This Day in Jack Benny
A podcast of the greatest Old Time Radio ever, The Jack Benny Program! Starring Jack Benny with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Rochester, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson. The Jack Benny Show AKA The Jello Program AKA The Lucky Strike Program aired from the 1930's right through to the 1950's. Each week your host, John Henderson, brings an episode from that week 60-80 years ago. It's old, yet still as funny as ever. An OTR podcast.
Episodes
November 22, 1950 - Jack Benny guest stars on Ronald and Benita Colman's program "The Halls of Ivy". Ronnie and Benita are playing characters but Jack is playing himself. Reference includes silent film stars John Benny, Flora Finch and Billie Dove, they also mention violinist Heifetz, and the radio program People are Funny!
January 7, 1937 - Jack Benny hosts the 25th anniversary of Paramount Pictures in honor of studio head Adolph Zukor. A night of music, laughs and stars. Enjoy!
May 23, 1951 - Jack Benny guest stars on the radio show Family Theater, introduced by Lucille Ball. They reference The Marshall Plan, Hedda Hopper and hats. Enjoy!
Recorded February 15, 1953 - This is the rehearsal for the episode aired February 22, 1953 where the kids impersonate the Jack Benny show.
John Charles Daly hosts What's My Line? on TV with Jack Benny as the mystery guest.
February 8, 1953 - Panel: Dorothy Kilgallen, Steve Allen, Arlene Francis, and Hal Block
June 21, 1959 - Panel: Arlene Francis, Steve Allen and wife Jayne Meadows, and Bennett Cerf
June 5, 1966 - Phyllis Newman, Tony Randall, Arlene Francis, and Bennett Cerf
August 23, 1944 - "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge" was fun music quiz show. Phil Harris guest hosted all summer. Play along and enjoy the music!
January 31, 1946 - Command Performance USA hosted by Robert Young with special guests Chico Marx, Lina Romay and Jack Benny in his version of the Suspense play "Sorry Wrong Number".
May 26, 1946 - The Fred Allen Show with special guest star Jack Benny. In this episode they spoof the radio program "Queen for a Day".
Other references include The Lone Ranger, Ralph Edwards, Mary Margaret McBride, The Street Singer, Duncan Phyfe, Marconi, Sidney Greenstreet, "The Postman Always Rings Twice", President Truman, Camels cigarettes, and the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe.
November 29, 1945 - In order to get and inheritance, George Burns has to go to college. Gracie Allen gets George's friend, Jack Benny, to join him.
May 16, 1937 - Jack Benny and the gang do the Eugene O'Neill play "Ah, Wilderness!".
References include the tradition of throwing rice and old shoes at weddings, the coronation of King George and Queen Elizabeth, Portland Hoffa, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and the racehorse Pompoon.
In the spring of 1946, Phil Harris and his wife Alice Faye were interviewed on the Chicago radio show of columnist Nate Gross. A week later, Jack Benny was the guest on the program. Here are both 15 minute episodes!
Dennis Day narrates Read-Along Records:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1949)
Snow White and Sneezy (1952)
Snow White and Dopey (1952)
John Henderson's wife Stephanie joins him for a chat about the state of the podcast.
June 6, 1937 - Death at Midnight Part 2. Jack Benny has lost his watch, a Christmas present from Phil Harris. Eddie (Rochester) Anderson is in the episode. This is his last appearance before becoming Jack's butler.
References include the movies "Death Takes a Holiday" and "This Way Please".
May 30, 1937 - Jack Benny is back after being sick and does a mystery play called "Death at Midnight" or "The Bang Bang Scream Murder Case"
References include Bing Crosby, Mae West, Laural and Hardy, Dracula, Bullocks Wilshire department store, and the book "Live Alone and Like It" by Marjorie Hillis,
May 23, 1937 - Jack is sick and does not appear on the program. Don Wilson, Phil Harris and Kenny Baker fill in with guest singer Trudy Wood.
April 20, 1947 - Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone play Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert in their version of "The Egg and I".
References include a radio component called the magic eye, singer Nelson Eddie, Sen-Sen liquorice breath freshener, and Murine eye drops.
March 25, 1951 - It's Easter day and Jack Benny and the gang (joined by Mary's sister Babe) do a parody of the movie "Sunset Boulevard".
References include the Senate crime investigating committee, billiard champ Willie Hoppe, Telula Bankhead, Hopalong Cassidy, movies "Harvey", "Broken Arrow", "Tomahawk", "Lassie", "Banzo", "Wabash Avenue", and "I'll Get By".
April 1, 1951 - Leaving New York to do his TV show, Jack takes Babe Livingstone to the train station.
References include The Kefauver Committee, Dick Tracy, the song "The Tennessee Waltz", the radio show Suspense, and Claudette Colbert, Basil Rathbone and Robert Motgomery who would be on his TV show.
March 18, 1945 - Jack tells a reporter the story of how he discovered Mary back in 1932. They made this episode for TV which aired October 31, 1954.
Refrences include the Oscars where Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman were winners. They mention the radio shows "Your Hit Parade", "Duffy's Tavern", and "Fibber McGee and Molly", the silent film actress Theda Barra, the bandleader Spike Jones, the old song "Just a Gigolo", the watch compa...
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