Showing results by author "Jack Benny"

Among radio comedy's most enduring features were its running gags - and few gags ran longer, or more hilariously, than the legendary feud between two of its great masters: Jack Benny and Fred Allen. For nearly 20 years the mere mention of Benny on an Allen program was guaranteed to produce an escalating laugh - just as bringing Allen up with Benny had listener in stitches at the mere anticipation of a response. This collection brings together the classic episodes that started it all, to the showdown that was supposed to end it once and for all.

A squabble - touched off by Fred Allen's remark comparing Jack Benny unfavorably to a 10-year-old violinist - soon escalated to epic proportions. The pair set radio ablaze with their famous feud. Here are Jack, Fred, Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Portland Hoffa, Minerva Pious, Alan Reed, Jack Smart, Parker Fennelly, Kenny Delmar, and all the rest of their regulars carrying on through the 1940s in 10 hilarious on-air conflagrations!

Any comedian can be funny in the studio, but domestic comedy is usually considered the province of actors who happen to do comedy. Jack Benny straddled the two roles for most of his career - the suave, witty master of ceremonies standing on stage in front of a curtain one moment; the put-upon householder tormented by a bumptious servant, eccentric friends, and troublesome neighbors the next.

It was the decade of a World War and a Cold War. It was the decade of the Zoot Suit and FDR. But most of all, it was the decade of Jack Benny! Radio's favorite comedian truly came into his own during the 1940s.

It's midcentury madness as Jack Benny slides smoothly into the 1950s with great guests, hilarious running gags, and even a song or two! This classic collection features 20 episodes from Jack's final years on radio, accompanied by his constant cohorts Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Bob Crosby, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, the Sportsmen Quartet, and Don Wilson.

A woebegone old car, a harried department store clerk, a monosyllabic man in a sombrero, and a train announcer whose line ran somewhere between Orange County and the Twilight Zone are all memorable characters from The Jack Benny Program, and all the products of a single talented throat: Mel Blanc. "The Man of a Thousand Voices" was Carmichael the Polar Bear, who lived improbably in Jack's cellar.

He's stepping out and living large - and hoping someone else will grab the check! That's Jack Benny, living the high life with a galaxy of guest stars in this hilarious collection of 20 digitally restored and remastered episodes.

This collection contains five Christmas radio classics from The Jack Benny Program.

This collection contains four Christmas radio classics from The Jack Benny Program.

Jack and guest Lauren Bacall do a love scene from "To Have and Have Not," when in walks guest Humphrey Bogart.

Jack and Mary wait on line all night for tickets to the Rose Bowl game. Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Artie Auerbach, Elvia Allman, Eddie Anderson, Hy Averback, Griff Barnett, Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Jeanette Eymann, Phil Harris, John Laing (commercial spokesman), Edward Marr, Dick Ryan, Don Wilson.

"Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cuc-amonga!" A woebegone old car, a harried department store clerk, a monosyllabic man in a sombrero, and a train announcer whose line ran somewhere between Orange County and the Twilight Zone are all memorable characters from The Jack Benny Program, and all the products of a single talented throat: Mel Blanc.

Jack Benny - he's your friend, my friend, and everyone's friend besides! He's always got his tried and true gang to pal around with, too, but that's not all! Throughout the 1940s and '50s, buddies from Burns & Allen to Bogie & Bacall came to play on his program. There were hilarious guest appearances by kings of comedy (Groucho Marx, Danny Kaye, and Red Skelton) and queens of the screen (Rita Hayworth, Barbara Stanwyck, and Dorothy Lamour).

When you're the country's favorite radio comedian, you tend to have a lot of friends. And those friends can't wait to have you stop by for a visit, crack a joke or two, play a fiddle solo, or even step out of character for a rare dramatic turn. Such was the case with Jack Benny. Consistently near the top of the rating charts with his own program, Jack was a popular guest artist on dozens of different series.

Lights! Microphone! Action! Hilarious Hollywood spoofs were a beloved feature on many classic Jack Benny radio shows. Regular cast members and guest stars alike were recruited to send up cinema classics like Casablanca, High Noon, and Sunset Boulevard. Celebrities could count on large laughs - and, looking good next to Jack's lovably vainglorious and miserly self - while poking fun at their most famous films.

Loved by millions the world over! That's Jack Benny - a man who managed to make friends in every corner of the globe (even though he never picked up the check). Here's a laughter-filled collection of Jack's international exploits, both real and imagined. From Venice to Quebec...from the Queen Mary to the Klondike...Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson are along for the ride! Are you? Passport, please!

Cleaning up after her big New Years party, Mary thinks back to the previous night and the events that prevented Jack from joining the festivities.

Jack takes a break from practicing "The Bee" on his violin so that he and the gang can go meet Phil's mother and sister who are visiting from Mobile.

Jack and his friends are leaving for New York; so it's down to the train station for the traditional send-off...well, not quite.

Jack's footprints have been preserved in the concrete in front of Graumann's Chinese Theatre. The cast does its version of, "City For Conquest", a prize fight story in which Dennis knocks out Jack! Jack Benny, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Eddie Anderson, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Cliff Nazarro, Frank Nelson.