Kingfish is distressed when Sapphire informs him that her brother Leroy, who Kingfish calls "Goofy" is coming to live for a while with them. Suddenly, Kingfish has put Leroy to work cleaning out a vacant lot across the street from the lodge. Once it is emptied out, they get the idea of pooling their money--$18 and they somehow turn it into a parking lot within two days.
That includes having it paved and spaces painted, and a little booth with a fancy-looking cash register. Being in New York, even without a sign, they get parkers in to fill the lot, all paying 25¢ whether they park all day or for a half an hour. It is valet parking, with Andy doing that task while Kingfish squeezed into the booth, making sure after he drops the quarter in the till, to close the cash drawer with his belly.
Business booms so much that their lot is almost full. Now this is where Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher's script gets ridiculously dumb. Andy is told to park the latest car in space # 6. He backs it up and bumps into a car in that space-never looking behind him. Kingfish then says to put it in # 11 and Andy again backs it up without looking and smashes the car already in that spot. They find a space for it and put aside how to handle the damages to the two vehicles for later.
They decide to have lunch together and trust Leroy to mind the store. All Kingfish tells him is the new rule is to "get as much as they can" from the customers. There was no sign and Leroy was never told it was a parking lot. He thought it was a used car lot. What I don't understand is how anyone on the street would know either without a sign. Somehow, Leroy finds a customer and sells a Ford convertible for $600. Apparently, when this show was made in 1951, you didn't need a title to buy or sell a vehicle. You just picked out a car you thought looked good, paid cash and drove off. Amazing.
When Kingfish returns from lunch, well, you already know the first person coming to pick up their car will be the man who owns the Ford. They cannot find it, so the man leaves his card saying he will go to the police if they don't deliver it to his place by 4 p.m. They figure out Leroy sold the car for the $600 they found in the till, but never ask Leroy if he thinks he can get it back, and never explain to him that they aren't operating a used car lot.
Kingfish and Andy call the owner and learn he paid $800 for it, so the plan is to try to get a loan of $200. All afternoon they get turned down, finally winding up at a place where Kingfish is optimistic because they're so far downtown, nobody knows him there. The man notes that Kingfish's only reference is Andy. The man asks Andy about how reliable he is as a reference, and Andy proves it by putting up $200 (of the money taken in by Leroy). The man says alright, takes the money, gives it to Kingfish and reminds him about his monthly payments.
***ENDING SPOILER ALERT*** The pair leaves the business with Kingfish oblivious to the obvious flaw in this, while Andy tells him his head is spinning but he thinks something is wrong. Finally they figure out they still only have $600, that the company is holding Andy's $200 until Kingfish pays them back what they "lent" him, plus the interest.
Back at the lot, Leroy stuns Kingfish by showing him he got the Ford back. Kingfish is so happy he even calls Sapphire to tell her to plan a big party for Leroy, that he loves his dear brother-in-law. He never thinks until later to ask Leroy how he got the Ford back. Not until after another parking customer comes for her Cadillac and he finds out it is now missing.
Leroy, who is still thinking it's a used car lot because nobody ever tells him anything, just knew Kingfish wanted the Ford back, so he traded the Cadillac to the man who bought the Ford.
Even kid cartoon scripts are not this dumb. You cannot buy a car without obtaining the title. Nobody would have known if it was a used car lot or a parking lot except for the fact that a tiny booth instead of a real office would have been a clue. Kingfish and Andy went off and left Leroy with no instructions at all. The whole thing at the loan company, just trading the money from Andy to Kingfish with the loan company going to get interest was the pits.
Almost everything about this episode was either unbelievable-getting permits, pavement, and spaces painted in less than 3 days in New York City-or unbelievably dumb-basically everything else in the script. I couldn't believe they were planning on charging everyone 25¢ no matter how long they wanted to park. Still can't figure out how they could even get that cash register with the piddling $18 they had. Paving a lot had to cost much more than that in 1951, not to mention all the painting for parking spaces.
I've now seen about a dozen episodes in my DVD set. This might be the most up-and-down series I've ever seen. Some episodes are very funny, but more than a couple are terrible. This is easily the worst so far that I have seen-the set does not go in episode order. I just watch them in order on the DVDs. I would urge anyone reading this before watching, to just skip this episode and try some others. This one gets a one because I can't pick a lower number.
