[niteowl77]

I thought that the purported "Uncle Don" remark would be a fairly close match to what people like Eric Cantor and Mitch McConnell say to their staffs after going out and bamboozling us rubes sitting in the cheap seats.

Mr. niteowl77

[Paladin2]

"The whole thing might have died down after Don Carney's death — or at least been less frequently associated with his name — were it not for a series of popular Blooper records that rekindled public awareness of the legend.

During the mid-1950s, Kermit Schafer began compiling several albums of alleged boners, fluffs, and outtakes from radio and TV into his popular Bloopers series and issuing them in record jackets deceptively claiming that the events contained within were "authentic."

Treadwell describes an example found on the first record:

Uncle Don got his place in the sun on Volume 1 — after a few words from the announcer which set the stage, Don was cut in saying his usual "Good-night" to the kiddies. There was a moment of silence, and then a muffled voice off mike muttered, "That oughta hold the little bastards." Only it wasn't Don's voice!

One problem with Schafer's "authenticity": he didn't distinguish between actual audio clips and recreations of broadcast events that were widely believed to have occurred, but for which no recording existed."

Sounds about right, but I thought it was funny when I heard it in the 60's and it obviously got prominent placement in my mental meme inventory.