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The Jack Benny Program

The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 Emmy for Best Comedy Show, and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.[1]

Other names

The Jack Benny Show
The Canada Dry Program
The Chevrolet Program
The General Tire Revue
The Jell-O Program
The Grape Nuts Flakes Program
The Lucky Strike Program

Comedy

30 minutes

United States

English

NBC (Blue) (05/02/32–10/26/32)
CBS (10/30/32–1/26/33)
NBC (Red) (03/03/33–09/28/34)
NBC (Blue) (10/14/34–06/21/36)
NBC (Red) (10/04/36–12/26/48)
CBS (01/02/49–05/22/55)

The Jack Benny Program (1950–1965)

Jack Benny
Mary Livingstone
Eddie Anderson
Phil Harris
Dennis Day
Kenny Baker
Mel Blanc
Frank Nelson
Artie Auerbach
Bea Benaderet
Sara Berner
Joseph Kearns
Sheldon Leonard

Don Wilson

Harry Conn
Al Boasberg
William Morrow
Edmund Beloin
Hugh Wedlock Jr.
Howard Snyder
George Balzer
Sam Perrin
Milt Josefsberg
John Tackaberry
Al Gordon
Hal Goldman

Hilliard Marks (1946–'55)

May 2, 1932 –
May 22, 1955

931

Love in Bloom/The Yankee Doodle Boy

Hooray for Hollywood
"The J & M Stomp"

Throughout his career, Jack Benny played the same character: A pompous, vain, and stingy man who played the violin badly but was convinced of his own talent. Although technically the star of his show, Benny was constantly the butt of jokes from his cast members, including Mary Livingstone (Sayde Marks Benny, his real-life wife); Phil Harris, his band leader; Kenny Baker or Dennis Day, his tenors; Don Wilson, his portly announcer; and Rochester Van Jones (Eddie Anderson), his African-American valet.


As radio historian John Dunning explains, “Unlike Bob Hope, Jack Benny didn’t tell jokes. On his show, Jack was the joke. Everything revolved around him and his comic foibles, with Benny serving as ‘straight man.’ The other characters on the show were the comedians, making wisecracks, remarks, and asides about Benny's stinginess, his vanity, or his lousy violin-playing.” [1]

Format[edit]

On both television and radio, The Jack Benny Program used a loose show-within-a-show format,[2] wherein the main characters were playing versions of themselves.[3] The show often broke the fourth wall, with the characters interacting with the audience and commenting on the program and its advertisements.[4]


In his first years on radio (c. 1932–1935), Jack Benny followed the format of many other radio comedians, standing at the microphone, telling jokes and stories, and introducing band numbers. As the characters of Jack and his cast became more defined, the show took on a "variety show" format, blending sketch comedy and musical interludes.


The show usually opened with announcer Don Wilson doing a commercial for the sponsor (e.g. Jell-O or Grape Nuts Flakes), accompanied by a musical number from the orchestra. Wilson would then introduce Jack Benny as the "Master of Ceremonies," and banter with him. Gradually, the rest of the cast members – including Mary Livingstone, bandleader Phil Harris, and tenor Kenny Baker or Dennis Day – would "walk on" to join the conversation. The banter between Benny and the regulars generally covered the news of the day, Jack's latest exchange in his ongoing feud with Fred Allen, or one of the running jokes on the program, such as Jack's stinginess, his age, or his vanity, Phil's habitual drunkenness, egotism, or illiteracy, Don's obesity, Dennis' stupidity, or Mary's letters from her mother.[1]


As the show progressed, Jack might be interrupted by a phone call from his valet, Rochester (Eddie Anderson), reporting some problem at Benny's home (e.g. with Jack's pet polar bear, Carmichael, or with his crazy wartime boarder, Mr. Billingsley). Occasionally, Andy Devine or the Jewish character, Schlepperman (Sam Hearn), would make an appearance. At some point, Jack would tell the tenor it was time for their singing number ("Sing, Kenny!" or "Dennis, let's have your song."). Don Wilson would insert another commercial for the sponsor, and the band would do a "Big Band" number (ostensibly led by Phil Harris, although conductor Mahlon Merrick actually led the band).


The second half of the show would be devoted to a comedy sketch. Jack might leave the studio and go home to handle some problem (e.g. getting Carmichael to take his medicine). Or there would be a miniplay (e.g. "Buck Benny Rides Again," or a murder mystery starring Jack as Police Captain O'Benny), or a satire of a current movie (e.g. "Snow White and the Seven Gangsters"). In some episodes, Jack closed the show with brief instructions to his band leader ("Play, Phil."), and the band would play a final musical number, as Don Wilson did a final commercial.


