An amusing and intriguing farce about an cirucs ostrich that snatches and swallows a valuable diamond from an Arab diplomat.

A nice "ordinary guy" type of showcase in place of the usually sinister or snide roles for Don Scardino (i.e. "The Horror Within", "The Plastic Man"). He's a reporter for a Sarasota, FL newspaper, and is visiting a local carnival in the offseason. The already struggling venue suffers a big hit when an Indian nobleman, who says he's been in Washington, D.C. on government business, loses the incredibly valuable diamond off his turban. He got too close to the ostrich cage, and Scardino's character sees an ostrich swallowing something down its long neck afterwards. The ostriches help make the carnival famous, and bring in loads of marks and $$$$. The carnival's owner says the way ostriches are made it could keep that diamond in its stomach for a long time. A Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals type organization steps in with an injunction of some sort preventing the carnival from doing anything to the animals. Then some sort of bidding process starts for the birds, all the while during which the Indian nobleman is raising all sorts of cain against the circus. The carnival owner's daughter suspects he's trying to bilk the circus...though Scardino's character is sure he saw the ostrich swallowing something. The ending to this: 1. reminded me of some Aretha Franklin song that goes "Who's zoomin' whom?", and 2. would have had me screaming at my computer (and Scardino) if I hadn't been at work. The Indian guy, when talking about the animals, does get in some nice joke about "donkeys and elephants" based on his Washington experience...

Well, odd is probably the word to define this episode. I really enjoyed speculating what was going to happen next. what plot twist was going to jump out. I was fairly dissapointed with the ending to this episode. I think a good episode that should be added to the scheduel is "The Elixer of Death" this episode is bizzare as all get out.

A light hearted tale that is fun the first time......so so the next, and blase the third. It is unique though....... . To tell the truth, I changed my mind on this show after listening to it again last week. Not that this is a terrible show, it's just ok. I do remember thinking it was fun the first time. I promise my next selection will be full of horror, blood and have immense socio/psychological implications.

As you can see, I errantly posted this show. To make things right, I've credited the selection as a random choice and placed Until Next Time on top of the list as our pitcher for next week. My apologies....I've just had a bad couple of days and wasn't thinking straight when I posted the show. As for, "The Rich Osterich", I thought the program was interesting in that I liked the circus setting but I thought the production and plot were on the weaker end of the CBSRMT spectrum. The twist was a bit halfhearted and predictable. Can someone tell me the name of the actor who played the reporter? His voice is so clean and clear that there is something almost unbelievable about it. I'm not sure I can put words to my thoughts but somehow he just doesn't project the same feeling as some of our other great actors.

The reporter, Jim Simon was played by Don Scardino. Scardino was featured in some 27 episodes.

Oddly enough, this was one of the very few cassette tapes that I had that has somehow survived all the years in the aging process. Back to the storyline. It's a cute story but that's really about it. It delves into the "con game" that is understandably predictable. The plot seems somewhat shallow and lacks any real character development (difficult at best due to the time constraints). Overall, I enjoyed it but felt that this particular type of show doesn't envelope the true essence of the CBS RMT. My best guess is, for a program to make "Show of the Week", that the bar is set substantially higher.

I had listened to this show before. While it isn't the cleverest story, it is an example of the humorous (in a quirky way) side of RMT. Some of my favorite shows in the series are from this angle, so I'm glad one of these type made it to the show. A couple of others I've heard are Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater (780102) and Ignorant Armies (780908). I remember the former from when I was listening to the show as a teenager. I didn't start listening until late 76- early 77 and by then the series had started to branch out in different directions. At any rate although this particular show isn't outstanding, 'its all good' in terms of having access to these shows at all, especially after 25 years. Keep em' coming.

I liked this show OK. It was kind of light hearted and a little different than many of the others. I really didn't catch on to the con until the end. I guess I was rather dense tonight because tiling a shower while listening to it.

This was, for me, CBS-RMT Lite. A simple, fun tale with a fair amount of predictability. It took me four times starting the show to finally get through it. I kept falling asleep. Not that it was boring, but let's just say it didn't keep me on any seat edges. I enjoy a refreshing tale like this. The ostrich itself is actually a good bit of humor, being one of those odd creatures in Nature's fabulous collection. But unlike a rhino or a zebra, there is just something comical about the ostrich. I guess the same could be said for the flounder and the platypus, as well. And just for saying it, the kumquat wins the award in the fruits & veggies collection! Overall, I found the acting to be surperb. The Indian gentleman could have gone horribly overboard, but was kept realistic and humble. Dan Scardino's (the reporter) voice was as smooth as lavender velvet. A pleasure to hear. He was just as good in "THE HORROR WITHIN." I gave the episode a 3.7, and though the script was somewhat predictable and it sort of put me to sleep a couple of times, when I finally caught the whole show, I was certainly kept entertained!

The best "non-horror" episode ever!!!

I rate this episode 3 out of 5 diamonds for good! I enjoyed this one and actually like teh can man angle! Was a fun episode.

It's still a mystery episode since it's written by the great potent writer G. Frederic Lewis, but it is unlike anything I've ever heard in this radio series. The music is comical & eccentric and the sound effects of the circus animals were good. And the mystery builds up at the 23-minute mark, but wait until you hear what happens in ACT 3 when the Reporter Jack Simon (played by Don Scardino) finds out who/what the other characters really are. By the way, a SPECIAL NOTE, if any of you fans have the CBSRMT Episode Guide Book, there's a typo. It does say Don Scardino played the role of "Jack" Simon, but the synopsis says "Jim" Simon. This episode is worth checking out because it's the only non-horror episode EVER!