Vasco da Gama, episode #18 (or, “The last one…the last I’ve got, anyway”)

     This isn’t the last episode of Vasco da Gama. But, it’s the last episode of Vasco I’ve got.

     There was one more episode in the series. I have no idea what became of the original master tape. I can’t even remember whether anybody made a copy. I do know that it was meant to wrap things up, while leaving the door open to restart Vasco, whenever the inspiration struck.

     Inspiration hasn’t struck—or maybe it has struck, and it’s still on strike. It’s been 20 years, so it probably won’t hurt to tell you how it all ended.

     Rob quit.

     The fictional Rob, that is—the real Rob and I have worked together many times since then. No—Fictional Rob quit the “Vasco da Gama” sitcom-within-a-sitcom, and went to live (and work, I think) at the Home for Waywardly Sarcastic Boys where he was raised. I seem to remember that it furnished an excuse for me to do a take-off on Bing Crosby in Going My Way as the priest who ran the place.

     That’s about it, really. Since Fictional Rob hasn’t come out of his fictional retirement yet, I’ll tell you a bit about the second-last episode of Vasco—but this time, after I give you the link to listen to it.

Vasco da Gama, episode #18

     There isn’t much to tell, really. Something goes awry; Rob goes in search of the cause of the awryness; Rob soon wishes he hadn’t. You can hear the series running out of steam. We all sound like we needed a break from it.

     20 years later, we’re still on break. If we had started Vasco up again, the series would have sounded rather different. “Less Vasco” was the generally-agreed-upon starting place for the changes. There also would have been more scenes with Mojo and Franklin Roseboro, the deli owner who first appeared in Episode 15. It’s just too much fun to write—and play—characters with a penchant for lateral thought that zigzags and doubles back on itself.

     Another of these changes would have involved constant change. The “Vasco” sitcom would have had a new executive producer every episode. Like Number 2 in The Prisoner, each of these temporary bosses would have imposed a new, inappropriate, and ultimately impracticable set of policies and procedures on Rob, MacSnoopeigh, and the rest of the Vasco team.

     But that’s all speculation. As I said, Vasco was running out of steam. Everything has its time, and that time must pass. As for my time, it’s going to be a little occupied in the next few weeks, so I’m giving you a well-deserved break before disrupting your Wednesdays again with a short series of audio oddities. That’ll start on April 2.

     In the meantime, keep watching this space. Who knows? Maybe I’ll tell you that a new series of Vasco is in the works.

     Well, probably not.