I got this in my Facebook news feed this morning and dug a little deeper. But now I cannot seem to find it again. So I will try to remember what I saw. After all the adversity the Mabes have been trough the last 10 years or so I am surprised they are still trying. I would have packed it in a long time ago.
Tim Mabe ( Droopy Drawers JR.) Had a stroke a little over a year ago. Lost his other son in a tragic way, Lost his father who was the original Droopy.
Brent Mabe Lost his father who was the original comedian, Had a son who was in a tragic car accident within the last year. Had his mother sell off her part of the business
Brandon Mabe Lost his brother in a tragic way
Denton Mabe Lost his dad to a unexpected heart attack, Lost his grandfather who was a founding member. His grandmother sold her part of the show off.
They also lost Stub Meadows to retirement. Probably one of the funniest men Branson ever had.
Maybe this is part of the reason the show has suffered in quality the last few years. With all this stuff happening it would be easy to put it all on autopilot and lose focus. I do not think that I would have had the fortitude to even try anymore.
Actually, they lost Stub Meadows due to Firing him. The producers wanted to take the show on the road, and Stub refused. Because they didn't want to pay him and because he didn't do a show in Kansas, they fired him. They had asked him to retire, but he refused.
After firing him, they asked him to do one more show. When he showed up, they had a cake that said "Happy Retirement Stub." They wanted to save face by "announcing Stub's retirement" so that word of them firing him didn't get out.
I find joy in the irony that the same people that fired Stub, got fired by their own family.
What goes around, comes around.