couldn't wait for it to be over and show the Baron (a vampire) doing a bit or a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It was a crummy rip-off of The Stooges
>