Bob and Ray Bob and Ray were a comedic duo best known for their often surreal work on radio . Bob Elliott ( 1923 - 2016 ) and Ray Goulding ( 1922 - 1990 ) first teamed in 1946 , and remained on the air ( over different networks and slots ) more or less continuously through 1960 , with the same basic format : the duo doing all voices in spoofs of soap operas , radio dramas , and other " epics " surrounded by inane interviews and dubious " experts . " ) This was followed by commercials , sporadic radio returns and revival series in the 1980s , a Broadway show , television , and records . The fact that the team really came to national attention in the early 1950s and were still rising , just as puppeteer Jim Henson was barely beginning , and had a shared sense of absurd led to comparisons in the press ( especially between their commercial work ) . Bob and Ray and Jim . In Goulding ' s obituary , one journalist even suggested that " I ' ll bet a young Jim Henson was out there listening , or there would never have been a Kermit the Frog , " specifically comparing his news career to that of Bob and Ray ' s reporter Wally Ballou . There was indeed a certain parallel development , since Bob and Ray entered television in 1951 in a sporadic NBC series ( adapting radio material but with Audrey Meadows and later Cloris Leachman as the soap heroines ) , were heard on NBC ' s radio series " Monitor " from 1955 through 1959 , and entered advertising in the 1950s ( notably giving voice to Bert and Harry Piels in a series of animated beer ads ) . Veteran ad copywriter Ed Graham , who formed ad agency Goulding - Elliott - Graham Productions with the team around 1956 , recalled an early encounter with Jim Henson when he and Jane Nebel brought their puppets around : " I thought they were good , but I never liked puppets and neither did B & R . Jim found work shortly afterwards . " Henson ' s work would include coffee commercials and other spots in 1957 which would receive the same welcome critical reception as G - E - G ' s Piels campaign had . However , from 1955 until 1958 , Henson was still busy with his first all - Muppet series , " Sam and Friends " and various guest appearances , most of which had Muppets lip - synching to popular songs , novelty records , and radio routines . . . including Bob and Ray , as in " The Westerners . " As two typically inept Bob and Ray cowboys , Kermit lip - synchs to Bob and Chicken Liver lip - synchs to Ray . Henson ' s unlicensed use of such material occasionally drew attention ( such as a cease and desist request from Stan Freberg in 1957 ) . Freberg was won over by the act , as often happened in these situations . In Bob and Ray ' s case , when they saw it , Bob Elliott recalled that " Stupidly , we got a cease - and - desist order , rather than see it was a wonderful promotion for us . " They sent their friend and arroney Stan Schewel , " whose warm , easygoing Virginia overtones existed side by side with an abrupt , lawyer - like command of the language " and " could make a thank you note sound like a threat . " Still , Bob and Ray and Henson ' s Muppets continued on their respective paths to fame , and by 1985 , Bob and Ray were among the many celebrities featured in " Night of 100 Stars " , a roster which also included Jim Henson and the Muppets . Additional Background . For their own radio work Bob and Ray ' s repertoire expanded and refined itself from their local start in 1946 as " Matinee with Bob and Ray " , but really changed little in tone and format over the decades . The centerpieces were soap operas like " The Life and Loves of Linda Lovely " , " Mary Backstayge , Noble Wife " , and " One Fella ' s Family " ; the adventure serials " Matt Neffer , Boy Spotwelder " ( in which Matt and his friend constantly wandered around the house during conversations ) and later " Lawrence Fechtenberger , Interstellar Officer Candidate " ( spoofing " Tom Corbett , Space Cadet " and the like ) ; and " Mr . Treat , Chaser of Lost Persons " ( later " Mr . Trace , Keener Than Most Persons " ) . Surrounding these segments , the pair developed a gallery of offbeat characters , an array of inept newscasters , weird entertainers , and average people who were all equally dull or insane . Bob ' s repertoire included adenoidal reporter Wally Ballou ( who was always cut off at the beginning and end of his reports ) , Tex Blaisdell ( a cowboy who did rope tricks on the radio ) , and various old men and droning dullards . Ray ( when not specializing in tough guys and loud mouths ) played cooking expert Mary McGoon ( and all other women ) , though McGoon was the most popular , offering recipes for ginger ale salad , running for senator , and recording the novelty hit " I ' d Like to Be a Cow in Switzerland " in 1949 . Ray ' s other roles included mushmouthed literary critic Webley Webster ( and sound alike Dean Archer Armstead , the farm editor who continually spit tobacco ) , and drunken reporter Steve Bosco . Then there were silent characters like Smelly Dave , the dead whale who Bob and Ray sent on a multi - week national tour on an open flatcar , with odiferous results . Some of their best known routines featured Ray as a clueless or flustered interviewer and Bob as a blissfully dull or ignorant guest , such as " The Slow Talkers of America " and the Komodo dragon expert sketch , while the Bob and Ray Overstocked Warehouse commercials offered home burglary kits for fun and profit . In their traditional closing , Ray Goulding exhorted audiences to write if they get work , while Bob Elliot reminded them to " hang by your thumbs . " Following the end of their quarter - hour CBS radio series in 1960 , the pair continued to work extensively in commercials , on and off camera , plus guest spots on " The Ed Sullivan Show " and " The Tonight Show " . In 1970 , following a summer stint on the nostalgia variety series " Happy Days " , they repackaged their routines for the Broadway show " Bob and Ray : The Two and Only " , which ran for six months to great acclaim . More TV and film work followed , from the Kurt Vonnegut teleplay " Between Time and Timbuktu " to the Norman Lear film " Cold Turkey " ( appearing separately to parody news personalities like Hugh Downs , Chet Huntley , and Walter Cronkite ) . During this period , they also supplied voices for cartoon inserts on " The Electric Company " . Their 1979 special " Bob and Ray , Jane , Laraine & Gilda " spotlighted the usual nonsense , but with Jane Curtin , Laraine Newman , and Gilda Radner in the female roles . In the 1980s , in addition to several NPR slots , the pair had key supporting roles in the movie " Author ! Author ! " ( as financial backers for Al Pacino ' s play ) and provided voices for the specials " B . C : A Special Christmas " and " The Gnomes ' Great Adventure " . Ray Goulding ' s declining health finally put an end to the partnership , but Bob Elliott still worked occasionally , often with son Chris Elliott , on the TV shows " Get a Life " , " Newhart " , and " Lateline " and the films " Quick Change " and " Cabin Boy " . In 2008 , he appeared on " A Prairie Home Companion " , referencing many of the classic Bob and Ray routines and characters .