Over the years, The Jack Benny Program evolved into the modern domestic situation comedy form, crafting particular situations and scenarios from the fictionalized life of Jack Benny, the radio star. For example, an entire show might be devoted to Jack taking a violin lesson, instructed by his harried violin teacher, Professor LeBlanc (played by Mel Blanc). Common situations included hosting parties, nights on the town, income-tax time, contract negotiations, "backstage" interactions between Jack and his cast during show rehearsals at the radio studio, traveling in the Maxwell, or traveling by train or plane to and from Jack's many personal appearances throughout the country (hence the "Train leaving on track five" running gag).


The sitcom shows usually opened at Jack's house in Beverly Hills, with Jack handling some common domestic task (e.g. Spring cleaning or organizing the pantry), with help from Rochester. As the show progressed, Jack would receive visits or phone calls from Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris or Bob Crosby (who replaced Harris as the radio show's "band leader" in 1952), and Dennis Day. Following an exchange with Day, Benny would order him to "rehearse" a song ("Let's hear the song that you're going to sing on my show tomorrow night."), and Dennis would sing a number. Don Wilson would bring the Sportsmen Quartet over to Jack's house, to sing a new commercial for the sponsor, Lucky Strike Cigarettes, to Benny's consternation.[1]


Later in the show, Jack might step out to handle some common errand, such as going to the dentist, or visiting a store to buy a new suit, where the dentist or store clerk would inevitably turn out to be Frank Nelson. While on these errands, he might encounter Mr. Kitzel (Artie Auerbach), the race track tout (Sheldon Leonard) or John L.C. Sivoney (Frank Fontaine). In other shows, Jack might fall asleep while reading a book in his study (e.g. "I Stand Condemned" or "The Search for the Elephant's Graveyard"), and dream that he was the star of the story he was reading.


In the 1950s, as The Jack Benny Program gravitated to television, the "domestic sitcom" became the show's standard format, often with Benny introducing the episode onstage. Scripts and storylines from radio show episodes were re-used and adapted for TV episodes, with the writers using visual gags and settings (e.g. Jack's underground vault) that had previously been described on air and left to the radio listeners' imaginations.[5]

The Jack Benny Program

Jack Benny

Mahlon Merrick

15

260 (list of episodes)

24–25 minutes

CBS Television (1950–1955)
J&M Productions, Inc. (1955–1965)

CBS (1950–1964)
NBC (1964–1965)

October 28, 1950 (1950-10-28) –
April 16, 1965 (1965-04-16)

as himself – The protagonist of the show, Benny is a comic, vain, penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly.

Jack Benny

as Rochester Van Jones, Jack's valet and chauffeur – Early in the show's run, he often talked of gambling or going out with women. Later on, he complained about his salary.

Eddie Anderson

as himself – Don generally opened the show and also did the commercials. He was the target of Jack's jokes, mostly about his weight.

Don Wilson

Eugene McNulty as – A vocalist perpetually in his 20s (by the time of the last television series, McNulty was 49 years old), he was sweet but not very bright. When called upon, he could use a wide variety of accents, which was especially useful in plays. He usually sang a song about 10 minutes into the program. If the episode was a flashback to a previous time, a ruse would be used such as Dennis singing his song for Jack so he could hear it before the show. McNulty adopted the name "Dennis Day" as his stage name for the rest of his career.

Dennis Day

Sadie Marks as – A sarcastic comic foil, her varying roles all served as, to use the description of Fred Allen, "a girl to insult (Jack)." Marks, who in real life was Benny's wife, later legally changed her name to "Mary Livingstone" in response to the character's popularity. Her role on the program was reduced in the 1950s due to increasing stage fright, and Livingstone finally retired from acting in 1958.[7][37]

Mary Livingstone

as himself – A skirt-chasing, arrogant, hip-talking bandleader, he constantly put Jack down (in a mostly friendly way). He referred to Mary as "Livvy" or "Liv", and Jack as "Jackson".[38] Harris explained this once by saying it's "as close as I can get to jackass and still be polite"[39] Spun off into The Phil Harris–Alice Faye Show (1946–1954) with his wife, actress Alice Faye.[38] Harris left the radio show in 1952 and his character did not make the transition to television apart from a guest appearance.

Phil Harris

as Carmichael the Polar Bear, Professor Pierre LeBlanc, Sy the Mexican, Polly (Jack's parrot), the Maxwell, and many other assorted voices[40] – An occasional running gag went along the lines of how the various characters Mel portrayed all looked alike. He was also the sound effects of Jack's barely functional Maxwell automobile – a role he played again in the Warner Bros. cartoon The Mouse that Jack Built. Another participating voice actor was Bert Gordon. Mel also played a train-station announcer, whose catchphrase was, "Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-amonga."

