Timmy In The Well

“Timmy’s In The Well” is a catchphrase that I suspect came from a comedian’s stand-up routine, but don’t ask me to say who or when. It’s a reference to the old Lassie TV show, when Jon Provost played Timmy, replacing Tom Rettig, who had played Jeff. There was a Simpsons episode where Bart faked being trapped in a well. Perhaps that added fuel to the popularity of the joke.

The skit involves Lassie running up to an adult, presumably Timmy’s caring and responsible, — yet somehow hapless — father, barking frantically. The joke is that the human can understand the barking. “What’s that Lassie? Timmy’s fallen in the well??” I don’t know with absolute certainty that Timmy never fell in a well on the TV show, but that assertion was made by somebody on a TV Land bulletin board.

Timmy In The WellSo where exactly did the notion come from that Timmy fell in the well? Perhaps it came from a 1962 Kenner Give-A-Show slide. I’ve inserted a scan of the slide into the upper corner of this paragraph. Click to enlarge. This being the only proof offered on the Net that Timmy did, in fact, fall in a well, it deserves a thoughtful frame-by-frame analysis.

Timmy In The Well - 1Timmy In The Well - 2Timmy In The Well - 3

Timmy In The Well - 4Timmy In The Well - 5Timmy In The Well - 6Timmy In The Well -7
Click pictures to enlarge

  1. That isn’t a barbed wire fence, and Mr. Jones’ field appears to be for grazing cattle, making it likely the fence is electrified. Perhaps Timmy enjoys the tingling sensation.
  2. A few boards over the well? Enough to make it obvious the well is there, but not enough to protect it. Timmy is indeed a thrill-seeker. He’s walking over the boards intentionally.
  3. This is actually Lassie’s stunt double.
  4. Good thing the well is so shallow that standing on a collie’s back is enough of a boost to escape. One can presume the well had been partially filled in.
  5. If Timmy weighs enough to snap those boards, he’s breaking the stunt dog’s back. Otherwise, she’d be able to jump out by herself.
  6. Timmy knows he’s going to catch Hell, yet he promises to fetch Mr. Jones.
  7. But wait! Timmy doesn’t have to admit to being in the well, because this is the real Lassie with him. Her stunt double is back in the well, paralyzed.

All’s well that ends well for Timmy! But not for Mr. Jones, who finds a dead dog in his well and will later be sued by Timmy’s parents for failing to properly fill or seal the well.

A Long Lost Weekend

Circa 1974, John Lennon went on a year-long bender with Harry Nilsson that Lennon later called his “Lost Weekend,” a reference to the 1945 movie. Most famously the two were thrown out of The Troubadour nightclub, but there was also an altercation outside of Ciro’s, as seen in these photos. Is that David Geffen with them?

[Note: The photo was mislabeled in the source material I used as having been taken outside of Ciro’s. Nicola Brown clarifies: Just wanted to clarify that in the photo of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson outside the Troubadour, the third person in it isn’t David Geffin, it is my ex-husband Louis Maiello aka James Oliver. He just happened to be there and he actually convinced John to go back to his house that night to chill out. Harry had been kicked out of the Troubadour for heckling the Smothers Brothers who where on stage that night.]

Harry wasn’t a nice guy when he was drunk (neither was John), and he was often drunk. But he had his good side.

Thanks to the blog called AM, Then FM that I just found tonight, I know there’s a documentary called Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? that hasn’t yet made it to DVD. Despite the difficulty of being a friend of Harry’s, Harry had a lot of friends, and seeing their famous faces in this trailer for the documentary has me looking forward to seeing it.

It’s interesting seeing the Smothers Brothers among the people interviewed about Harry, because Lennon and Harry were thrown out of the Troubadour for heckling the brothers.

Random Blog — AM, Then FM

I came across this blog from a search for Fort Atkinson, WI, where I lived until I was 7 years old. AM, Then FM is done by a guy who’s a couple of years younger than me, and he’s into vinyl records. He’s also a huge fan of Sleepy LaBeef, and he’s into football — Green Bay, in particular. Can’t say I’m much into either, but I’m finding a lot to like.