Mr. Ed

[EvanHouston]

I hope all of you know who he was...and still is. I got the 2 DVDs that are available for the show, and I just keep watching...what a great show for youth as well...and older youth.

Alan Young has a website, as well.

Does anyone have some favorite Mr. Ed quotes or episodes?

I was driving down the road today and looked at something that was unusual and said to myself "Well, whatdaya know."

Evan

[EponaRoan]

Watch out or Geek and I will reminisce about our Mr Ed puppets! :lol:

[WaningMoon]

I loved Mr Ed and was a religious watcher. OH, the good ole days.

[Louise]

I drive the people at work a little crazy sometimes. When I'm in a good mood, I usually break into a chorus of "A horse is a horse, of course, of course. And, no one can talk to a horse, of course." I know the whole thing, but that's usually as far as I get before somebody starts groaning.

[SarahandSam]

I used to watch Mr. Ed every night with my grandma. (Along with Golden Girls and Dallas and Dynasty and Hee-Haw.) Loved that show.... and wanted a palomino so bad...

[Arado*TB]

I had a Palomino at the time w/ much of the same markings. I just loved the "Gosh Wilbur".

[saddleup]

The theme song from "Mr. Ed" is the ringtone on my phone..complete with the opener "Hello, my name is Mr. Ed". It never fails to bring smiles to people around me when the phone rings. I've had great conversations in line at the grocery store with strangers, as we talk about how much we loved that show.

[Huntertwo]

I love/loved Mr. Ed!!! It used to be on TV land along time ago, but they discontinued it. :(

His horse trailer is the funniest..lol No top, just sides.:lol:

And what did Wilbur do with Mr. Ed's manure? They never showed bedding in his stall either.

Those were the days when TV could be funny without cursing or sexual innuendos.

[Chief2]

Watch out or Geek and I will reminisce about our Mr Ed puppets! :lol:

I had one of those! It was the talking version. Went great with my Beanie and Cecil Adventure Land puppets, too!

[Posting Trot]

People yakkity-yak a streak and waste your time of day
But Mr. Ed will never speak unless he has something to say!

(All together now:)

A horse is a horse of course of course...

[Chall]

Had the talking puppet too. Didn't they give him raisins to make his mouth move? I once gave my horse half a raisin bran muffin and he did the whole chew/lip moving thing too.
As an adult much later I wondered why Wilbur spent so much time with his horse when he had such a pretty wife he should have been having those conversations with. There were a lot of weird wife/husband relationships then: Bewitched, I dream of Genie. Interesting cultural subtexts back then, men always perplexed by their wives who had unknowable minds and/or secret powers. Husbands always seemed just a tad intimidated.
Mr. Ed? Man's best friend was a horse, just like in the good old westerns, where men were men (and spent their time with men) and women were ... saloon hostesses.

[GrayTbred]

That classic sequence where Ed meets the Los Angeles Dodgers:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-AVm-HwAkVp8/mister_ed_and_the_dodgers/

[Frank B]

I used to watch... ...Hee-Haw...

Hee-Haw reruns are aired on RFD-TV (http://www.rfdtv.com/) Sundays @ 8 PM and Thursdays @ 6 PM Eastern. Check their programming schedule and your cable/satellite channel lineup.

[SillyHorse]

That classic sequence where Ed meets the Los Angeles Dodgers:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-AVm-HwAkVp8/mister_ed_and_the_dodgers/
Oh my god, that was hilarious! :lol:

[CallMeGrace]

What memories! :lol:

[Risk-Averse Rider]

I've never seen that before! It's fantastic (but I was thinking, "OMG, the hock sores he's going to get from sliding!!!" :eek::eek::eek:)

[pines4equines]

I want a Mr. Ed ring tone for my phone...waaaah, waaaaah!

I heard that Mr. Ed was a saddlebred.

[cloudyandcallie]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, I preferred smart horses like Fury (with the frustratingly dumb kid) and Silver.
When a BO with a questionable IQ thought she was complimenting Cloudy by saying he was "just like Mr. Ed" both Cloudy and I were offended.
However, since all of you like Mr. Ed, maybe a TV series is in Cloudy's future.

[lesson junkie]

Cloudyandcallie-Mr. Ed was the only character on the show with a measurable IQ!

I loved Mr. Ed.

[Liberty]

...Mr. Ed was the only character on the show with a measurable IQ!...

True that! :lol:

[SarahandSam]

Hee-Haw reruns are aired on RFD-TV (http://www.rfdtv.com/) Sundays @ 8 PM and Thursdays @ 6 PM Eastern. Check their programming schedule and your cable/satellite channel lineup.

