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Mrs. Wiggins' Pet Funeral
The setup
The premise
Here’s the bit.
At the Pet Heaven Funeral Home, a tearful Mrs. Wiggins mourns the canary she accidentally vacuumed up minutes after bringing it home, while her boss Mr. Tudball, who offered to cover the funeral, just wants to get back to the office. When the solemn funeral director presents a walnut casket for $50 and an oak one for $75, Tudball is appalled at paying so much for a bird that cost six dollars, and he proposes cheaper alternatives. Mrs. Wiggins counters by mentioning the money he lost at poker and wondering what Mrs. Tudball would think, and he grudgingly agrees to the walnut box.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 3
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Now, look, don't let your grief run away with my wallet.
He was $8, but he didn't sing, so I got him for six.
Well, may I remind you that we're not looking to dig this thing up every week to see how it's doing.
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
One of the Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins installments from the show's eleventh and final season, first broadcast on CBS on October 15, 1977, in the episode with guest star Nancy Dussault.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:36
Mr. Bernie Tudball
Mrs. Higgins, could you kind of whiz along with this thing? I've got a lot of work to do back at the office.
- 00:45
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
Mr. Tudball, this is a moment of grief, and I cannot be expected to make a snap decision.
- 00:55
Mr. Bernie Tudball
Don't you see how a rubber band of your age could possibly make a snap decision? To tell you on the way over that the things that come and the things that go. I mean, you just got to expect that. that's the law of the jungle and they want to quit doing that to get in my sears and sucker suit
- 01:23
Funeral Director ?
all may I assist you
- 01:34
Mr. Bernie Tudball
I'll tell you prune puss it's her that you're looking to assist that she's the one that's a moaning
- 01:47
Funeral Director ?
you mean mourning
- 01:49
Mr. Bernie Tudball
no she's a moaning their feet
- 01:52
Funeral Director
my name is mr. Crothers and I would like to welcome you to pet heaven may I ask what loved one did you lose
- 02:07
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
my canary died
- 02:09
Funeral Director
well may I assure you that we here at pet heaven share in your that's
- 02:22
Mr. Bernie Tudball
wonderful news of falcon fingers but there's not a lot a lot of a grief to to share here. She only had the bird for 10 minutes. How
- 02:35
Funeral Director
did our little friend meet his maker? Well,
- 02:37
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
I brought him home from the pet store, and I put him in his little cage. What
- 02:48
Mr. Bernie Tudball
happened was, you see, the canary did the grunty in the cage there, and the bird woman here decided to clean it up, only she used a vacuum cleaner. cleaner. She accidentally socket him up. He's up in the big hoover in the sky. I
- 03:22
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
hardly knew him. I
- 03:25
Mr. Bernie Tudball
hardly knew him either, and she's the one that sent me down to the dump to identify the bodies. I told her that I would pay for the funeral here, sir. May
- 03:42
Funeral Director
I assure you and and the foreign gentlemen that we here at Beth Helen do share in your sorrow. Thank
- 03:49
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins ?
you. Now,
- 03:53
Mr. Bernie Tudball
like I say, there ain't a great deal of sorrow to share here. The big sorrow is that I got to spring for some big bucks to put this eagle to the rest, you know what I mean? What
- 04:03
Funeral Director
was the little fellow's name while he was with us? His
- 04:06
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
name was Cheaper. And
- 04:11
Mr. Bernie Tudball
that's also how I'd like it to see him go. let's
- 04:18
Funeral Director
see what we have to offer will this be an opened or closed canary casket excuse
- 04:29
Mr. Bernie Tudball
me a minute i'm gonna talk it to the widow here um yeah look uh would you kind of hustle this along this place has given me the heebies and the jeebies what do you think about that to close the casket i
- 04:43
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
don't know i think i i think i would like to see him the way he was i
- 04:51
Mr. Bernie Tudball
don't think that's a good idea i mean after all that the dude went through eight feet of hose in two seconds it's gonna take a couple of guys just to get them eyes shut on that what do you say we just uh slam the lid on this little song stuff we
- 05:25
Funeral Director
have this uh solid walnut with brass hardware that that would be fifty dollars we have this beautiful solid oak that would be $75. Either
- 05:38
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
one would be fine. Oh,
- 05:40
Mr. Bernie Tudball
and, uh, 50 or 75. Uh, excuse me. She's in a shock. I'm gonna talk to her. 50 or $75. Now, look, don't let your grief run away with my wallet. Uh, what did you pay for that bird, anyway? $6.
- 05:57
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
He was $8, but he didn't sing, so I got him for six well
- 06:03
Mr. Bernie Tudball
if he was ever going to sing I imagine you'd have heard the tune out of him when you hit him with that the nozzle well
- 06:13
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
Mr. Tudball I just want him to go out in style in
- 06:17
Mr. Bernie Tudball
the style huh sure just a minute now you paid the six dollars for a mute and you want me to lay out the fifty big ones for a little walnut the box here well
- 06:26
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
if he could have talked he would have wanted it that way if
- 06:30
Mr. Bernie Tudball
he could have talked he would have said the shut off the hoover excuse
- 06:42
Funeral Director
me but may i remind you that that that both caskets are corrosion proof and guaranteed to last forever well
- 06:53
Mr. Bernie Tudball
may i remind you that we're not looking to dig this thing up every week to see how to do it oh
- 06:59
Funeral Director ?
i see i'm
- 07:17
Mr. Bernie Tudball
not going to lay out any 50 bucks but
- 07:20
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
you said you'd pay for 50
- 07:22
Mr. Bernie Tudball
bucks you could buy a squadron of canaries look I'll tell you what why don't we just pick up a little flag and then we take it the ferry home and bury him at the sea make a large donation in his name into the st. Louis Cardinals all
- 07:41
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
of a sudden you're just so worried about your own money you didn't seem to mind losing $63 last Saturday night playing poker that's
- 07:50
Mr. Bernie Tudball
a whole all a different a ting? I
- 07:54
Mrs. Wanda Wiggins
don't know if it's a different a ting or not. What if Mrs. Tudball knew? Now,
- 08:00
Mr. Bernie Tudball
how is a Mrs. Tudball possibly going to find out that I lost the $63 in the . You wouldn't have tell the old beauty, would you? All right, to hit me with one of those a wall not to match boxes.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
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