The thing I remember the best from Stiller and Meara is the Blue Nun Wine commercials they used to do on the radio. They were one of the few things my dad and I could both laugh at when he was driving me to school in the mornings as a teenager.
RIP Jerry Stiller and to Anne Meara as well. George Burns and Gracie Allen, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Stiller and Meara, you rarely see that kind of marital longevity in Showbiz. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were funny together, but they were also very, very funny in their own separate right. Anne Meara was also no slouch as a dramatic actress. RIP to both.
You've got to give an example to the children among us who weren't around to hear them as we were: Apparently many of the puns were ad libs by Stiller and Meara, which were kept in the commercials. Blue Nun was the first major account for the Della Femina Travisano & Partners ad agency, and the massive success of the campaign put them on the map (sales of the wine went up by a factor of more than 20 during the 10 years they did the campaign - that's 35% annualized growth). RIP, Jerry.
I haven't been able to find the few radio ads that I remember clearly anywhere. Probably the best was a short segment about how Jerry used to play for the football team at his yeshiva. Well, as Ann points out he didn't actually play. Jerry says "yes, but I was the head cheerleader! ISHCAR'S VISKAS, HIT'EM IN THE KISHKAS!" We were driving on the Cross Bronx under the buildings just after the bridge and my father nearly had an accident over that one. I'm pretty sure the guy who swerved into our lane was listening to the ad also.