Mel Blanc

as the "Yeeee-essss?" man – He was always the person who waited on Jack wherever he was, from the railroad-station agent, to the store clerk, to the doorman, to the waiter. When Jack asked if he was what he was working as, Frank would respond with a sarcastic quip (In one episode, he had played a floorwalker, and when Jack asked if he was the floorwalker, Frank responded with "Well, what do you think I am with this carnation? A float in the rose parade?") Frank always delighted in aggravating Jack, as he was apparently constantly aggravated by Jack's presence.

Frank Nelson

– A racetrack tout (originated by Benny Rubin), he frequently offered unsolicited advice to Benny on a variety of racing-unrelated subjects. Ironically, he never gave out information on horse racing, unless Jack demanded it. One excuse the tout gave was, "Who knows about horses?" His catchphrase was "Hey, bud... c'mere a minute".[1]

Sheldon Leonard

as Ed, the superannuated security guard in Jack's money vault – Ed had allegedly been guarding Jack's vault since (variously) the founding of Los Angeles (1781), the American Civil War, the American Revolutionary War, or when Jack had just turned 38 years old. Burt Mustin took over the role on television following Kearns' death in 1962. (In the 1959 cartoon The Mouse that Jack Built, Mel Blanc played the part of Ed, who asks if the U.S. had won the war, then asks what would be done with the Kaiser). Kearns also played other roles, that of Dennis Day's father, that of a beleaguered IRS agent, his dentist, and often of a clerk when it was not necessary to have Frank Nelson antagonize Jack.

Joseph Kearns

as Mr. Kitzel – He originally appeared on Al Pearce's radio show in the late 1930s, where his famous catch phrase was, "Hmmmm... eh, could be!", and several years later as a regular on The Abbott & Costello Show, who originally started out as a Yiddish hot dog vendor selling hot dogs during the Rose Bowl. In later episodes, he went on to lose his hot dog stand, and move on to various other jobs. A big part of his schtick involved garbling names with his accent, such as referring to Nat King Cole as "Nat King Cohen", or mentioning his favorite baseball player, "Rabbi Maranville". He often complained about his wife, an unseen character who was described as a large, domineering woman who, on one occasion, Kitzel visualized as "...from the front, she looks like Don Wilson from the side!" He often sang various permutations of his jingle, "Pickle in the middle and the mustard on top!" Kitzel was often heard to say, "Hoo-hoo-HOO!" in response to questions asked of him.

Artie Auerbach

– In 1952, Crosby replaced Phil Harris as the bandleader, remaining until Benny retired the radio show in 1955. In joining the show, he became the leader of the same group of musicians who had played under Harris. Many of his running jokes focused on his apparent inability to pronounce "Manischewitz",[41] his own family, and the wealth and lifestyle of his older brother, Bing Crosby.

Bob Crosby

– Played a variety of characters on both the radio and television versions. His most memorable bit was as an information-desk attendant. Jack would ask a series of questions that Rubin would answer with an ever-increasingly irritated, "I don't know!" followed by the punchline {among them: "Well, if you don't know, why are you standing behind that counter?"/"I gotta stand behind something; somebody stole my pants!" or "I missed a payment, and they nailed my shoes to the floor!"}.

Benny Rubin

Dale White – Harlow Wilson, the son of Don and Lois Wilson, on television. His catchphrase, "You never did like me!", is usually uttered when Jack and he end up embroiled in an argument, though he once said it to his own mother.

[42]

as Mrs. Lucretia Day, Dennis' frighteningly domineering mother – She often came to near blows with Jack in her efforts to prevent him from taking advantage of Dennis, and she was often portrayed as working various masculine jobs such as a plumber, trucker, or karate instructor. Although she cares deeply for her son, Dennis' zany behavior aggravates her to no end, and the show has alluded to her hilariously myriad attempts at killing and abandoning him.

Verna Felton

and Sara Berner as Gertrude Gearshift and Mabel Flapsaddle, a pair of telephone switchboard operators – They always traded barbs with Jack (and sometimes each other) when he tried to put through a call. Whenever the scene shifted to them, they subtly plugged a current picture in an insult such as "Mr. Benny's line is flashing!" "Oh, I wonder what Dial M for Money wants now?" or "I wonder what Schmoe Vadis wants now?"

Bea Benaderet

and Gloria Gordon as Martha and Emily – A pair of elderly ladies, they were irresistibly attracted to Jack.

Jane Morgan

and Jesslyn Fax were the president and vice president, respectively, of the Jack Benny Fan Club, Pasadena chapter.

Madge Blake

and his wife, Gloria as themselves – Recurring guest stars on the radio and television series, they played Benny's often-imposed-upon neighbors, in roles similar to those performed by Ronald and Benita Colman.[1]

James Stewart

played Butterfly, the niece of Rochester. She worked as Mary Livingstone's maid.

Butterfly McQueen

Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy

at IMDb

The Jack Benny Program (TV pilot)

at IMDb

The Jack Benny Program (TV series)

Jack Benny Collection for Radio & Television – Paley Center for Media

at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television

The Jack Benny Program