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 and 1961 Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series, and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.
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 ; Phil Harris, his band leader; Kenny Baker or Dennis Day, his tenors; Don Wilson, his portly announcer; and Rochester Van Jones, 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."
Format
On both television and radio, The Jack Benny Program used a loose show-within-a-show format, wherein the main characters were playing versions of themselves. The show often broke the fourth wall, with the characters interacting with the audience and commenting on the program and its advertisements.In his first years on radio, 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, 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's stupidity, or Mary's letters from her mother.
As the show progressed, Jack might be interrupted by a phone call from his valet, Rochester, reporting some problem at Benny's home. Occasionally, Andy Devine or the Jewish character, Schlepperman, would make an appearance. At some point, Jack would tell the tenor that it was time for their singing number. Don Wilson would insert another commercial for the sponsor, and the band would do a "Big Band" number.
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. Or there would be a miniplay, or a satire of a current movie. In some episodes, Jack closed the show with brief instructions to his band leader, 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. 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.
The sitcom shows usually opened at Jack's house in Beverly Hills, with Jack handling some common domestic task, with help from Rochester. As the show progressed, Jack would receive visits or phone calls from Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris or Bob Crosby, and Dennis Day. Following an exchange with Day, Benny would order him to "rehearse" a song, 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.
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, the race track tout or John L.C. Sivoney. In other shows, Jack might fall asleep while reading a book in his study, 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 that had previously been described on air and left to the radio listeners' imaginations.
Radio
Jack Benny first appeared on radio as a guest of Ed Sullivan in March 1932. He was then given his own show later that year, with Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a sponsor – The Canada Dry Ginger Ale Program, beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933.Arriving at NBC on March 3, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934, with Frank Black leading the band. He continued with The General Tire Revue for the rest of that season, and in the fall of 1934, for General Foods as The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny, and when sales of Jell-O were affected by sugar rationing during World War II, The Grape Nuts Flakes Program Starring Jack Benny .
On October 1, 1944, the show became The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny, when American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes took over as his radio sponsor, through to the mid-1950s. By that time, the practice of using the sponsor's name as the title began to fade.
The show returned to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's "raid" of NBC talent in 1948–49. There it stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955. CBS aired repeats of previous 1953–55 radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny for State Farm Insurance, which later sponsored his television program from 1960 through 1965.
In October, 1934, General Foods agreed to take up sponsorship from the struggling tire-maker, using the show to promote its low-selling Jell-O desserts. Beginning from this point, Benny was heard Sunday evenings at 7, at the time seen as a "graveyard slot". However, this was eventually associated with Benny, who appeared in that very time spot for his remaining 21 years on radio.
In the fall of 1935, Don Bestor was replaced by Johnny Green as the maestro, while Parker was replaced by Michael Bartlett, who himself left after 13 weeks, with Kenny Baker taking over. In early 1936, Harry Conn left the program after creative conflicts with Benny, who had to resort to vaudeville writers Al Boasberg and Edmund Beloin through the end of the season.
In 1936, after a few years of broadcasting from New York, Benny moved the show to Los Angeles, allowing him to bring in guests from among his show-business friends, including Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen, and many others. Burns, Allen, and Orson Welles guest-hosted several episodes in March and April 1943 when Benny was ill with pneumonia, while Ronald Colman and his wife Benita Hume appeared often in the 1940s as Benny's long-suffering neighbors.
The 1936–37 season brought many changes instrumental to the development of the show. Aside from having a new writing team, Benny returned to the NBC Red Network and established the program in Hollywood. Benny had already done a number of shows on the West Coast for two yearsfeaturing Jimmie Grier as guest conductorwhenever he was doing movie work. Green was replaced by Phil Harris.
During this period, the Benny character gradually became that of the vain, miserly, untalented performer for which he would be recognized, while the "ditzy" role went from Mary to Kenny, and Don Wilson would become the target of jokes about his weight. Halfway through the season, the famous "feud" with Fred Allen began, climaxing with a visit to New York, after which Eddie Anderson was cast as a porter for the train trip back to Los Angeles. His character was so well received that it was decided to have Anderson join the cast as Rochester Van Jones, Benny's valet. In 1939, Kenny Baker chose to leave the show and was replaced by Dennis Day.
In 1941, NBC celebrated Benny's 10th anniversary in radio in an unprecedented manner, broadcasting part of a banquet dedicated to him, in which the network conceded the Sunday 7:00 to 7:30 pm slot to Benny instead of the sponsor, as it was the custom during the Golden Age of Radio.
In 1942, due to sugar shortages during war time, General Foods switched their sponsor product from Jell-O to Grape-Nuts. World War II affected the show as Harris joined the Merchant Marines, being absent from the program from December 1942 until March 1943. That fall, Morrow joined the Army and Beloin left the show; they were replaced by Milt Josefsberg, John Tackaberry, George Balzer, and Cy Howard, the latter of whom was soon replaced by Sam Perrin. The new writers emphasized sitcom situations instead of the film parodies prevalent in earlier years. Also during this time, Hilliard Marks, the brother of Benny's wife, Mary Livingstone, became the show's full-time producer.
In early 1944, Dennis Day enlisted in the Navy, not returning until 1946. He was temporarily replaced by tenor Larry Stevens. In October, 1944, after 10 years with General Foods, American Tobacco's Lucky Strike became Benny's sponsor, an association that lasted until 1959.
The show switched networks to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's notorious "raid" on NBC talent in 1948–49. It stayed there for the remainder of its radio run, ending on May 22, 1955. In 1952, Harris was replaced by Bob Crosby. CBS aired repeat episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny.