<div dir="ltr">I got around to re-listening to Rent A Family last night, parts 1 & 2 so far. <br><br>The proprietor is Larry Block, for sure. It is cool how he tells a version of the same story in Karma so many years later. Young Larry sometimes sounds a lot like Arthur Miller. The eastern European is Tim Jerome. <br>The second panelist is Arthur Miller. Leaving Nick Ullett as the Brit.<br>I assume Mark Hammer is 'Arthur' because his is the only male voice that is unfamiliar to me. <br><br>Sounds like Part 3 goes off the rails, so I'm looking forward to listening to that tonight. <br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 8:23 AM <<a href="mailto:russellbell@gmail.com">russellbell@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
Eleanor, an unemployed divorceé with 2 young daughters,<br>
(Barbara Sohmers?) having trouble finding work, reluctantly joins<br>
Rent-a-family, an organization that rents out families to men who want<br>
one temporarily.<br>
<br>
9:30: The proprietor (Mark Hammer?) describes how<br>
Rent-a-family works.<br>
10:50: Panelist with a German accent (Tim Jerome?) asks a<br>
question about how it works.<br>
11:50: Panelist #2 (Arthur Miller?) asks a question.<br>
12:10: Panelist #3 (English accent, Nick Ullett?) asks a<br>
question.<br>
13:10: The panel and proprietor talk about Rent-a-family and<br>
society, planned obsolence, the convenience of renting instead of<br>
owning.<br>
18: Carmen introduces herself; more voices of women and<br>
children, mostly drowned under music and sound effects. Joe names<br>
things (...cheeseburgers, zoning regulations...)<br>
19:40: Eleanor tells about daughters Wendy and Diane; takes<br>
them to get filmed for Rent-a-family. She decides the first applicant<br>
is suitable, prepares for an outing at the beach.<br>
31:50: Arthur Miller says that society sells the happiness of<br>
families but families are diminishing. The panel discusses<br>
Rent-a-family further.<br>
41: More voices of women and children, mostly drowned under<br>
music and sound effects.<br>
42:30: The first outing, to the beach, goes well until the<br>
fellow (un-named and voiceless) takes the girls to get ice cream; no<br>
one returns.<br>
51:40: The panel talks about Rent-a-family further.<br>
<br>
The cast as listed is: Barbara Sohmers, Mark Hammer, Arthur<br>
Miller, Tim Jerome, Nick Ullett, Carolyn Swift, Larry Block, Lynn,<br>
Sarah, Carmen, Thomas, Tim, Sharon, and Christa.<br>
I think I recognize Arthur Miller's voice as the second member<br>
of the panel; I think panelist #3's English accent is real, which<br>
makes him Nick Ullett (in part 2 he says 'biscuit' when he means<br>
'cookie'); Tim Jerome puts on foreign accents, so I think he's<br>
panelist #1.<br>
The cast has 2 women; I don't know them by voice, but Barbara<br>
Sohmers is listed first, so I guess she's Eleanor.<br>
I don't know Mark Hammer's voice; because he's the second name<br>
on the list and the proprietor is the second voice in the show I<br>
assign him that role.<br>
If the listing is in order of appearance my guesses match<br>
except for the transposition of Arthur Miller and Tim Jerome.<br>
<br>
Music: Tim Story's 'A fine line' introduces and accompanies<br>
Eleanor.<br>
Giles Reaves's 'Eihwaz' (Defense) (album: Wunjo) accompanies<br>
the panel. (This is a new identification - thanks to <a href="http://audiotag.info" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">audiotag.info</a>)<br>
Harold Budd's 'Gypsy violin' plays over the families<br>
introducing themselves.<br>
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</blockquote></div>