Thanks! I've been watching a few lately. I loved Hee-Haw. (:

[Renae]

I heard that Mr. Ed was a saddlebred.

Mr. Ed was a Saddlebred/Arabian/Grade Horse mix whose real name was Bamboo Harvester. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_Harvester

[Liberty]

...Didn't they give him raisins to make his mouth move? I once gave my horse half a raisin bran muffin and he did the whole chew/lip moving thing too...

I had heard they used peanut butter, but after doing a quick Google search, I came up with this interesting info (assuming it's true and all):

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/383/how-did-they-get-mr-ed-to-talk

Interesting excerpts from above link:

"No special photography was involved. Before a scene, Mr. Ed's trainer merely fed him a wad of a mysterious substance akin to peanut butter, which sat between cheek and gum. (Ed's trainer, by the way, was the late Lester Hylton, who also trained Francis the Talking Mule...

Though the wad of quasi peanut butter was harmless, Ed, being a horse (of course), naturally wanted to get rid of it, which he did by working his lips. When this was synched up with a voice-over by the inimitable Allan "Rocky" Lane, Ed looked like he was talking...

Young reports that the real problem wasn't getting Ed to talk, it was getting him to STOP talking. After a while the horse apparently tumbled to the idea that the humans wanted him to move his lips on camera, and thereafter every time Young would finish saying his lines Ed would commence to orating whether the script called for it or not. Eventually Hylton worked out a system whereby a crop placed against Ed's foreleg was the signal for him to clam up.

HOW THEY GOT MR. ED TO TALK: TAKE TWO

Dear Cecil:

In your discussion of how they got Mr. Ed to talk, you cite actor Alan Young's claim that it was peanut butter stuck between Ed's cheek and gum. This is Mr. Young's stock answer. However, the enclosed video shows indisputable evidence that the "marionette theory" [i.e., Ed's handler pulled strings to make him talk] was at work at least some of the time. The video shows excerpts from a few episodes where the lighting and camera angle reveal the very visible nylon "bit" being pulled for each word Ed spoke. If you don't see the nylon under Ed's neck, then look for it running behind Ed, out of camera range. Some may claim that a nylon bit was needed in order to have Ed turn his head or perform some other movement without his trainer having to be in the camera shot, but the evidence is clear that the bit was also used when Ed was standing still and merely had to talk. Alan Young has every right not to reveal the whole truth about Ed's talking methods; it is the wonder and mystique of "how was it done?" that keeps the Mr. Ed television series alive. I do think peanut butter may have been used some of the time, but though I am a great admirer of Mr. Young, I thought you should know he was not telling you the whole truth. --Joseph Fox, Los Angeles

Dear Joseph:

Huh. Well, it could be a nylon bit, I suppose. But I say it's dental floss to get rid of that damn peanut butter.

— Cecil Adams"

How ever they did it, it worked quite well. I was an avid Mr. Ed watcher "back in the day" when they weren't reruns. :lol:

I have heard rumors that there is a remake in the works, but somehow, if true, I don't know how/if it could ever compare to the original classic. I'd still watch it, though; at least the first one, just to see. :yes:

[drmgncolor]

The theme song is my ringtone... need I say more?

[Huntertwo]

That classic sequence where Ed meets the Los Angeles Dodgers:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-AVm-HwAkVp8/mister_ed_and_the_dodgers/


:lol::lol::lol::lol: That was great!

[EvanHouston]

Alan Young's book is pretty good, "Mr. Ed, Me and More," but there is another book out by a lady--I think the book is "The Famous Mr. Ed." I need to get that book.

In the shows, Ed's personality changed over the years; at first, he was somewhat gruff, but warmed up to Wilbur with time. This, of course, reflects how a horse really does behave toward an owner--standoffish at first and then with trust gets more friendly.

Young said Ed would never, almost, relieve himself on the set; he would just look funny and they would know it was time to get him off the set for essential matters. Once, outdoors, Ed had to leave the set suddenly to...and the cast and trainer, Les Hilton, frantically ran to find Ed--he had quietly done his thing and returned to the set.

It seems Ed would only respond to Les Hilton. There was one scene where Ed had to leave his stall, open the filing cabinet, pick up the carrots, take them to the table, drop them (not eat them--hard for a horse to do), and return to his stall--this was a memorable feat Young recalls.

When you look at what they put Ed through--car washes, space outfits, saunas, and other instances where he was totally enclosed in something...he really trusted the humans around him very much to do all this--and remember the surfing board scene?

I've yet to see any horses on the Internet that cross their front legs (when Ed would "promise" Wilbur something)...I know some do but I can't find such.

And, the volleyball scene--where Ed kicked the volleyball with both hind hooves--and, of course, the hula dances....horses....

Evan