TimesLeader.com

August 13
Scranton goes global

But then again ...

Jim Rising Weekender Correspondent

Poor old Scranton (that’s Scra-ann to some). It’s always been the butt of jokes and ridicule, but now the joke has spread to the funny pages. Back in the days of vaudeville, both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre were fairly important stops on the tours. The legend goes that booking agents for New York would try out acts in this area because the audiences were difficult to please. The catch phrase became “If you can make it in Scranton, you can make it anywhere!”

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Over the years, Scranton has made it to the big and little screens but not always with a positive spin. Witness this exchange from the TV show “All in the Family:”

Archie: “We’re going to fly to Florida.

Edith: “Florida? No, I want to go to Scranton.”

Archie: “Scranton? What’s in Scranton?”

Edith: “My cousin Emily.”

Archie: “The only way you’ll get me to fly to Scranton is if some screwball hijacks the plane.”

In the movie “Home Alone,” Macaulay Culkin’s mother ends up in van with John Candy’s polka band in Scranton. It’s a very funny scene.

In the “Sopranos” Paulie Walnuts takes a trip to Boston and describes it as “Scranton with clams.”

Andy Rooney, in a “60 Minutes” segment, mentioned the city in a disparaging way by commenting on housing prices here (he thought they were too low) and the fact that garbage collection was suspended on Columbus Day.

Then of course there was the wonderful portrayal of Scranton in Jason Miller’s “That Championship Season.” If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth it for the scene with WYOU’s David DeCosmo and the elephant alone. The elephant is the one being buried.

But until this month, I don’t think we ever made the funny pages.

On Friday Aug. 1, The King Features syndicated cartoon “Blondie” showed tightwad Dagwood trying to buy a birthday gift for his long-suffering wife Blondie.

He turns down perfume from “Roberto Lemongello of Naples” at $125 an ounce and from “Antonio Scentonelli of Venice” at $65 per ounce. In the last panel we see Dagwood and Blondie on the couch as Dagwood proudly hands her genuine “Ned McGillicutty of Scranton” for $6.50 an ounce. Blondie is delighted.

I sense a marketing opportunity. If someone could bottle the essence of Scranton and sell it as “Genuine Ned McGillicutty of Scranton” I bet you could get more than $6.50 an ounce.

Or then again I could be wrong. See you in the funny papers.

Jim Rising is a recovering radio addict. Reach him by e-mail at pdjames@hotmail.com and visit his blog at risingsrant.blogspot.com