Duffy's Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of the title establishment's malaprop-prone, metaphor-mixing manager, Archie, played by the writer/actor who created the show, Ed Gardner.
In the show's familiar opening, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," either solo on an old-sounding piano or by a larger orchestra, was interrupted by the ring of a telephone and Gardner's New Yorkese accent as he answered, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy ain't here---oh, hello, Duffy."
Duffy, the owner, was never heard (or seen, when a film based on the show was made in 1945 or when a bid to bring the show to television was tried in 1954). But Archie always was---bantering with Duffy's man-crazy daughter, Miss Duffy (played by several actresses, beginning with Gardner's real-life first wife, Shirley Booth); with Eddie, the waiter/janitor (Eddie Green); and, especially, with Clifton Finnegan (Charlie Cantor), a likeable soul with several screws loose and a knack for falling for every other salesman's scam.
The show featured many high-profile guest stars, including Fred Allen, Mel Allen, Nigel Bruce, Bing Crosby, Boris Karloff, Veronica Lake,Peter Lorre, Tony Martin, Gene Tierney, Arthur Treacher and Shelley Winters. As the series progressed, Archie sllipped in and out of a variety of quixotic, self-imploding plotlines---from writing an opera to faking a fortune to marry an heiress. Such situations mattered less than did the show's quietly clever depiction of earthbound-but-dreaming New York city life and its individualistic, often bizarre characters.
For more information about Duffy's Tavern, visit Wikipedia's Entry, which is where the above information was sourced.
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1940-07-29 Audition Show
1943-06-01 Clifton Fadiman
1943-12-07 guest Bing Crosby
1944-03-07 guest Col Stoopnagle
1944-12-22 guest Monty Woolley
1945-12-21 The Cast Does 'A Christmas Carol'
1946-01-11 Making A Movie guest Larry Storch
1946-02-01 guest Peggy Lee
1946-05-03 Archie Takes Up Reading
1946-12-18 Raffle, The
1947-05-18 Coming Out Party
1947-11-05 Rudy Vallee Foo George
Jessel
Guest
1948-12-23 Archie Meets Jesus
1948-12-29 Christmas Cards
1949-02-09 Archie's Philosophy
1949-02-16 Archie's Yearbook
1949-02-23 Patent On Electricity
1949-04-06 Double Date
1949-05-04 Playing Poker with Charles Coburn
1949-05-11 Duffy The Detective
1949-05-18 Most Popular Bartender On 3rd Ave
1949-05-25 Opera With Ed Wynn
1949-06-15 Bob Crosby Guest
1950-09-07 Army Surplus Helicopter
1950-09-21 guest Barry Nelson
1950-12-22 Charles Coburn Plays Santa Claus
1951-01-12 A Lady Visits the Draft Board
1951-01-26 Actors Club at the Tavern
1951-01-26 Mystery Valentine
1951-04-20 Archie Wants To Be A Lion Tamer
1951-04-27 Accountant Looks Over Books
