O

Fourble

Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel

BBC rerecording of lost episodes of the Marx Brothers series
from archive.org

Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel is a BBC Radio 4 1990 situation comedy radio show, adapted from a 1932 American radio show of the same name. The original series starred two of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Chico, and was written primarily by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. It depicted the misadventures of a small law firm, with Groucho acting as attorney Waldorf T. Flywheel, and Chico playing Flywheel's assistant Emmanuel Ravelli. In 1988 the show scripts were rediscovered in the Library of Congress, and were adapted by the BBC two years later. The lead roles are performed by professional Marx Brothers soundalikes: Michael Roberts as Groucho's Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico's Ravelli. Other cast members include Lorelei King playing all the female roles, with Spike Milligan and Dick Vosburgh guest starring.

The scripts for the 1990 series were adapted by Mark Brisenden for a modern British audience, and the performances were directed by Dirk Maggs. Rather than each episode being a direct remake of an individual American episode, the 1990 episodes often included material from two or even three different 1932 episodes, and occasionally with additional jokes from Marx Brothers' films. The success of the first series led to another two series being produced.

  1. One-Round Gombatz (6.5Mb)
  2. Lost Uncle Abner (6.8Mb)
  3. Ravelli is a Model Reformer (6.2Mb)
  4. John Smith's Will (5.8Mb)
  5. Bullets and Blood (6.5Mb)
  6. The Ghost of Roderick Crexton (6.8Mb)
  7. Hiding from the Laughing Hyena (6.8Mb)
  8. New York City Tour Guides (7Mb)
  9. Running a Newspaper in Chicago (6.8Mb)
  10. Coney Island Arcade (6.4Mb)
  11. Finding a Lost Child (6.5Mb)
  12. The Missing Rembrandt (6.5Mb)
  13. The Election (6.2Mb)
  14. The Gangsters (6.5Mb)
  15. Situation Vacant (6.5Mb)
  16. The Devil You Know (6.1Mb)
  17. The Actors (pt 1) (3.4Mb)
  18. The Actors (pt 2) (3Mb)
  19. The Stolen Painting (6.7Mb)
  20. Flywheel's Production (6.6Mb)
  21. Ravelli is Kidnapped (6.7Mb)
  22. Reward for a Missing Dog (6.6Mb)
  23. The Crooked Judge (6.4Mb)
  24. Interview with the cast (2.1Mb)

MP3 files hosted by archive.org.