That includes having it paved and spaces painted, and a little booth with a fancy-looking cash register. Being in New York, even without a sign, they get parkers in to fill the lot, all paying 25¢ whether they park all day or for a half an hour. It is valet parking, with Andy doing that task while Kingfish squeezed into the booth, making sure after he drops the quarter in the till, to close the cash drawer with his belly.
Business booms so much that their lot is almost full. Now this is where Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher's script gets ridiculously dumb. Andy is told to park the latest car in space # 6. He backs it up and bumps into a car in that space-never looking behind him. Kingfish then says to put it in # 11 and Andy again backs it up without looking and smashes the car already in that spot. They find a space for it and put aside how to handle the damages to the two vehicles for later.
They decide to have lunch together and trust Leroy to mind the store. All Kingfish tells him is the new rule is to "get as much as they can" from the customers. There was no sign and Leroy was never told it was a parking lot. He thought it was a used car lot. What I don't understand is how anyone on the street would know either without a sign. Somehow, Leroy finds a customer and sells a Ford convertible for $600. Apparently, when this show was made in 1951, you didn't need a title to buy or sell a vehicle. You just picked out a car you thought looked good, paid cash and drove off. Amazing.
When Kingfish returns from lunch, well, you already know the first person coming to pick up their car will be the man who owns the Ford. They cannot find it, so the man leaves his card saying he will go to the police if they don't deliver it to his place by 4 p.m. They figure out Leroy sold the car for the $600 they found in the till, but never ask Leroy if he thinks he can get it back, and never explain to him that they aren't operating a used car lot.
Kingfish and Andy call the owner and learn he paid $800 for it, so the plan is to try to get a loan of $200. All afternoon they get turned down, finally winding up at a place where Kingfish is optimistic because they're so far downtown, nobody knows him there. The man notes that Kingfish's only reference is Andy. The man asks Andy about how reliable he is as a reference, and Andy proves it by putting up $200 (of the money taken in by Leroy). The man says alright, takes the money, gives it to Kingfish and reminds him about his monthly payments.
***ENDING SPOILER ALERT*** The pair leaves the business with Kingfish oblivious to the obvious flaw in this, while Andy tells him his head is spinning but he thinks something is wrong. Finally they figure out they still only have $600, that the company is holding Andy's $200 until Kingfish pays them back what they "lent" him, plus the interest.
Back at the lot, Leroy stuns Kingfish by showing him he got the Ford back. Kingfish is so happy he even calls Sapphire to tell her to plan a big party for Leroy, that he loves his dear brother-in-law. He never thinks until later to ask Leroy how he got the Ford back. Not until after another parking customer comes for her Cadillac and he finds out it is now missing.
Leroy, who is still thinking it's a used car lot because nobody ever tells him anything, just knew Kingfish wanted the Ford back, so he traded the Cadillac to the man who bought the Ford.
Even kid cartoon scripts are not this dumb. You cannot buy a car without obtaining the title. Nobody would have known if it was a used car lot or a parking lot except for the fact that a tiny booth instead of a real office would have been a clue. Kingfish and Andy went off and left Leroy with no instructions at all. The whole thing at the loan company, just trading the money from Andy to Kingfish with the loan company going to get interest was the pits.
Almost everything about this episode was either unbelievable-getting permits, pavement, and spaces painted in less than 3 days in New York City-or unbelievably dumb-basically everything else in the script. I couldn't believe they were planning on charging everyone 25¢ no matter how long they wanted to park. Still can't figure out how they could even get that cash register with the piddling $18 they had. Paving a lot had to cost much more than that in 1951, not to mention all the painting for parking spaces.
I've now seen about a dozen episodes in my DVD set. This might be the most up-and-down series I've ever seen. Some episodes are very funny, but more than a couple are terrible. This is easily the worst so far that I have seen-the set does not go in episode order. I just watch them in order on the DVDs. I would urge anyone reading this before watching, to just skip this episode and try some others. This one gets a one because I can't pick a lower number.
